What's Happening Under My Patio, Part 2

Demolition happens fast. This was all in a morning's work. And, for the most part, the pictures speak for themselves. Enjoy... Note the support (or lack of it) for the stairs.

This brace was like that (not touching the far stringer) before. That isn't a result of the demolition.

So, the top of the stairs were resting against a 2x4 that was nailed onto the side of the deck. Excellent.

In this section, we will delve into the subtleties of the 'floating beam.'

It is a trick of the angle at which this picture was taken, which makes it look look like it comes anywhere near the insulated wall. It doesn't! The fact that it doesn't is demonstrated by John's hand around the end of the beam. (And will be shown in great detail below). Be sure to notice the 2x4 nailed along the bottom of the large beam. This is what is creating the 'notch' that the angled 2x4 is braced into.

In this picture, we can see the gap between the main beam and the 2x4. Two nails are holding that 2x4 to the beam--one on each end. (Who'd need any more than that?)
Here we see a close up of the bracing. This angle shows the 'gap' between the beam and the house better than the previous picture. At best, that is a single nail or screw holding the angle brace in place. You can see it angling upward out of the big beam. I'm not really sure where it begins. It may not be attached to the angle brace at all, becuase nails are for chumps!
Here is the bottom of the brace. Again, nails are for chumps. And so there are none to be found here. Who needs nails when you have gravity on your side?

By 11:00am the stairs were gone and the trash was out. That hatch in the back (from the picture yesterday) is going to be enlarged into a small door, and we're going to have lots of great storage under there. Alice is pretty excited about that.

Here's where it went. (I have to enjoy it now, becuase it goes to the dump in a couple days.)
And there you have it.