Tearing out the old deck was no great feat. A framers hammer, crowbar and pry bar were all that were needed. It did take time to remove all the nails, cut up the old wood into either salvageable pieces (for use at The Bolt Hole in NY) or scrap for burning (also at The Bolt Hole). Due to the heat that swept into NJ during the beginning of June, the process took longer than I expected. I had planned on three days but it took five.
All Gone:
On Monday, I began my trips to Lowe’s to purchase new pressure treated lumber to construct the deck frame and surface and to the local hardware store for concrete for piers, fasteners (stainless steel screws for the surface, hot dipped galvanized for the frame) and hangers for the joists, beam, stairs, etc. Lowe’s is about 20 miles away but has much better selection of lumber than Home Depot (three of which are closer) and I can pick through the stack for pieces I want (something I can’t really do at the local lumber yard).
I had to rent a post hole digger (the manual clam-shell type) since mine is up north in at The Bolt Hole. (DOH!) I was able to dig three holes in just under two hours and slide the cardboard tubes in place for the pouring of concrete into the piers. (Damn, those 80-pound bags have gotten heavier over time!) While the concrete hardened, I built a 20-foot long beam from four 2 x 10s overlapping the joint in the middle and gluing and screwing them together. That was day one of construction (Tuesday).
I also rented a hammer-drill so I could anchor the ledger board into the concrete foundation. After mounting the ledger boards, and measuring out the location for and attaching the joist hangers, I cut and placed the three 4 x 4 posts on top of the concrete piers and enlisted the aid of my wife to lift the beam into place. Next, the joists were cut to length and placed in the hangers along the ledger boards and fastened atop the beam so they cantilever past the beam about 18” and a header board was attached to their ends. Day two (Wednesday) was complete.
Back to Lowe’s for the decking. I purchased 10’ and 12 ‘ lengths so the joints could be staggered and three 2 x 4s to double the thickness of the joists where the ends of the decking would butt against one another. I began cutting and laying the decking; screwing it down using three stainless steel square drive screws on each joist. (Joe, if you read this, I am sorry I didn’t get square drive screws for the barn. They are a joy to work with, just as you said. Beat Phillip’s head screws hands down.) The only problem with these screws is that they are very costly—and it took a lot of them. I got about a third of the boards in place before the sky darkened and I could hear thunder in the distance so I had to quit for the day. Five minutes after I had all the tools put back in the garage, the sky opened up and we had a torrential rainstorm that lasted only a half hour to forty-five minutes but made the backyard a pool. That’s day three (Thursday).
Day four, (Friday) I completed the placement of all but the three boards closest to the house.
Day five (Saturday) and it was back to Lowe’s for stair material. I got a 2 x 12 for the stringers and four 2 x 6s for the treads. Returning home I first cut and placed the three final deck boards and then puzzled out how to measure for the steps. Having decided to use a closed end stair, I didn’t have a lot of fancy cuts to make, but I did have to know how long to make the stringers and where to place the support brackets for the treads. I figured it out and made my cuts, drilled some holes for the lag screws that would hold the brackets and put them in place. I then positioned the stringers and attached them to the deck and put two of the tread in place before calling it a day.
Father’s Day I was back attaching treads and finishing the steps. The deck is complete except for a railing along its edge and for the stairs. Those will have to wait until we return from Colorado. I cleaned up the site and loaded the truck with the old joists cut to 8’ lengths, five large plastic bins of burnable scrap and three extra bags of concrete bound for The Bolt Hole.
All Done (for now):
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