Deck Remodel – Monday (day 14)

Back to the work week where not much gets done in the evenings.  Now that the weather is colder here it also seems like the light is going away pretty fast.  At the point when we move the clocks back I am sure there won’t be any light after work, so I better get it whipped by then.   I did get a few more deck boards down and even put two in with a notch to accommodate the post.

Here's the notched pieces. The dark one is so dark due to the wetness of the treated wood.

The next two pictures can sort of give you an idea of how much decking I have down now.  The deck is about 27′ long so there are a few necessary splice in the runs.  I have consciously tried to keep them spaced out.  It takes a little longer to plan and cut, but in the long run I think it will look a lot nicer than the previous deck where the joints were always in the same two spots.

Looking along the front of the kitchen window

I hope the deck looks this "warm and inviting" when I'm all done!

Deck Remodel – Saturday (day 13)

Back at it again.  I think we made a lot of progress today.  At least that is what my muscles are telling me right now! I did sneak in two joists on Thursday night, but it wasn’t worth posting about, but I did take a picture.

Some more joists. You can see my gas pipe for the fireplace is running under them. I thought about moving it, but when the decking is in place I'll never really see it again.

We started pretty early today.  My neighbor stopped by to tell me it was looking good.  I think he meant it although I think my projects tend to be eyesores.. mainly while they are underway..   😉     He was having a yard sale so there was a lot of traffic in the cul-de-sac this morning.  The weather was nice.   I slapped together a rolling miter saw stand.  Up nice and high so I can see where exactly my cuts are going to land.   It also has pretty good-sized extension arms to help hold the boards while I was cutting.  It saved a lot of time today and  definitely helped my knees without having to get up and down all the time to make those cuts.

Victor and I got all the joists except two up in place and then ran out of joist hanger nails.  When we got back from ACE Hardware, Uncle showed up to lend a hand and we put up the final two joists pretty quickly.

The light colored ones are the new joists we put in between the old joists. The alternating colors reminds me of a circus tent..

The decking actually went pretty fast.  My brother and I probably spent as much time contemplating how the best way would be to cut the decking to look the best right up against the house.  I think it turned out pretty well.

The guy responsible for the precision cuts on the decking. Here you can see him verifying the accuracy with his iPhone app.

Some of the wood looked like it was from the “top of the bunk” that 84 Lumber delivered and was already changed a little by the sun.  I don’t mind it really.  Everything tends to end up nearly the same color in the end if you wait long enough.  We probably won’t stain it for quite a while until we are sure it is totally dried out.

Another thing I am trying, as I am keeping the original joist/facial/ledger board structure, was to paint on some copper based wood preservative.  Vic did a good job keeping it off of himself and did all of the ledger board.  I did the outside face boards and some of the joists that were more worse for wear.  I hope it keeps the older wood around for a while longer.

The smell is something pretty wacky. I can still smell it on my hands. Probably something like soaking pennies in some vinegar for a few days?

After the decking was up against the brick next to the doorway, I put in some caulking under the threshold type piece on the bottom of the door and replaced the original threshold (just a ripped 2×4) for bracing the sliding glass doors.

And there you have it for today.  I am doubting anything additional will get done tomorrow!

One good day devoted to work on the weekend is enough.

Thanks again brother for your help!

Deck Remodel – Tuesday (day 12)

Vic and I put up a few joist hangers today and then measured for some new joists.  Vic helped mark for the cuts and after helping me drag the heavy boards to the saw, and getting them set up I let him carefully perform the cuts.

There's something refreshing about seeing the brand new joists in place...

Then after nailing them in place it was dinner time.  No time to do anything after eating though.. the sun has already set!

Deck Remodel – Saturday and Sunday (day 10-11)

Well lots of activity going on this weekend.  Spending time with family is definitely a better choice than slaving away on the deck.  I did manage with Jenny’s help to slip in a few more posts.  We put two up on Saturday.

Only two posts left to do.. and YES that old 4x4 posts is that bent!

Sunday was very nice and cool.  It is amazing how much perspiring I do when I work… so I really like the cooler weather. We finished up the posts, and meanwhile set the kids to weed-pulling.

Finally!

Deck Remodel – Friday (day 9)

Another post up.  I think we have just 4 to go then.  A few more joists and then I can start decking!

This one is number 4