Marc sends pictures from the site, showing the ridge beam inserted into the house at the peak of the roof.

I am astonished.  The original idea was to have a crane hoist the beam into place.  But Caleb’s carpenters—while he was offsite, no less—hoisted the 300-lb pieces of the beam by themselves, and assembled the composite beam on the spot—more than 20 feet long, 6 inches thick and 18 inches high. How on earth did they do that?

Around the other side of the house, I am waffling.  The new porch will need decking.  Sean and Caleb recommend fir—a good tough wood.  Marc has found an artificial decking made of 100% recycled plastic bags.  This “NyloBoard” promises zero maintenance, and I will admit I have had my fill of painting porches, which never hold up to the weather.  But the NyloBoard will cost three times as much.  How much is a lifetime vacation from porch-painting worth?

I start recruiting commercial sponsors for the project.  I send out the “Bella Luce” brochure to those suppliers who likely will be providing all of something, starting with the lighting and the plumbing, and ask in a very low key way if they’d like to be involved.  Hard selling is not in my genes