The Deck

At long last, the deck project has begun. For those of you who have visited us in Colorado, you know we have a great deck off the second floor of our house with a staircase to the backyard. It provides amazing views of the Flatirons, a great place to watch fireworks, and is a perfect host to summer BBQs...that, of course, would all be true if the deck wasn’t a violation to every health and building code ever written. No joke. It is AMAZING this thing is still standing. It was put together by the previous owner who I can only hope was under the influence of some banned narcotic. I can’t even begin to understand how the mish-mash of lumber manages to keep the deck up. The entire thing was built with scrap wood and nails. Oh, so many nails. I kid you not, there were more than just a lot of sections of wood with over 20 nails in just 6 inches. Come to think of it, this was a deck built out of nails with some scrap wood to keep them in place. The beams (if you can call them that) had separated from the joist (actually, there were no joist, just twigs tied together holding the decking in, I suppose, some clever mosaic pattern). The posts are only connected to the surface of the deck only because gravity and rot were working with it. And the stair case was old boards nailed to the sides of even older boards. There were so many opportunities for law-suits here that I am almost sorry I own it. Anyway, enough venting. The deck has come down (probably should have been my first house project 4 years ago knowing what I know now). And the new one is on the way.

UPDATED - April 2 So, as expected, there has been some unexpected hic-cups so far. By so far, of course, I mean I haven’t even stated building the deck yet. Turns out the flagstone patio that I was simply going to lift up for the new deck is actually attached to a 6” concrete slab...didn’t see that coming. So after much research and bids, I decided to jack hammer the back 1/3 of the patio where the new post will go. This was a HIGHLY undesirable move, but in the long run, it was the easiest (least expensive) option. So thanks to the tenacity of Nick and Paul and a sledge hammer, and me on a weekend with a jack hammer, all the concrete and flagstone has been removed an placed into large “Bagsters” in the front yard awaiting pick-up sometime next week. Now, maybe I can start doing something CONstructive and less DEstructive

UPDATED - April 29 Much progress to report! Of course there is nothing much to see in the new pictures, but that is the beauty of it. The old deck is all gone, the patio has been partly removed and the first piece of the new deck, the ledger, has been installed. With that done I was able to measure and place the location of the caissons for the new deck supports. This involved string, plum-bobs, line levels, trigonometry, and of course a bunch of wild-ass guessing. Thanks to Joel for keeping me honest for this part. The entire deck depends on these measurements. Next step happens tomorrow. Renting an auger to bore the post holes and lay the rock foundation for the caissons. Next week, we are having a contractor come in to pour the concrete for all the supports and the patio. I know, I cheated and hired somebody, but here’s the thing, I need 8,000 pounds of concrete. That equates to 100+ bags from Home Depot, a big hell no to that. I could have a ready-mix truck deliver it, but then I and whoever I can con into have to wheel barrow it all into its spot in under an hour. Hiring someone only cost a bit more, is easier on me, faster for us all, and guarantees the proper mix. So leave me alone! I hope to post pictures of the deck coming together in the next couple of weeks!

Updated - May 26 Almost a month since an update, let’s hope something productive has happened. Yes, in-fact, much progress has been made. Finally things are going up instead of down, and material is being placed instead of removed. The concrete caissons and patio foundation has been poured, the post anchors drilled and set, the post bases and 6x6 raised, primary beams positioned and first joist put in place. The most amazing part, it is all level and coming out as planned. Let me say that again...coming out as planned. Anyone who follows my projects knows that is something worth repeating. Getting the beams just right was particularly difficult. This is because according to city code, the beams must sit on top of the post, not bolted to it. And the joist must sit on top of the beam. So I needed to somehow cut the post (after they were placed), to the right height so when the 12” (actually 11 3/8”) beams and 8” (actual 7 3/8”) joist came up to the top of the ledger which is, inconveniently, 12’ from the post. So I can’t exactly lay a level across the two and make a mark, it has to be pure measurements, steady hands, a few beers, and a lot of luck. Oh and the help of a few co-workers (more rocket scientists the better). Thanks to Andy, Robert, and Scott for their help this round! Enjoy the pictures!

