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First day- broke out two concrete steps with an 80# jackhammer. Man! I’m getting tttto old ffffor thththis.Glad I don’t have to break up concrete every day.
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Pro,
Those people are replacing that perfectly good concrete patio with a deck? You could probably talk them into a deck on the roof while you're at it.
Rick Louquet
*Ric- Patio's with washed aggregate are cold and hard on the bare feet. Wood is smooth and warm and invites you to the outdoors more than a slab.
*Are you leaving the rest of the slab ? Seems like it would be better to do so.
*Hi Luka-Yes the slab supports the posts and beams and eliminates the need for digging and setting pier blocks in concrete.
*Bob, man, the pace you keep around here is making me tired just lookin' at it on the board... That was some killer rain we had last week, eh? Bet you had a pretty good dose up your way too, Luka....Sam
*Yup. And killer is a good description of it here. It was the cause, or at least a part of the cause of the depression I got into at that time.
*Sam- I'm still cleanin,wire brushing and WD40ing everything I own from that last rain.3" in three days is a little much.I can't remember when I ever got that wet working.Soaked to the bone. It was too warm for rain gear so we just swam thru it.Take care, Bob
*Yep, I came home that day to a leaking skylight at the homestead. At least the weekend was good; spent part of the day re-flashing; fixing what the previous owners left behind.... S.
*Taking shape- Hot tub pad, arbor posts
*the main entertainment deck,cut bench supports
*Deck off bedroom
*Deck off bedroom to upper spa deck
*Hey BobWhats your treated 2x? I used a pile of outdoor appearance grade select structural hem fir from Dunn recently. Many had no apparent crown when I set them. After a couple weeks, there were too many crowns, showing down...Wondering if you have a method of determining which way a board will crown, if you can't make out one when its wet.Also, I called the other day with another question. Someone wants me to put a patio right on the property line, and a low deck maybe five feet away. King County. Any thoughts?BTW, you look like you've done this before. Nice work.Nathan
*Nathan- I called you back-and left message-We use ground contact, incised pressure treated hem/fir for all our framing and crown everything up. If we get a joist that looks like Stans corkscrew staircase stringers we give it back to the yard for a straight one.Use the 6-8-10 rule for joist spans.span 2x6-6'2x8-8' and crown should not sag.Five foot is the setback for building in King Co.you should be OK.Sorry I missed your call, Bob
*ThanksDoes the five foot rule apply to wood patio surfaces? They want the patio portion about one foot away from the fence.Problem isn't with overspanning, it seems like the joist crown after drying, and I made the wrong call on which way they were going to go. The plywood decking has some roll to it now, after adjacent joist have obvious crowns that are down. I've crowned thousands of joist. I can see a 1/8 crown in a sixteen footer. These had absolutely no crown when going in the buckets, but now some have 1/4"+ crown, and b the wrong (&*$&(*%Y*!!) direction...curious if the incised treated moves as badly on you as this "wolmanized" appearance grade stuff did. nathan
*Hi there, as usual, VERY nice jobA few questions if you dont mind from a relatively amateur operator!What spacing do you use between boards? over here (UK). I have seen quite large gaps between deck boards in general, no doubt to cut cost! It does tend to look much better with small gaps in my opinion, your work is a testament to this!What is the wood you are using? It looks like pine to me, but I am not familiar with your local home grown varieties...How do you form the foundation footings? DIY TV programs over here mostly dig a small hole and fill in with concrete, or simply place a preformed concrete pad down. The deck footings then seem to be simply just resting on these!! Heaven knows what'll happen in a storm with gale force winds! Might end up next doorPlanning my deck for next year, so appologies for the silly questions ;-)Keep up the good workF
*Bob: Its going to be another winner. Nice work. Do you have much competition out there? I am not talking about blow and go types, but I mean anyone that does superb work as yours. Also, I would guess that you seldom have to look for work, it finds you. Correct? Keep the pictures coming. I love to see your projects. It is neat to see something hatch out instead of just seeing the finished product.
*Nathan- you can pour right up to the property line as long as it is curbed and drained so it won't spill into the neighbors yard.That's bummin about your floor joists.They all move,the incised pressure treated shrink 1/2" when they dry.I'm not sure how to fix your sagging plywood short of back cutting the joist and putting another beam to support the back cuts. Bob
*1/2" plunge bit for low voltage wire
*line up supports,nail a deck board to the top for a router guide
*Go baby go...
