The first task was to mask off the joins between the granite with painter's blue tape:
Where the granite meets the existing concrete wall, the gap is about 1/4", so I filled in that space with some foam backer rod so the compound will seal the last 1/2" or so only:
The tape prevents the elastomeric tuck pointing compound from adhering, and is removed immediately after the compound is smoothed out:
I wonder if that carpenter ant is searching for his lost friends that were in the gate?
Another view, left side wall and wall post plinth:
The other task at hand was the removal of the metal shoes which support the kiosk to the side of the gate. As the kiosk is scheduled to have it's rotted post lowers replaced only, the kiosk must return to position standing upon two legs, so there was no need to cut any concrete in this location. The plan is to cut off the metal upper plates and then I will design and have fabricated a stainless steel plate and plinth assembly, which will be powder coated and bolted to a mild steel sub-plate. For now, the only issue was to cut off the plates with my 4.5" angle grinder:
I thought initially that the plates were 'L'-shaped at the bottom, welded all around, however they were simply tacked together at the bottom out of two pieces each side and I didn't need to do nearly as much cutting as I feared - the job took only about 20 minutes altogether:
The four removed plates:
To make the main gate have some aesthetic commonality with the kiosk, the plan I put forth is to patinate the main gate post copperwork (i.e., the copper flashing at the post feet and beam ends, etc.) black, as was done originally, and the new kiosk metal shoes will also be black so they will look fairly similar at a glance at least.
All for now. I'm done working on the Boston project for a while, and will be looking to get the wood back from dehumidification in the next while. Fabrication of the gate itself will be in the fall and winter, with installation slated for 3rd week of March 2015. Thanks for visiting the Carpentry Way. On now to post 16.
That ant there is definitely looking for its lost family. But I must say, the patchwork is great and the ant’s not finding her kin anytime soon. Simple yet affective! Waiting to try it myself.
ReplyDeleteBob,
Deletethanks for the comment. All I can say in regards to applying the caulking is that you need to work quickly and cleanly. That elastomeric jointing compound is pretty sticky stuff.
~C