Updated - July 6th It. Is. Done....technically. There is forever going to be little things I want to do to it to make it prettier, but for all practical purposes, the deck is now done. Four months ain’t bad. But let me tell you about this last couple of weeks, we slammed at least 4 more months of work into it. Sometime near the beginning of June, we decided to set our summer BBQ/party date. 4th of July. A new deck, a view of the fireworks, and all of our friends...it would be a great celebration. Of course, we now have ourselves a hard deadline. At the time we set the date, the stairs were not constructed, the landing not in place, not a single piece of decking or railing was installed (much less even purchased!), and there was really no solid plan in-place to get it done. But that is why you set deadlines, so things like this don’t linger. It became a mad dash with long days and evenings pulling this thing together. No corners were cut and my perfectionism stayed in placed as I removed things that didn’t work and tried and tried again to make things line up to the fraction of an inch. The week before the party was the most impressive. Still no decking, no railing and an incomplete stair case. That is when Katy and Karen stepped in. My sister came to visit us for three weeks this June, little did she know she would be nearly be the sole provider for Caden as Katy and I went to town on the deck. And Katy, this is definitely a big reasons I married her, she took on the deck by herself. Every piece of decking from the stairs to the main platform was placed, leveled, spaced, and fastened by her. That is over 50 pieces of 12 foot decking and close to 1000 screws, each requiring pre-drilling. All her, none me. I did the annoying minor stuff, plus the railing. The weekend before the party we literally put in 24 hours of solid work in blazing heat to make this thing happen. It was literally Friday morning before the party that the deck opened for business. And another big help was my dad came all the way from California to help get us to our dead line...and celebrate father’s day. There is a picture from that weekend that shows what happens when you hit yourself in the head with a crowbar...but I didn’t include it here cause its gross.

This was our biggest project to date, and it came out pretty spectacular. Now I am going to do everything in my power to do very little else to the house for the rest of the year...

At long last, the deck project has begun. For those of you who have visited us in Colorado, you know we have a great deck off the second floor of our house with a staircase to the backyard. It provides amazing views of the Flatirons, a great place to watch fireworks, and is a perfect host to summer BBQs...that, of course, would all be true if the deck wasn’t a violation to every health and building code ever written. No joke. It is AMAZING this thing is still standing. It was put together by the previous owner who I can only hope was under the influence of some banned narcotic. I can’t even begin to understand how the mish-mash of lumber manages to keep the deck up. The entire thing was built with scrap wood and nails. Oh, so many nails. I kid you not, there were more than just a lot of sections of wood with over 20 nails in just 6 inches. Come to think of it, this was a deck built out of nails with some scrap wood to keep them in place. The beams (if you can call them that) had separated from the joist (actually, there were no joist, just twigs tied together holding the decking in, I suppose, some clever mosaic pattern). The posts are only connected to the surface of the deck only because gravity and rot were working with it. And the stair case was old boards nailed to the sides of even older boards. There were so many opportunities for law-suits here that I am almost sorry I own it. Anyway, enough venting. The deck has come down (probably should have been my first house project 4 years ago knowing what I know now). And the new one is on the way.

So, as expected, there has been some unexpected hic-cups so far. By so far, of course, I mean I haven’t even stated building the deck yet. Turns out the flagstone patio that I was simply going to lift up for the new deck is actually attached to a 6” concrete slab...didn’t see that coming. So after much research and bids, I decided to jack hammer the back 1/3 of the patio where the new post will go. This was a HIGHLY undesirable move, but in the long run, it was the easiest (least expensive) option. So thanks to the tenacity of Nick and Paul and a sledge hammer, and me on a weekend with a jack hammer, all the concrete and flagstone has been removed an placed into large “Bagsters” in the front yard awaiting pick-up sometime next week. Now, maybe I can start doing something CONstructive and less DEstructive

