It was so cold that I wimped out, made some coffee and read the newspapers until 8.00 am.

First off, I needed to brace the corner column back to vertical by reinstalling the diagonal timbers.

I also ran string lines to check the alignments.

I managed to crack one of the timbers and had to start over.

Eventually by 10.00 am I had the column set up.

I sprayed the top of it with Galmet and then scribed the positions of the veranda beams and diagonal beam.

I used a straight edge (a long piece of metal stud framing) to measure the length of the diagonal and check that the levels were ok.

I need a piece of steel that is 4195 mm long - this is little bit longer than anything I have - hence I will need to weld two pieces together.

I spent about an hour sorting through the available lengths until I found two with matching profiles.

I then spent another hour or two dragging pieces of steel around (base and two pieces to weld), trimming off rubbish to leave clean sharp edges, grinding bevels and clamping the pieces to avoid warping.

Welding took me up to 4.30 and then it was time to pack up tools and head home.

My welding was good and straight but there was already a small bend in the beam.

I had a chat with Ross who thinks that he heats it up with Oxy and then applies cold wet rags he might be able to straighten it.