Houselopnik phase 2

"Zaphod's Heart of Gold" (anavriniv)
06/01/2020 at 07:52 • Filed to: Houselopnik

When we last left off my deck had just been torn down and footing holes has been dug. My inspection came a day later than I expected but it passed and off I went....

With 14 holes dug the only logical next step was to ignore them and put up the second ledger board on the house. My first crack at the job was a 2' extension on the existing board which went swimmingly, but now I had to add a brand new 10' piece along with flashing and J-channel and cutting a long strip of vinyl siding which is intimidating knowing that if you screw it up replacement will be less than fun. But last week I found a break in the weather and got to work

Okay that’s out of the way. What next? Wait for a dry day, that’s what. Saturday was supposed to be a washout but the sun rose bright in the morning and I took advantage of what I thought was going to be a brief blip to get some concrete home to pour Sunday. But the sun was not to be dismissed and by 10:00 Saturday morning the radar was showing only a slight chance of ruination to my project, so I took my chance, and it paid off beautifully. With lots of hard work and back pain

To get the right depth I marked a paint stirrer, stuck it in the hole, and poured concrete until it hit at least the bottom mark. Pouring, however, is the easy job. Mixing sucks. Mixing 160lbs at a time in a wheelbarrow REALLY sucks. I only needed 15 of the 18 bags I bought.

As a reward for the hard work we went to a brewery for the first time in almost 4 months to celebrate and spend a fantastic evening on a patio that was not ours.

Then Sunday rolled around. Already in a bit of pain from the day before I woke up at the crack of 6:30, picked up some chicken biscuits and got down to it. Framed out the first half of the new deck, shown with one pergola post set

Later I finished all the joists and second pergola post, nailed the shit out of everything, back filled half of the holes with dirt, and built up the second girder

Trimmed off that long end, set all the footer posts, and added joists

Stopped for a quick bite to eat then joisted some more

I would loved to have finished the joists last night but my neighbors were probably tired of hearing my circular saw, miter saw, sawzall, impact gun, hammer, nail gun, and palm nailer so I cleaned up and will finish those tonight. Also I could barely stand and today it feels like I did 4000 squats. I have 8 joists and 2 pergola posts left, then back filling 7 more holes and I should be ready for the framing inspection. If things continue to move along smoothly I should have that done this week

Oh, about that palm nailer...

This is one of the most fantastic tools I have ever bought. I may only use it for this one job but it is worth every penny for making my life easier

DISCUSSION (15)

vondon302 > Zaphod's Heart of Gold
06/01/2020 at 08:21

Thats a big deck.

Zaphod's Heart of Gold > vondon302
06/01/2020 at 08:22

It already has some big deck energy

shop-teacher > Zaphod's Heart of Gold
06/01/2020 at 08:30

Palm nailers are clutch for joist hangers. Definitely worth the purchase for a deck that big, even if you never use it again.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Zaphod's Heart of Gold
06/01/2020 at 08:44

That is incredible work. I felt a little sore yesterday from helping my dad force some wires through a conduit that was too small for it and with many elbows using ratchet straps and more ratchet straps and hammers and ratchet straps, but that's no concrete mixing. Looks like a much more livable size now.

TheRealBicycleBuck > Zaphod's Heart of Gold
06/01/2020 at 08:51

It’s coming along nicely!

Wacko > vondon302
06/01/2020 at 09:16

That’s what she said, oh you said deck. Never mind

foghat1981 > Zaphod's Heart of Gold
06/01/2020 at 10:28

Very impressed. I tore out and redid the floor of our 10x8 shed and I’m in some pain. I can only imagine what you’re feeling!

Zaphod's Heart of Gold > foghat1981
06/01/2020 at 10:33

Last year I redid 900sf of floor in our house, tore out the old hardwoods, carpet, and linoleum along with all the trim and replaced it with wood laminate and new baseboards. Took me 3 weeks working full weekends and every night after work.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Zaphod's Heart of Gold
06/01/2020 at 10:35

Very nice!

foghat1981 > Zaphod's Heart of Gold
06/01/2020 at 11:17

Dang. Puts the 12 hours over Sat/Sunday that I did into perspective :)

Mid Engine > Zaphod's Heart of Gold
06/01/2020 at 11:22

S o the posts are just sitting on the concrete ? No U shaped metal post hardware or putting the posts directly into the concrete ? I feel ya on the mixing, I carried 20 cement bags up to my second floor master bath and mixed 900lbs in a mixing tray to make the base of my shower. What a bitc h that was.

Zaphod's Heart of Gold > Mid Engine
06/01/2020 at 11:32

sitting on concrete and packed back with dirt for 10-12". I did a lot of research and not only does this meet code (actually is shown in the deck appendix this way) but is, IMO, a great solution. The metal hardware is good if you’re going above grade with the concrete but underground only stainless should be used and that gets very pricey, and above grade there’s little lateral stability.

Given the height of my deck I have more underground than I do above, the dirt will provide some lateral stability, and keeping it out of the concrete will minimize my chances to rot the posts. Plus I didn’t have to perfectly align the posts before building the frame.

My old deck posts were in concrete and were looking less than perfect after 20 years, and I pulled all of them out by hand

Mid Engine > Zaphod's Heart of Gold
06/01/2020 at 11:43

I guess it depends where you live, if the ground rarely freezes it doesn’t matter. I imagine that’s the case where you are, otherwise the code would be more stringent. Betcha you c an’t wait to have a cold one on the finished deck

Zaphod's Heart of Gold > Mid Engine
06/01/2020 at 11:47

I live in central NC, frost heave is not a concern. Hell ground frost at all is not a concern. I would be far more concerned about wind load but it’s low to the ground, no covered roof, and I have a 5ft fence around the yard

jeepoftheseus > Zaphod's Heart of Gold
06/01/2020 at 12:40

Nice progress!