Almost always there's an observation or something that I notice or leave with on a job. This one was the massive backyard, a small park or a football field...either way it was nice and this job's take away.
Once again our business relationship with Home Depot's ProDesk proved valuable as they were able to deliver on a short notice.
This particular demo was different from many others, not so much because it was high but more so because it was literally dangling from one end - we had to remove one piece at a time.
<--- Here it is almost fully demo'd - we didn't care for the the way it was built . Too many post but not enough meat for the post to support. Usually you have to put three 2x10 on the outer rim if you want the deck to rest on posts.
On the right is the new framing - the deck is about 14x24'...lots of lumber
Joist Hangers - 10 structural screws per hanger - six are 1.5" long - the four that go on the sides are 2.5" long. Why? Because they angle across and need to be longer to grab the 2x10 against the brick wall
The 2x10 that goes attached to the dwelling has to be secured with through-bolts (usually 10" long, always galvanized). This home has a finished basement with soffit ceilings (it was sort of a pain b/c the a/c ducts and lights were in the way) - this meant we had to demo the ceiling drywall and then make it look like nothing ever happened. :)
What's this on the left? We put an over-the-joist cover to prevent water to fall underneath. This allows the homeowners to enjoy the vast space underneath year-round. We put plywood and then a self-adhesive roofing weathershield barrier - the decking sits on top of treated strips that sit just enough to let water run-off (yes, we built the deck with a slight decline)
Forward progress....
This deck required a lot of stairs... a bunch.
The view!!! Maybe you can't tell from the pic, but I am not exaggerating, the backyard is the length of a football field - surrounded by awesome trees.
On we start with aluminum balusters...one by one, sucks up a lot of time but once on they look great!
The entire deck build is important, but two things primarily..the 2x10 being connected to the home properly and the footings. We have to dig at least 12" or until we hit hard ground...sometimes hard ground is easily 3' deep.
A footing like this easily takes five 80lb bags that we let sit overnight...
Afterwards we install a 6x6 galvanized post base that the 6x6 posts sits on. Why? Code mainly, but it truly is safe step. The 6x6 sits on the raised based to help avoid sitting water from rotting the treated lumber.
Hardware, and more hardware..all hardware used is galvanized to prevent rust from the elements and from the chemicals in the treated lumber. On this pic you see joist hangers AND stair stringer straps. Code requires this, however, we really like them b/c they really secure the stairs versus nails that pry apart over time.
More hardware indeed...1/2" thick galvanized bolts with galvanized washers certainly keep the railing posts in time...if your deck only has nails you may want to correct it.
I told you there were a lot of stairs....
Alas the finished product....
The deck turned out real nice..the boards are 12' long on each side with two middle perpendicular boards at 14' long each. We don't like a bunch of cut up pieces b/c they pop up over time. We screwed these boards in.
Stained Nice!! We love Sherwin Williams paint, but prefer Behr for stain, we've had better luck with it.
Biggie Nice!!!
Rump Nice!!! - Notice how the entire deck rest on top of two 2x10 beams that cross the span of the deck.
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