Fixin' The Deck Part 11

It's Memorial Day weekend, and that means a few different things. It means the INDY 500, this time the 108th running, and the Monaco grand prix for the 70th time. It's somewhat surprising to find that the INDY 500 is so much older. For me it means three days off work and the chance to bring the deck renovation a bit closer to its conclusion. When I say "conclusion" I mean be done with installing deck boards. After that there is a bunch more to do including installing fascia boards, gutters and downspouts, perimeter flashings and of course a perimeter railing. But let's not get ahead of ourselves...

This is the scene at the start of the long weekend. It looks like just a small section of deck left to complete but it's worth pointing out that at least a dozen boards in the foreground are just laid in place and not sloped at all.

I began by tearing off the top layer of plywood and removing the nails. The remaining section of plywood is low enough that the deck boards could be installed on top with suitable shims....but it is stained all over and rotten in places, so I started tearing that off too.

One (1) piece out! I can now see straight into the table saw room. With a ladder underneath the hole, I was able to get in and out of the workshop much more quickly every time I needed to get another tool or saw blade etc.

This is the bit of plywood that was right above the table saw room. The white patches are fungus damage that I have been watching grow for the last several years...

D came out to help....but didn't...

Next section off... at this point the substructure started to get very wobbly! There are a several reasons for the lack of support: these joists are sawn 2" x 10"s while the newer ones are 2" x 12" and consist of much more robust Laminated Veneer Lumber (LVL). Add to that the older joists are spaced at 16" intervals versus 12" at the LVL and that no blocking was present. Suffice to say, the structure was not strong enough to support some deck boards which are held down with a few short screws. 

So, after an evening detour to the local Big Box store to pick up 2" x 10" lumber, I spent most of the next morning chopping and installing blocking from below. It is much easier to install the blocking flush when the plywood above is still in place:

After that the rest of the plywood was torn off and the structure was found to be rigid enough for me to dance around on top of it (if you can imagine what that might look like?). 

This is later after non-rotten/stained plywood has been installed over the framing. This is now a super solid base on which we can lay the deck boards:

It remains necessary to install shims on top of the plywood because the plywood platform is essentially level and we want the deck boards to slope at least 1/8" per foot.

 

An important milestone was needing to bring more boards out of the garage...

At the end of the weekend, we have about a dozen more boards to install before this part of the project can be completed. Before that I have to do some repairs to the rim joist.

Covered the exposed areas with plywood for now, just in case it should rain again before Fall:

The deck looks much more impressive after I swept it down and looked in the opposite direction:

To be continued...

Fixin' The Deck Part 10

Last time around we spent the best part of four days re-sloping and re-installing deck boards more or less from the double doors out to the apex. The next Saturday, we had a massive unseasonal downpour, which meant we couldn't work on the deck....and at the same time we discovered that the deck boards still do not drain correctly:

From studying the areas where the water was ponding, I discovered that the deck boards curl upwards after the last attachment point. So, the next day, after the weather cleared up, I went out and cut off the excess sections. I cut the edge a couple of inches longer than what I think the final measurement will be; this gives me some wiggle room when I'm installing the gutters.

A quick test with the hose pipe showed there was a lot of improvement, but still not quite there:

To completely remove the "curling effect," I need to make an attachment point closer to the ends of the boards. The next photo shows the view from underneath and was taken the following weekend. In the absence of the fascia board, most of the boards overhang the house by almost a foot. 

I could hang the fascia board next and screw the deck boards into that...but the fascia will only be 3/4" thick. I need something a bit "meatier" to really anchor the deck boards and prevent them from curling upwards. The solution is to install 2" x 4" blocking between each pair of rafter tails. I used treated lumber for the blocks because I don't have to paint them, and I have a bunch of scrap pieces knocking about from the original deck.

 

This is later on after blocking was installed at the way along the edge of the deck that overhangs the left side of the garage:

I installed four (4) deck screws into each board, all of which hit the blocking or the rafter tails:

This is later after hosing down the deck again....No standing water!

