Just got a design in for a deck that has a curved rim–just glancing at the plans I’d say about a 4 foot radius and 135 degrees of a circle (less than a semicircle). I’m assuming I will create a curved piece of 2×8 or 2×10 rim and splice this in between the straight sections that form the rest of the outline of the deck. In the shop I’ve laminated curves by ripping down thin layers of material and gluing it around a form using a boatload of clamps, but that’s always been furniture parts and window trim and other small-ish stuff that’s relatively easy to handle. Still, the technique *could* be the same… make up a form using two pieces of plywood cut to the curve and a bunch of short chunks of 2×4, then glue up around that. There’s a local guy with a resaw and a widebelt sander that I could go to for the thin layers. Decking is as yet unspecified but I’m thinking this will be mahogany. Cedar is a distant second.
Any ideas out there? Ease of building and probability of success are major concerns, long life in the wet environment of a deck is another. How would you approach this?
Drawing here: http://www.bailerhill.com/deck.jpg
Replies
Azek,Koma and Marley all manufacture white plastic trim boards that could be easily bent around a 4 or 6 sided frame work, and used as trim around the rest of the deck.
David, 4' is a very tight radius. I like the design, but I would like to ask what your client is going to do in that little area? A 4' table needs about an 8' circle around it for Chairs.
It is OK to question a design from the standpoint that it's function may not facilitate the need.
Here is a few shots of how we framed some curves to mirror the curves of a pond.
We heated and kerfed Trex for the fascia.
"Rather be a hammer than a nail"
Bob
Damn! That is ONE BEATIFUL deck!
The deck's going on my house, so if any of my clients are ever there I hope it'll be to drop off a check. A round table and 4 chairs will fit in the space along with a lot of container plantings. Neither of the doors is a primary entrance to the house so I'm not concerned about direct traffic flow from stairs to doors. The whole thing ties into the landscaping around it, and the bottom line is that I don't want to do anything larger and definitely not a typical rectangle with the corners cut off.
I like the framing details your photos show. If you did the fascia in wood, how would you do that? And, what is the decking on your project?
David, the decking on the curved pond deck is Tight Knot cedar. If I did the fascia in wood I would use 1/4" X 8" resawn cedar. I would then hose it down, in this project I would leave it in the pond till we needed it.
I would bend the sections by putting them vertically at the base of the foundation and wedging it under the horizontal siding over night.
I have never had great success gluing outdoor wood that expands and contracts in the elements. In time it will delaminate.
Have fun on your deck project.......
"Rather be a hammer than a nail"
Bob
I love the curves, but it sure looks like a lot of work! I have a customer that had a deck designed with curved Trex treads. The designer shows a 10' radius for the tightest curve. The Trex installation guide suggests a minimum of 16' radius. They recommend heating the Trex in a Sonotube with a portable propane heater.
How do you heat the Trex? How tight can you turn the 5/4 decking?
Thanks!
Al Mollitor, Sharon MA
Al, this is the high tech Trex heater, and we still had to kerf the Trex to make the tight bend.............
Ooooooops! guess can't post any more pictures??????????
"Rather be a hammer than a nail"
Bob
pics ... sure ya can.
The counter is broke ....
just the way we want it ...
post away.
JeffBuck Construction, llc Pittsburgh,PA
Artistry in Carpentry
OK ,now here is a shot of our High Tech composit decking heater.
Who said Sono tubes don't catch on fire?.............
Oh, don't look down the tube when heater's on, I lost my eye brows on this shot."Rather be a hammer than a nail"
Bob
Thanks Bob! Exactly what I wanted to see. Do you heat only one piece at a time? How long does it take? How do you know when it's ready?
Al Mollitor, Sharon, MA
LOL, you know it is ready when the Sono Tube starts burning....hehehehe
Yes, we heat one piece at a time for about ten minutes, it comes out of the tube like hot rubber. Where some good gloves."Rather be a hammer than a nail"
Bob
I noticed the motion detector sprinkler head - do they work well?
Those are called scare crows. they never worked the whole time we were there but maybe the batteries were dead.
They are supposed to keep the heron from eating the fish."Rather be a hammer than a nail"
Bob
scarecrows? do you know where these things are sold, my neighbors have enlarged their pond and are now having a similar problem with birds.
beautiful deck
Granted, ours is an 8 ft radius, but what they did was to use layers of marine grade plywood, glued and screwed together around a form.
What's the finished face? Plywood or the same species as the decking?
Since the deck is being left unfinished, at present the plywood is just bare, painted with preservative, but I expect I'll let it age for a year and then maybe go with a white stain or paint.
David,
I think your idea of glueing veneers arround a form will work. Use a marine grade epoxy or urea formaldihyde. There was a makers article in Fine Wood Working a few years ago where the maker used this technique to make a circular table apron with a radius of about 2' and thickness of about 2". He made the apron overwidth and trimmed it to size using a jointer and thicknesser. The form you require could be rather expensive, you will need a strong form with a smooth face. Drawing it out, it looks like a sheet of ply will only yield one layer of the form, so a 6in high form would require 8 sheets of 3/4 in ply. You could use a steel band to apply some of the outside pressure. Spring back could be an issue, so you make want to make the curved section longer than required so that you can fix the ends out of sight. I think your idea of using short chunks of 2x4 has a significant risk of telegraphing though the laminations.
An alternative would be kerfing, but I would worry about the durability of a piece of external timber with kerfs every inch or so.
you may want to post this over in Knots
Ian
An alternative would be kerfing, but I would worry about the durability of a piece of external timber with kerfs every inch or so.
I agree with how the material is compromised using kerf technique. When needed, I've mixed up glue and sawdust to putty in the kerfs and use wax paper to protect the form then clamp to the form letting the excess ooze out where it will. You can scrape most of the excess with a putty knife then after dry, scrape and sand for finish. It takes a couple days drying time but I could see doing the same thing with Gorilla glue and sawdust and wet the wood. It'll be messy though.