I started working on my deck earlier this summer. The boards had been stained a super dark color by the previous owner, and they had been power washed a little heavily so that they were grooved. Personally, I didn't want to sand it, and I really wasn't crazy about the railings so I stripped it.
You can see the boards run in two different directions, another thing I didn't really care for. You can see my buddy Tommy smoking a cigarette. Aaahhhh.... What a wonderful smell..... Boy a cigarette would be good today.....:sad11:
Once I got half of it stripped I powerwashed it and added bracing to it. Check out Tommy. We all had trouble staying balanced walking on the joists.
Of course, my wife wanted something different. Instead of running the boards normal, they are run diagonally.
Running boards at a 45 degree angle can be a bit of a headache. Just cutting the angles and fitting the boards isn't too bad. What is tough is cutting them to fit around the posts. The posts themselves were another joy. My rim joists weren't straight up and down, so I had to shim every post to get it level....:eusa_doh:
Note the mitersaw stand. It is one of the ones that HTC had for sale cheap. I got it for $49 including shipping. It is labeled as a Craftsman, but is really a very nice stand for the price. I did cut my hand severely on it assembling it though. Putting the rubber feet on one slipped, and slash. VERY painful. :gar-Cr
My deck is fairly large..... Around 40 feet long.....:cry_smile
We also decided to add an additional set of steps. Figuring out the way to do the rise and run wasn't bad. My original set of steps had only 3 stringers over a 4 ft span. I guess you can get away with that if you box in the risers. This set of steps is about 55" wide, and I put in 5 stringers. It is very sturdy.:gar-Bi
Railings along the deck weren't too bad. I would get my measurements and cut and assemble them in the shop. In this pic, I have a piece of 5/4 decking board sitting as the cap. In actuality, I am going to use 2x6 boards. They are still sitting in the back of my truck.:confused_
Railings on the steps are a different story. For 2 sets of steps, I had 8 segments of railings. I ended up having to make 12 segments of railings..... I was able to reuse parts, but I got off on angles, measurements, layouts, offsets, etc....... :embaresse
This is how it pretty much looks now. I have cleaned it off, and removed all the tools, but I still have to cut and install all the caps for the railings, and stain the lower part of the deck. I too have gotten kind of slack on the woodworking, and need to go ahead and finish it. Still, I think I will hire out the remaining staining and painting as I HATE to paint.
You can see the boards run in two different directions, another thing I didn't really care for. You can see my buddy Tommy smoking a cigarette. Aaahhhh.... What a wonderful smell..... Boy a cigarette would be good today.....:sad11:
Once I got half of it stripped I powerwashed it and added bracing to it. Check out Tommy. We all had trouble staying balanced walking on the joists.
Of course, my wife wanted something different. Instead of running the boards normal, they are run diagonally.
Running boards at a 45 degree angle can be a bit of a headache. Just cutting the angles and fitting the boards isn't too bad. What is tough is cutting them to fit around the posts. The posts themselves were another joy. My rim joists weren't straight up and down, so I had to shim every post to get it level....:eusa_doh:
Note the mitersaw stand. It is one of the ones that HTC had for sale cheap. I got it for $49 including shipping. It is labeled as a Craftsman, but is really a very nice stand for the price. I did cut my hand severely on it assembling it though. Putting the rubber feet on one slipped, and slash. VERY painful. :gar-Cr
My deck is fairly large..... Around 40 feet long.....:cry_smile
We also decided to add an additional set of steps. Figuring out the way to do the rise and run wasn't bad. My original set of steps had only 3 stringers over a 4 ft span. I guess you can get away with that if you box in the risers. This set of steps is about 55" wide, and I put in 5 stringers. It is very sturdy.:gar-Bi
Railings along the deck weren't too bad. I would get my measurements and cut and assemble them in the shop. In this pic, I have a piece of 5/4 decking board sitting as the cap. In actuality, I am going to use 2x6 boards. They are still sitting in the back of my truck.:confused_
Railings on the steps are a different story. For 2 sets of steps, I had 8 segments of railings. I ended up having to make 12 segments of railings..... I was able to reuse parts, but I got off on angles, measurements, layouts, offsets, etc....... :embaresse
This is how it pretty much looks now. I have cleaned it off, and removed all the tools, but I still have to cut and install all the caps for the railings, and stain the lower part of the deck. I too have gotten kind of slack on the woodworking, and need to go ahead and finish it. Still, I think I will hire out the remaining staining and painting as I HATE to paint.
