The Great "Out Deck"

[ustmd]

Since there have been so many deck questions lately, I thought I would post some pictures of the deck I am building for my neighbors/in laws (the in laws live next door).

The back yard to their house has never been very accessible from the house and consequently has been neglected. There was a significant step out out of the kitchen door (~2 ft) and from the master bedroom (~3 ft). Neither the builder nor the previous 2 owners ever thought to do something about it.

So when the in laws put in an above ground pool in September, we thought it was a perfect time to put in a deck to make the area more usable.

My mother in law had the pool company put in a small deck when they set up the pool. The pool company charged her $3k for the 150 sq ft deck . Don't get me started on this deck.

The deck we are building is ~800 sq ft and is on two levels-to accommodate the slope of the land and to meet the level for the 150 sq deck. I have 4 x 4 pt posts set on 18" footers. The beams are doubled 2x8 pt and the joists are all 2x8 pt, 16" OC. The decking will be 5/4 cedar.

Unfortunately, since we just dropped below 100 for the highs this week, progress has been slow. I will keep the pictures coming as we make progress.

 

[ustmd]

A couple more pictures.

That is my mother in law with the supervisor-Tig

 

[BeezFun]

Let us know when you have the pool party, we'll bring our suits. Looks great.

 

[ustmd]

Let us know when you have the pool party, we'll bring our suits. Looks great.

Well, if you all bring your tools and help finish, you are more than welcome to come on over.

Spent today doing some more structural work on the deck--blocking by the pool.

We got about 6 courses of the decking laid.

 

[tmajor]

I'm reluctant to say anything .. "if you don't have anything good to say, ..."

I don't like the joists to be over their bearing support by so far (as in the first picture above). In other words lapped so far. When weight is put on the unsupported portion of the joists, in the center, the end beyond the support, will tend to try to go up.

P.S. Other than that, it looks good!

 

[ustmd]

The heat finally broke and we got all of the decking down. We lost 1.5 days to this strange event. Water fell from the sky. Do any of you have any familiarity with that phenomena? :laughing:

Now we only need to decide on what to do on the area where my father in law will have his grill and then the railings.

 

[ustmd]

The supervisors also had a new spot.

 

[crbr]

Looks good....

 

[MotorSeven]

That's a bigun.. isn't it fun building one around a nice curvy pool?

 

[ustmd]

That's a bigun.. isn't it fun building one around a nice curvy pool?

Yeah--I definitely noticed how big it was with the last 200 sq ft of decking--knees are all scraped up.

I should also mention, this is my first deck, so the curve of the pool just added a level of "interest" to my first time out of the gate on a deck.

I can definitely say that the Bo wrench was worth every dime of the $53 I paid for it.

 

[MotorSeven]

Bo Wrench? Never heard of one...interesting. I always just used a big(18") curved screwdriver with a curve at the tip from Sears...drive the tip in and push on the handle.
For your first deck I'd say you did a great job:thumbsup:

 

[MossflowerWoods]

I can definitely say that the Bo wrench was worth every dime of the $53 I paid for it.

What is a Bo Wrench?
Pic please?

Bo Wrench? Never heard of one...interesting. I always just used a big(18") curved screwdriver with a curve at the tip from Sears...drive the tip in and push on the handle.
For your first deck I'd say you did a great job:thumbsup:

Huh? Not sure I follow sir. Pic Please?

I need to build a small deck & steps to replace a nasty sinking concrete step, and to link the wrap around concrete porch monstrosity to a small covered paver patio with an outdoor man kitchen area.

Nothing is square, most of it is not level.

This is just another of my "projects" I need to do.

Be well.
David

 

[MotorSeven]

Poor Moss...wandering around lost....here ya go buddie, watch the video:
http://www.bowrenchdirect.com/:D

I drive a screw driver tip into the top of the joist, pull the bowed board in, then nail. It does damage the joist a little, so I think I will weld up a bo-type wernch for the future.

You still need to address the spacing between boards so rain can get through, so don't suck them up tight.

 

[ustmd]

MotorSeven beat me to the punch on the reply.

Here is the link to amazon and a couple of pictures:

http://www.amazon.com/Cepco-Tool-BW...24UP/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1319118392&sr=8-1

I was able to bring in some pretty serious warps with it, so I was happy (I was also working with 5/4 cedar).

The other feature which I appreciated is that it is reversable. You can use it as they show in the pictures working from the deck to "pull" the deck boards into alignment or you can reverse the two components on the handle and use it to "push" the board if you are working from joists.

 

[beppington]

Cool tool! But, I agree: On an exterior deck I think they should've used ~1/4" spacers between the planks to let water through & for expansion.

 

[Dave5264]

Cool tool! But, I agree: On an exterior deck I think they should've used ~1/4" spacers between the planks to let water through & for expansion.

Generally agree, but if that PT wood is as green and wet as the Junk we get up here, he'll end up with 1/4 gaps any way. Really I dont know how they get away with selling the stuff.

 

[MotorSeven]

Generally agree, but if that PT wood is as green and wet as the Junk we get up here, he'll end up with 1/4 gaps any way. Really I dont know how they get away with selling the stuff.

It's the same here. It's stacked and stored outside, so you get free mildew... drive a nail in and get splattered with water.

 

[ustmd]

Generally agree, but if that PT wood is as green and wet as the Junk we get up here, he'll end up with 1/4 gaps any way. Really I dont know how they get away with selling the stuff.

All the instructions for PT decking actually said to lay it tight and allow the "natural" shrinkage create the gap.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

MotorSeven beat me to the punch on the reply.

Here is the link to amazon and a couple of pictures:

Amazon.com: Cepco Tool BW-2 BoWrench Decking Tool: Home Improvement

I was able to bring in some pretty serious warps with it, so I was happy (I was also working with 5/4 cedar).

The other feature which I appreciated is that it is reversable. You can use it as they show in the pictures working from the deck to "pull" the deck boards into alignment or you can reverse the two components on the handle and use it to "push" the board if you are working from joists.

The first board bender I ever saw was made by Stanley and we picked it up around 15-18 years ago. 84 lumber had one here and they were the only place. Asked at some of the other lumber yards and they laughed at us so we went to 84 and bought it and brought it in to show them. A month later the other yards all carried the same stanley board bender. Its been great and weve used it on a lot of projects over that time. Even lent it to friends/neighbors for their projects and it still looks as good as the day we bought it. Definitely was worth the money as its so much easier then the old drive something into the joist and pry method.

 

[crbr]

Looks good...