I finally sold the other house! I imagine this blog should start up again now. :) After 8 months of double mortgage payments, I'm a little depleted, but that just means I get to do more things all by myself. The jackposts have been removed from the front porch and instead, the inner porch columns are being extended to the lintel. I installed 4x4 posts with "Stanley Strong Tie" brackets above and below to make them structurally sound. I just used wood screws on the lintel side, but on the side with the little slabs, I drilled holes in the masonry and then dropped in "redhead concrete anchors" - they are nail in. They are the best I have found for affixing anything solidly into concrete. One post cap was concrete and the other was soapstone, but the same principle applies to each since both are masonry. After that, I lifted the lintel a tad, popped in the 4x4s, dropped the lintel again and used deck screws to firmly affix them into place. They are not going anywhere. That's it in a nutshell. I left out the "boring parts" with the cutting and measuring and trips to the store. ;) I was able to remove the jack posts and the porch looked a little better.

I was not leaving the 4x4 lumber unadorned. The rest of the porch columns are brick, so the 4x4s are only the structural part of the posts which will also be bricked in. I managed to get 1/3 of one post all bricked before running out of steam. I'm not winning any "best mason" contests, but I'm free! LOL! I think the little bits that are crooked just give the place a little more character. :)

To quote "The Great Gatsby" a little - "My own house was an eyesore, but it was a small eyesore..."