I have had a bit of a problem with my home. A really minor thing, but… You see I have a concrete slab patio out the back door, and the house is slab on grade construction. So I don’t have a stoop for the back door per se. Just a threshold and then it drops down to the patio slab… Well I also have a storm door in place, that sticks out about 1.5”, with nothing to seal against… And during good weather, LOML likes to open the doors up and let the breeze blow in through the screens. Now I don’t know about you guys, but my cats could find their way out through the gap under the back screen / storm door, and far worse, the bayou critters could find their way in. I needed a gap filler / wooden stoop. Since it would be ground contact with the concrete, It was plenty obvious that it needed to be either cedar, or PT to resist rot. The original construction had a stack of 1×4 pine laminated to make this gap up, but it was always a bit short.
My solution was gobbling up space in my lumber racks anyway…
Out came a nice straight PT pine 4×4. I ran it across the jointer, and then through the planer to get the size down somewhat, but more importantly, to give me a good glue surface…
Once that was done, i cut 2 pieces to 42”, and then glued them together using Titebond III. Once that was dry, I used a scraper to clean off the squeeze out glue. I had some in clamp slippage that I sort of knew I was going to get (I didn’t use any cauls like I should have…) so through the planer it went again. Which was my original intent. Final milling was down to 3-3/8”” thick. Now to flip it, and rip it. I opted to use the table saw, which got a little scary as I was unable to keep the guard on the saw for these rips as the material was too thick. So some extremely careful ripping, through minimally reduced 4×4s with a 1.5 HP table saw with a 40T blade installed (I REALLY should have swapped to my ripping blade). But hey, it worked. After clipping it down to 5-3/8” (the height I needed, it was time for a test fit, sure enough it fits right in. Back to the shop to cut the thing to width and clip off any snipe, and a 38” wide block resulted. Now I am needing to prime, and paint this thing, and permanently install it. I am seriously considering taking my pressure washer to the concrete after scrubbing it down with some TSP, and then bonding the block down to the slab with Liquid Nails for Outdoor Projects (I have a few tubes left, and have gotten good results with it…).
I know, I know, a stupid project, but one that is making the house more usable for my wife, and that is really a good thing to aim for!
For those wondering, yes I DID run my DC, my air filter, AND I was wearing my respirator while in the shop machining this stuff…