Bk, What a thing to say to someone about to tackle such a big project on his own.

I do have a couple of opinions on that line of thought. I do in a few hours what a first timer would take from three days to three weeks to do. I walk into many disasters that took weeks of hard work only for me to say I will have to take it all down and redo correctly. It is just not for everyone.

If an experienced installer can be found at a reasonable price then that would sure be a good option. That is hard to find in all areas.

A do it yourself project is in many situations the way to go. And I figure that if this forum is on standby it is no longer a do it yourself job, it’s like lets all do it. We do make a difference.

I spent several days fixing my wife’s sewing machine, many years ago. When she got it back from the shop the repair man advised her to never let her husband touch the machine again. If I had had a forum to go to I could have done it right, I’m sure I could have.

I remember my first garage door opener, the install price was sixty dollars. Three days later I had installed it myself, saved the sixty and had that great pride that I did it myself.

My backup truck is an F250 with nearly three hundred thousand miles on it. It has never been in a shop. So it takes me half a day to change a water pump when a shop could do it in forty five minutes, no one touches my truck.

I’m just saying, I have total compassion and understanding for those that hire and those that don’t.

Zephans, the blocks needed for under the braces are just standard patio pavers. They can be 12 x 12 or 8 x 16 at about 1 ½’ to 2’ thick.

Have a good weekend, don’t forget the pics. Dennis