The Deck Project

     By June of 2023 our deck was rotting away.  Rot was present before than ten years after it was built.  Pressure-treated wood does not hold up like it used to in the old days, when it was treated with arsenic.

     Here is a photo of the first top boards that rotted out:

     At the end near the side of the deck here is where I fell through the deck while standing on it:

     There are several other boards that have rotted through and others that are working on it.  Also several boards have warped and their ends flipped up, a tripping hazard:

     In July of 2011, after much rain filled our 15,000-gallon above-ground pool to the max, the pool wall ripped open.

    After taking the destroyed pool apart and hauling the debris to the dump, I was left with a deck with a big hole in it.

    By the end of November, Sol and I had demolished almost all of the deck, excepting the part right up against the house.

    Then I took down a section of the chain-link fence, to enable a dump truck to dump sand where the deck will be reconstructed.  In the photo above, the pink line just above Sol's head shows where the back side of the reconstructed deck will be.

    On the 10^th of December we started putting in the pilings.  Sol, John, and I dug 14 holes for the pilings and put in place 4 of the pilings.  Locating the lines shown here took a very long time.

Building the piling involves putting a cardboard tube in the hole in the ground, positioning it properly, pouring in concrete, and then putting a J-bolt into the concrete.

Piling	J-Bolt and Post Foot Bracket

The J-hook is used to attach a post foot bracket to the piling, and then the post goes into the bracket.  These brackets were expensive, $17 each.

 

After returning from my holiday trip to upstate New York (visiting with my Mom, my Brother, and my nephew), I had a truckload of fill sand delivered:

 

 

Now we get out the shovels (the 6^th of January, 2012)

    Spreading the sand on the 6^th of January:

 

On the 7^th of January, John Cope joins me.  By late afternoon, no more sand pile:

 

By the 15^th of January we had installed the side boards and back and center beams.

 

This is the morning of the 16^th of January.  John Cope and Tommy Durham are getting ready for a good day's work.  The back beam is, but this day we shall add a third set of boards to it.

 

We worked past sunset on the 16^th, hanging joists between the center beam and the back beam and then blocking them.   We started out having all the blocks along the center line, but then realized that if we stagger them it is much easier to nail them in – straight nailing rather then toe-nailing.
 

 

    Here are the dimensions of the old deck (that built with the house) and the new deck.

    Tom Durham and I put in joists the afternoon of the 19^th of January.  Only one joist remains to be installed.  John Cope is modifying a hanger for it, so it will fit aside the carriage bolt nut in the adjacent post.  Also, the plank that was to do there was bad and needs to be exchanged at Lowe's.

 

 

On the 29^th of January we finally had steps back on the deck.

 

On the 23^rd of February we finished installing the floor boards.

 

This was taken on the 18^th of March, after I came back from my brother's wedding in Wilmington, NC.  All of the pickets are now installed except for those on the stairs to the left, not shown in this shot.  Next we shall add boards atop the railings and then hook up the lights.

 

    On the 19^th of March we finished capping the railings, putting pickets on the stairs, and installing the lights.  A few of the bulbs were bad.  I replaced them later that week.  Below is a photo of the deck at night.  The lights come on automatically at sunset and stay on for four hours.  I can adjust how long they stay on.  The greenish light is from the lamp next door.  Everybody around here thinks they have to put up these nasty big night lights, which destroy our view of the natural night sky.  Light pollution.  The night sky is so lovely when the power goes out.

 

    In April I used some of the left-over pickets to make gates for the deck.  That way we can keep the dogs on the deck when we do not want them down in the yard.

 

I used some of the old wood from the demolished old deck to make a gate for the veggie garden.

 

    I also used old wood to make a screen house for my blueberry bushes.