Much progress to report! Of course there is nothing much to see in the new pictures, but that is the beauty of it. The old deck is all gone, the patio has been partly removed and the first piece of the new deck, the ledger, has been installed. With that done I was able to measure and place the location of the caissons for the new deck supports. This involved string, plum-bobs, line levels, trigonometry, and of course a bunch of wild-ass guessing. Thanks to Joel for keeping me honest for this part. The entire deck depends on these measurements. Next step happens tomorrow. Renting an auger to bore the post holes and lay the rock foundation for the caissons. Next week, we are having a contractor come in to pour the concrete for all the supports and the patio. I know, I cheated and hired somebody, but here’s the thing, I need 8,000 pounds of concrete. That equates to 100+ bags from Home Depot, a big hell no to that. I could have a ready-mix truck deliver it, but then I and whoever I can con into have to wheel barrow it all into its spot in under an hour. Hiring someone only cost a bit more, is easier on me, faster for us all, and guarantees the proper mix. So leave me alone! I hope to post pictures of the deck coming together in the next couple of weeks!

Almost a month since an update, let’s hope something productive has happened. Yes, in-fact, much progress has been made. Finally things are going up instead of down, and material is being placed instead of removed. The concrete caissons and patio foundation has been poured, the post anchors drilled and set, the post bases and 6x6 raised, primary beams positioned and first joist put in place. The most amazing part, it is all level and coming out as planned. Let me say that again...coming out as planned. Anyone who follows my projects knows that is something worth repeating. Getting the beams just right was particularly difficult. This is because according to city code, the beams must sit on top of the post, not bolted to it. And the joist must sit on top of the beam. So I needed to somehow cut the post (after they were placed), to the right height so when the 12” (actually 11 3/8”) beams and 8” (actual 7 3/8”) joist came up to the top of the ledger which is, inconveniently, 12’ from the post. So I can’t exactly lay a level across the two and make a mark, it has to be pure measurements, steady hands, a few beers, and a lot of luck. Oh and the help of a few co-workers (more rocket scientists the better). Thanks to Andy, Robert, and Scott for their help this round! Enjoy the pictures!

It. Is. Done....technically. There is forever going to be little things I want to do to it to make it prettier, but for all practical purposes, the deck is now done. Four months ain’t bad. But let me tell you about this last couple of weeks, we slammed at least 4 more months of work into it. Sometime near the beginning of June, we decided to set our summer BBQ/party date. 4th of July. A new deck, a view of the fireworks, and all of our friends...it would be a great celebration. Of course, we now have ourselves a hard deadline. At the time we set the date, the stairs were not constructed, the landing not in place, not a single piece of decking or railing was installed (much less even purchased!), and there was really no solid plan in-place to get it done. But that is why you set deadlines, so things like this don’t linger. It became a mad dash with long days and evenings pulling this thing together. No corners were cut and my perfectionism stayed in placed as I removed things that didn’t work and tried and tried again to make things line up to the fraction of an inch. The week before the party was the most impressive. Still no decking, no railing and an incomplete stair case. That is when Katy and Karen stepped in. My sister came to visit us for three weeks this June, little did she know she would be nearly be the sole provider for Caden as Katy and I went to town on the deck. And Katy, this is definitely a big reasons I married her, she took on the deck by herself. Every piece of decking from the stairs to the main platform was placed, leveled, spaced, and fastened by her. That is over 50 pieces of 12 foot decking and close to 1000 screws, each requiring pre-drilling. All her, none me. I did the annoying minor stuff, plus the railing. The weekend before the party we literally put in 24 hours of solid work in blazing heat to make this thing happen. It was literally Friday morning before the party that the deck opened for business. And another big help was my dad came all the way from California to help get us to our dead line...and celebrate father’s day. There is a picture from that weekend that shows what happens when you hit yourself in the head with a crowbar...but I didn’t include it here cause its gross.

This was our biggest project to date, and it came out pretty spectacular. Now I am going to do everything in my power to do very little else to the house for the rest of the year...

*Note: Pictures are unfortunately in reverse chronological order.