Somehow I no longer feel badly about taking two months to get the railing and gates made for the deck. Today it took Michael and me all day to put flashing under all the addition doors.

Michael is beginning construction on a staircase up to the doorway into our section of the addition. Before he got it firmly in place, I suggested we finally get the flashing added under the door to protect the wooden sill plate from backsplash. We … — Michael is beginning construction on a staircase up to the doorway into our section of the addition. Before he got it firmly in place, I suggested we finally get the flashing added under the door to protect the wooden sill plate from backsplash. We should have put the flashing in BEFORE the siding, but we aren’t that smart….

The first piece went in pretty easily, as the wood under the door was flush with the cement block. I did have to slice the flashing so that we could fit it around the bottom lip of the siding. Having had success, I confidently cut another strip of flashing for the next doorway.

Irene has had “temporary” steps to her door for over a year now. They had grown over with grass and took some muscle (and a shovel) to move them so we could get the bottom of the door flashed. The step-down means there hasn’t been much backsplash, b… — Irene has had “temporary” steps to her door for over a year now. They had grown over with grass and took some muscle (and a shovel) to move them so we could get the bottom of the door flashed. The step-down means there hasn’t been much backsplash, but we hope to give her a better entryway next year.

True to form, there was a nailhead in the way of sliding this section in the same way as the first piece. After trimming the initial piece way too much, we cut a second piece, located the problem nailhead, and managed to trim away just enough and not too much. Getting this piece to lie flat was more challenging as we had added a board under the sill to support the sill lip. Who knows why we had to do this for this door but not the first one? Maybe it’s because we got better at installing doors as we went along…. The first door pictured is the last door we hung.

At least there was no bottom channel to contend with on the deck door…only the deck! Michael crawled underneath and prodded the flashing around the board we added under this door sill as well. We had to sneak the flashing under the siding and back u… — At least there was no bottom channel to contend with on the deck door…only the deck! Michael crawled underneath and prodded the flashing around the board we added under this door sill as well. We had to sneak the flashing under the siding and back up and around boards.

No wonder it took us all day! Okay, maybe half a day. I walked Zeke and Michael fed and watered the birds. He made bread and I made breakfast and dinner and washed dishes. We took the recycling into town when we went in to buy feed. You know, all the regular stuff that needs to happen in addition to construction.