The Saga of the Hole in the Verandah

Corrie put his foot through it!! The rimu tongue and groove planks had survived 150 years of foot traffic - and one lovely very large Maori put his foot through it - the result - a hole in one plank! What to do? We tried sourcing the exact wood - but you can't source that width and thickness anymore! We tried the specialist shop "Bungalows and Villas" in Morningside. The wood available was the right width - but it was pine and untreated and around 3mm too thin and would be an open invitation for someone just to put their foot through it again!

Finally, Les (ex-hubby) kindly offered his assistance and came around to sort the problem out. He suggested plywood - treated. We decided on the plywood but thought that it was kind of sacrilege; using a 'substandard' material ie not native timber - but it is the 'green' option; the ply is strong and hopefully because the verandah is painted anyway the type of wood becomes irrelevant. Les came up with the brillant idea of using the circular saw to make grooves in the ply to make it look like the original 'tongue and groove'. It worked!! Brilliant thinking!!

Once the old tongue and groove was removed from the veranda (one metre long - the pathway to the door had been weakened by continued use) another problem emerged. The roots of the cherry blossom tree had toppled over the piles supporting the house - making the verandah unlevel. The rain, as a result, had been flowing towards the house creating dampness and subsequently rotted the supporting beam holding the veranda up. Les replaced this beam and fixed the piles - making the veranda level again...