Deck Remodel – Sunday (day 20)

We’re back at it again.  I don’t think I will have the construction done by next weekend, but that would be my preference as the weather feels too nice to be working. Staining and painting probably won’t actually happen until spring so that the wood dries out sufficiently and fades just a little bit (and gets rid of some of the greenish cast).

I did get the half posts installed against the house so I could start on the railing.  I countersunk a 7/8″ hole and drilled through the rest of the way with a regular 3/8″ bit then a 3/8″ masonry bit into the mortar for some “redwing” brand anchors.  I really like the anchors. They seem to work really well.

Ripping the 6x6 down the middle was a little more work than I thought it would be. I initially tried to re-saw it with the bandsaw, but the cut wanted to wander pretty bad. We ended up scoring a pretty deep groove with the table saw first on both sides and then finish it up with the bandsaw.

I spent a lot of time and tried to use online calculators to figure out the best method for spacing the balusters.

Look closely and you can see all the markings and re-markings on the 2x4 rail. My trusty 12 year old Dewalt drill hasn't let me down yet!

I didn’t like the 4″ gap between the balusters (maximum spacing that code allows) so I ended up going 3.25″ apart.   The online calculators are great and all but it takes way too long to mark down all the lines for the spacing and measuring each one with a tape measure was not going to save time and things seemed to creep off by the end.  I changed my plan and started using a pair of dividers which were amazingly fast and very accurate.

Dividers, where have you been all my life! You sure do work great!

Jenny helped me cut balusters this afternoon.  I had the miter saw set up with a stop block to cut them to length and then adjusted it in order to make all the bevel cuts. I think she did a pretty good job.

Cutting the bevel with the chop saw.

There is a little bit of danger involved with this saw.  I can tell you from experience.  The next picture is a close-up of one of the bevels getting cut.  You can see where there is potential for the little piece to fly off after being cut right at the end.  Luckily, I don’t think all but a few got shot out of the back of the saw.

The little cut off piece likes to take flight if the saw blade is still spinning after the cut and brought back up out of the orange guard.

The sun was out all day.  It was extremely nice out but I think I got a little too much sun and lost a bit of water because it didn’t feel so hot.

Here's the first railing on the south side of the deck. A 2x6 top hand rail will be screwed down into the posts as well as the top baluster rail. It's pretty solid right now, but when the top rail is in place I don't think anything will be able to knock it free.

So much for the weekend!

Deck Remodel – Thursday (day 19)

No activity due to all the rain this week until today.   A break is actually what I’ve been needing though..

I tried cutting off two of the posts today with the miter saw.   It was my brother’s idea so I cannot take credit for it – though I am not sure if this is the safest thing to try.  Undoubtedly it will save me a lot of sweat but it is probably better as a two man operation as the saw is pretty heavy.

This is probably just as dangerous as it looks!

The saw is a 12″ miter saw.. but probably not big enough.  I think a 14″ may get me a lot closer to getting through the entire post.  Here’s how far I got with a single cut.

The top arrow shows where the saw motor housing is already running into the wood. The bottom arrow shows how far through the wood the blade made it before stopping.

I was hoping to get to the lumber store where I got the majority of the material before it closed today, however I didn’t get finished at my work in time so hopefully I can get there tomorrow!

Deck Remodel – Saturday (day 18)

We spent the entire day working on the decking and got it finished!  J helped most of the morning by pre-cutting off the end of the wood.  Later on she was measuring and doing the cuts from start to finish.  By noon there was only about 3 rows to go.  Unfortunately, I estimated a little too well and we were running out of wood for decking.  I had to disassemble my cutting stand to retrieve 3 of the 12″ decking boards.  Rats!

The last rows required a lot of notching to go around the posts.  That took all afternoon to complete and I wrapped it up around 5 PM right before dinner.  It didn’t help that I had to cut the notches with an old toaster!

OK.. well it isn't a toaster, but they sure don't make them like this anymore. Maybe I should update myself with a new one. It sure is noisy!

The notches were easy if there were only one in a board, but when you have two or three in one board, all of a sudden the tolerances start mattering a lot more.  The cutting took a long time.  I think there might be a better way to cut them but I couldn’t think of a better way to do it and I really don’t like using a skil-saw.

The board from Lowes in the middle sticks out like a sore thumb. I am sure the sun will take care of this in a few weeks.

The worst part of doing the decking is how hard it is on your knees. Most of the time is spent crouched and lining up the boards to get the optimal spacing between planks.  I had been using some knee pads but all the wear and tear actually squished the padding down to nothing and they weren’t really helping.

You can see J in the background getting ready for dinner - I better get inside!

All done.. the kids are pretty excited about the decking being done but they want the rail installed…

Whew!

Deck Remodel – Friday (day 16-17)

Vic and I hustled after dinner and were able to get two rows and a partial row started.  I think we may get the decking licked tomorrow assuming the weather cooperates.   Here’s a look at where we are.  Also pictured is my extension ladder that has been one of the best investments I’ve made over the years.

Progress so far and my trusty old Werner extension ladder.

Deck Remodel – Tuesday (day 15)

Only two rows of decking a night.  That’s about all I can accomplish before the sun starts setting.  If I wait too long it gets dark and a little harder to clean up and get all the tools inside.  I really don’t like working in the dark.  I suppose at least 1/4 of the time is spent on setting up the miter saw cutting station and getting the screws, drills, electrical cord and so on out on the deck.  So it goes! I’m probably about 1/2 way through the decking now I’d say.