Lumbered

There is a long wooden beam on our front porch that is not load bearing, but is starting to crack so badly that we'd like to replace it. Our idea was to replace it with a pressure-treated board (not too much more expensive than the non-treated one), which we did when one of the steps to the second floor cracked through. I measured the beam, and for some reason when they built this porch, they ended up with a 2" x 6" (actually 5.5") x 12'6" board there. Boards of the 2x6 variety come in 12 and 16-foot lengths, so we'll have to buy a 16-foot board and cut it down because the porch is six inches longer than a standard length. That's annoying. Maybe Lisa can come up with a use for the spare piece of wood.

In the longer term, Lisa has the idea of someday rebuilding the front porch using Trex composite decking to replace the wooden boards. It's more expensive but should last a long time and not require painting. Also, Trex's plant is here in Fernley, so we'd be helping support local industry. (Although I suspect the material available in Lowe's has to be shipped from Trex to a Lowe's warehouse and then back to Fernley.)