The next day the sun was still shining so we got back to installing more deck boards. The three-ply rim joist needed a little bit more adjustment:

By the end of the day, we had put down six full boards after the corner of the office:

It looks a bit more impressive if you look the other way and count back from the apex (13 boards):

The last few boards were just dropped in place for now:

This is the last bit of the original roof, probably less than a quarter of the total area:

The next day happened to be somewhat cloudy....and I had the whole afternoon off work. I decided it was high time to remove the rest of the roof covering - I need to assess the damage in this area and make repairs before we can install many more deck boards. I started by removing the last bits of the enclosures and the gates and post sleeves, and then I move these items to the backyard.

I was particularly keen to see below this soft spot which happens to be located above the cabinet saw room...this area has been leaking all the time we've lived here...

As expected....lots of moisture-related damage around the posts:

Some close-ups of the rotten plywood:

The top step of the stairs and the stringers were installed over the roofing material, so they had to be removed:

I ended up removing all the treads and risers and both outside stringers since I will be building new stairs later. After that I pulled off the fascia boards and the plywood behind them. Here is a look at the bits which need the most repair work:

To be continued....

Dining Room Cabinets & Bookcase Part 7

Back to the cabinet....back! I'm making the back panel from three separate pieces of plywood. The central strip is 42" wide, and the pieces at the sides are about twelve inches each. This is with the first piece fitted:

With the central piece added:

All done:

The three back panel sections will be joined with biscuits - this is not really necessary from a strength perspective, but helps with alignment and also helps with my reputation for over-engineering at every  opportunity. I can put a piece of tape across the join, and mark where I want to put biscuits:

The tape can be cut by sliding a razor blade between the plywood panels:

...and biscuit slots can be cut accurately at both panels:

Similar methodology was used to cut slots in the central section of the back panel..

...and at the bookcase:

This was one of the more difficult glue ups. The next couple of pictures were taken the following day:

There is a lot of fine glue residue inside the bookcase which needs to be sanded off, but otherwise it is looking in very good nick.

Fixin' The Deck Part 9

It has been a little over four (4) months since I last worked on the deck. Most of that time it has been raining, or I have been busy with commitments such as Goodguys and what not. Or both. Not to mention that this project is not something you can work on for an hour or two here and there. When I left off, the week before Christmas, I made a sloped plywood bridge between the remaining section of the roof and the new deck, and I was optimistic that this would be waterproof. It mostly worked.

This is how the deck looked when we got back from the Christmas vacation:

Water was ponding at the ends of the longest boards, which I wasn't bothered about because these areas were incomplete...

...and at the boards that I thought were finished - which definitely was concerning:

Ponding water = leaks in the garage. After about three months, the garage ceiling checked out:

By this time there was mold all over the outside wall...

....and fungus growing on the garage floor:

So, fast forward to last weekend, and hey presto, back to it! We took a couple of days off work either side of the weekend, so we had a solid 4 day stretch to move the project forward. The first morning was lost to stocking up on provisions and finishing up a few work-related things and then it was full speed ahead.

The boards have to come up one at a time, starting with the one that was installed most recently. We stacked the first half dozen loose boards on the remaining section of the original roof, and then just slid each additional board in that direction. The last few went on top. The deck doesn't look that much different at this stage.

 

We kept a total of eleven boards - the first eight are fine and slope (and drain) correctly. The next three are very close to the correct slope and we couldn't get them out in one piece anyway, so they will be staying by default.

After that, we took a break and then began the tedious process of re-installation. Essentially this consists of measuring the slope, correcting as necessary - we're aiming for at least 1/8th of an inch per foot - and then installing the board and re-checking the slope...and making additional adjustments as needed. And rinse and repeat. The next photo was taken after three boards have been very carefully re-installed and the slope checked and re-checked. That was as far as we got on the first day.

The rest of the time was spent doing much the same, interspersed with taking lots of short breaks inside the house. The heat wasn't exactly overbearing, but it was warmer than would have been ideal. At least it wasn't raining!  

Made it past the first corner...

One third done....

Made it to the apex...

There was a LOT of measuring with the laser level, adjusting and re-measuring...

Creeping toward the next corner...

You would not know it from the next photo, but the last board we installed was the narrow L-shaped section that goes (just) past the corner of the office. The next dozen or so boards were just placed in position without correcting the slope. 

Which looks like this from further away:

Next time out we have about a dozen more boards to install (correctly), and then it will be time to remove the last bit of the original roof....