*Supprt dato'd for wire
*supports routed 3/4 round
*setting bench supports-space from corner 6"-10" as long as the front two lines of the support intercept.
*Set bevel on chop saw and set at 22 1/2 degrees and mark from the back of the bench board.
*Spa bench
*both benches
*Stan- I have plenty of competition but most of my work is word of mouth referrals . There is plenty of work for everyone. If I'm not adding a new deck I'm replacing an old one.I usualy ask the customer to get at least 3 bids- this keeps us all honest.
*Francis Miles- we prefer 5/4x4 tight knot cedar for decking because of price,availability,durability,and good looks.We use a Trex spacer for deck spacing which is about 1/8" spacing.A 16 galv nail or speed square will work for spacing also. The footing requirements vary from county to country on footings. We normaly dig a 2' square hole 10" deep put in a pier block with a 4" adjustable saddle then 1-2 bags of pre-mix concrete.
*Bob: Those benches of yours are almost a trademark you have. They are the nicest design. I like the way you alternate the lighter colored wood. Those are really sharp.
*Thanks Stan- We have to dig pretty deep in the lumber pile to find dark heartwood. Some of my clients don't like the dark deck boards and ask us to replace them.
*you know you can buy rolls of necco wafers that are nothing but chocolate?I'd like to find a bunk of pure, nothing but heartwood decking someday...Bob, have you ever done business with LS Cedar on Vashon? I keep hearing bout how great their cedar is, delivered to this side of the water, at a fair price.
*Nathan- I went to school with Lee Singer who owns LS Cedar. I ordered my first load of 2x4 clear cedar from him about 10 years ago.Haven't had a 2x clear cedar deck since.He does have beautiful clear cedar though,and can sell it less expensive than the mainland.
*Okay Bob, Dumb question.... The bench supports; what's the connection with the deck? It almost looks as if they are sitting directly on the deck but I dunno..... BTW: looks great (as always). Great weather this past weekend eh? Sam
*Sam- they do set directly on the deck surface
*Pro, What keeps the supports in place, and what resists against racking?Jon
*Hi Bob.Another bench Q. You use incised PT DF. Have you seen the need to treat the ends of your 4x12 supports. From the end-on shots it looks like the PT goes in 1/2" (depth of incision) very well and then stops. Any issues here?Lookin' good,Steve W.
*Jon- the supports are toe nailed to the deck surface, plumbed as the first top 2x4 is nailed, the side piece (skirt) keeps the bench from racking.Bob
*Steve- the reason I use incised pressure treated DF is that it is structural and it does not wick water from the deck surface like cedar.No we don't treat the ends. Bob
*Corner BBQ cabinet goes on left side
*Spa step
*Step lights
*Had to buy a new compressor while the other one gets serviced
*Taking shape
*Hot tub deck all stained
*counter support for BBQ
*Arbor bolts-$10.00 each
*Bob: Nice work as usual. Clean, strong, functional, and built by a craftsman. Send some more views.
*Thanks Stan- Today I built the BBQ Counter-this is how I set the bevel at 22 1/2 degrees.
*Find intersect
*Cut 3 1/2" spacer blocks out of 1x4
*1x4 laid flat holds pieces at miter
*Unlike Greg Brown, I put the bag on my sander. hehe
*miter madness
*Skirt
*almost done
*Uh oh, do you spend much time looking over your shoulder for OSHA ?b : )
*All the time Luka-saw guards,TP ear plugs,shorts,but I still wear a shirt to cover up my 6 pack. hehe
*ROFLOLb : )
*BBQ Counter
*Bob, I've said it before, and I'll say it again.I am severely impressed.b : )
*Doors under counter are just deck boards stapled from the back side.
*Miter madness w/Stain
*I steped the fence down by the BBQ so you could look out to the yard.
*Deck complete RH
*Deck complete LH
*Thanks Luka!
*Bob: Very nice work.
*Thanks Stan- I saw a curved class staircase this weekend on a cruise ship. I"ll post a picture on one of your posts.
*Awesome work Bob! As the proud owner of your master craftsmanship we couldn't be happier with the work!
*Thanks Toby!-You guys were great to work for. Enjoy! Bob
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First day- broke out two concrete steps with an 80# jackhammer. Man! I'm getting tttto old ffffor thththis.Glad I don't have to break up concrete every day.