Yes, the lake level is up and the humidity has been humbling, but there’s bountiful beauty to behold and so much to celebrate. Broccoli is ready to harvest, swimming and surfing sing sweet siren songs from sunup to sundown, and one of our nieces is visiting. In short, life is good.  and the cherry on top? Rosslyn’s balcony reboot is complete.
![Rosslyn’s West Facade, March 10, 2008 (Photo: Susan Bacot-Davis)](https://i0.wp.com/www.rosslynredux.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/img_1846-1.jpg?resize=600%2C401&ssl=1)
First let’s turn the clock back to March 2008 when the snowy photograph above was taken. Almost two years into our rolling rehabilitation of Rosslyn the first semblance of a balcony outside our master bedroom began to take shape.
[While undertaking our top-to-bottom Rosslyn rehabilitation back in 2006-9 we added] a third aperture on the central axis… [of the west facade, second floor] better balancing placement of the flanking windows… [while] maximizing daylight into our principal bedroom and providing access to our balcony…
(Source: TMB March 10, 2008)
Here’s what it looked like when all the work was said and done in the summer of 2009.
![Rosslyn’s Balcony, 2009 (Photo: Nancie Battaglia) A scene in the Essex, New York home of George Davis and Susan Bacot-Davis. The circa 1823 home recently went through a comprehensive three-year green rehabilitation. It was once known as the W.D. Ross Mansion, also as the Sherwod Inn, and is now known again as Rosslyn, the original name given by the Ross family. Photo (C) Nancie Battaglia Photographs taken by Nancie Battaglia for Emmet Carter portfolio and Rosslyn Redux website/book/etc.](https://i0.wp.com/www.rosslynredux.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/nb5rosslynessx-2124-1.jpg?resize=600%2C400&ssl=1)
And a couple of summers later in 2011.
![Deck Entertaining, Summer, 2011 (Photo: Jill Piper)](https://i0.wp.com/www.rosslynredux.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/dsc_3698-1.jpg?resize=600%2C404&ssl=1)
Now let’s dial our metaphorical time machine forward to October 2022 when we accepted that weather’s relentless wear and tear had gotten the best of the balcony’s decking. It was time for a balcony reboot.
![Undecking the Balcony (Source: R.P. Murphy)](https://i0.wp.com/www.rosslynredux.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/221013-balcony-deck-demo-03.jpg?resize=1000%2C1000&ssl=1)
The time has come for undecking the balcony, removing the failing decking to make way for new balcony decking.
Pam took charge of this project which required some delicacy to ensure thorough removal of the cedar decking without inadvertently puncturing the waterproof membrane underneath…
[…]
With some help from Tony and Hroth, Pam made quick work of demoing the old panels and undecking the balcony…
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Now we’re ready to finalize the plan, dimensions, and materials list in order to redeck the balcony. (Source: Undecking the Balcony)
Pam tackled the brunt of demo, and Hroth undertook the early phases of this project, and then the baton was passed on to Glen who strategized and adapted garapa deck tiles from Advantage Lumber into a handsome new balcony deck perfectly coordinated with Rosslyn’s other garapa decks.
![Installing Garapa Deck Tiles from Advantage Lumber (Photo: Geo Davis)](https://i0.wp.com/www.rosslynredux.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/img_6081-1.jpg?resize=600%2C800&ssl=1)
In the photograph above, you’ll note that some of the deck tiles are laid out on top of other tiles, temporarily overlapping while fine tuning was undertaken to accommodate railing posts and several roofing conjunctions.
And once the Tetris-like challenge of deck tile installation was met, Glen and Pam tackled the even more nuanced riddle of rehabilitating — both structurally and aesthetically — the existing balcony railings and posts.
Here’s an in process micro-video during his painstaking rebuild.
Much like the post bases of the boathouse gangway, persistent moisture exposure had taken its toll, so Glen and Pam began by quite literally dissecting (with surgical precision) the post bases for the balcony railing. We agonized over the smallest details, strategizing, how best to eliminate moisture exposure and entrapment in the future, while ensuring that the railings would be at least a secure, if not more secure than their predecessors.
![Balcony Reboot 2023-4: preparing to dismantle post skirt/plinth (Photo: Glen Gherkin)](https://i0.wp.com/www.rosslynredux.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/img_8833-1.jpg?resize=533%2C800&ssl=1)
![Balcony Reboot 2023-4: Dismantling balcony post skirt/plinth (Photo: Glen Gherkin)](https://i0.wp.com/www.rosslynredux.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/img_8831-1.jpg?resize=600%2C800&ssl=1)
![Balcony Reboot 2023-4Balcony Reboot 2023-4: Dismantling balcony post skirt/plinth (Photo: Glen Gherkin) (Photo: Glen Gherkin)](https://i0.wp.com/www.rosslynredux.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/img_8829-1.jpg?resize=600%2C800&ssl=1)
![Balcony Reboot 2023-4: inaccessible, rust-frozen hardware (Photo: Glen Gherkin)](https://i0.wp.com/www.rosslynredux.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/img_8839-1.jpg?resize=600%2C600&ssl=1)
![Balcony Reboot 2023-4: inaccessible, rust-frozen hardware (Photo: Glen Gherkin)](https://i0.wp.com/www.rosslynredux.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/img_8837-1.jpg?resize=600%2C600&ssl=1)
![Balcony Reboot 2023-4: dissecting original post base (Photo: Glen Gherkin)](https://i0.wp.com/www.rosslynredux.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/img_8835-1.jpg?resize=600%2C600&ssl=1)
![Balcony Reboot 2023-4: Forensics for rehabilitation of balcony post plinths (Photo: Glen Gherkin)](https://i0.wp.com/www.rosslynredux.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/72280326247__5db98035-754b-46bd-aa5a-0b1cbda8474b.jpg?resize=600%2C450&ssl=1)
![Balcony Reboot 2023-4: Repairing post plinths piecemeal (Photo: Glen Gherkin)](https://i0.wp.com/www.rosslynredux.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/img_5972.jpg?resize=600%2C450&ssl=1)
Then it was time to rebuild the bases (once again with surgical precision) in order to re-prime, repaint, finalize installation of garapa decking, and button everything up before the onset of El Niño winter. No pressure!
![Balcony Reboot Complete: looking west (Photo: Geo Davis)](https://i0.wp.com/www.rosslynredux.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/img_5769-1.jpg?resize=600%2C800&ssl=1)
Many months later the balcony tells the story of Glen’s success, complete with a happy ending.
![Balcony Reboot Complete: looking north (Photo: Geo Davis)](https://i0.wp.com/www.rosslynredux.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/img_5766-1.jpg?resize=600%2C800&ssl=1)
Many thanks, Glen. And Pam. And Tony. And Hroth… Sometimes it takes a village!
![Balcony Reboot Complete: looking northwest (Photo: Geo Davis)](https://i0.wp.com/www.rosslynredux.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/img_5767-1.jpg?resize=600%2C800&ssl=1)
What do you think?