Yes, despite everything I saw I was particularly struck by the floating porch corners.
Sure, the new porch lacked lots of things, like a permit for instance.
The sides are 34" off the ground, so guardrails would be needed.
The stairs are 65" wide, so a handrail would be needed on both sides.
The stair heights are erratic, ranging from 5 1/2" to 8 1/2". Stair heights should not vary very much, no more than a quarter inch or so (technically 3/8"). Consistently the same height is most desired.
The stairs are not level.
We can see all this. We get all this.
A permit would have required that all the be properly done.
But I was struck by something else.
Neither of the front corners were really supported.
They LOOKED supported.
But were not!
And that lack of support represented a sizable part of the corners of those two slate tiles.
LOOKING CAREFULLY, YOU CAN SEE THAT THOSE TWO SUPPORTIVE BRICKS, PRESENT UNDER EACH CORNER, ARE MERELY GLUED THERE!
I could just see everyone getting back from dinner or shopping, and crowding onto the front porch while the door is being opened. Careful not to fall off (!), one person is standing right on either of those corners, and the magical glued bricks simply giving way under the weight that person.
And BOOM! The corner suddenly breaks! Have a nice day!
My recommendation: sometimes things are not as they appear! Look carefully and beyond the obvious! That might just save grandpa from taking a dive.
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