Deck Remodel – Saturday (day 1)
Well, it was time to re-do our deck or so I was told. I have to agree with her, especially after pulling up some of the decking. It was definitely in worse shape than I had imagined. Here’s a picture of it beforehand. I am not sure what the green stuff is, but I am sure it isn’t helping matters.
It is worse than it looks. The redwood paint hides a lot of its age.
I started by taking our the seating planks and knocking out the ballusters. I was surprised how easy it was to kick out the ballusters with a light tap of my shoe. I made a mental note to make sure I do a better job than the previous builder of securing the to the railing and bottom face frame.
Seating, ballusters and handrail mostly removed.
The hand rail came out pretty easily. I spent a lot of time removing nails from boards before throwing them to the ground. I don’t want any little kiddies stepping on any rusty nails. Vic was sick today and had a fever. Consequently he really didn’t feel much like being outside. Laurel and Jenny ran some errands and also hit the book sale at the library, so I was able to tear into it without much disruption.
Once I got into a groove I made good headway with the railing and seating. When enough wood would accumulate on the deck to be in the way, I would throw it down to the ground.
Pile of wood on the ground
Now after I got all the ballusters, seat boards and railings down and out of the way, it was time to tackle the railing posts and seat brackets. Well, it was time to re-do our deck or so I was told. I have to agree with her, especially after pulling up some of the decking.
Just the bench posts left
They were a lot more difficult to take down. I started on these after lunch. Talk about a pain. Each one was bolted in with a rusty bold. Most didn’t have a hex head either… they were square. I was hoping to used a cordless drill with a socket and pull them off without much effort. This was not to be the case. Most of the nuts were rusted on tight. At least half ended up breaking in half when I took the wrenches to them.
I really enjoyed once all the rails were removed and just nothing between you and the ground. Makes it feel nice and open!
Feels like you’re floating!
That’s enough for day 1.