Home Improvement Today?

Out with the old...



I literally tore it apart by hand. It was built with 4" common nails and joists that were placed 'about here'... 'no, over here'... 'maybe there would be better.'



In with the new...





(replaced a shitty cedar sash window with a brand new vinyl crank out on the way by ($20 at a garage sale) Built an insulated box to fill the void underneath.




... are we there yet?


... it's just around the next corner, kiddies.

^^^
BBQ and bistro table centre.

This is tier one. It will step down onto a lower deck across the angle, then down again into a gazebo/pagoda/hut or some kind of cabana. I change my mind every day I look at it.

I've started decking it as well.

No need to dig, as it's sitting on compacted clay and shale (80 to 90%) that would break your ankle using a shovel, or your wrist with a pick. Also, it's lower than the 1'10" required for dug footings/bigfoots/sonotubes.

Here's a sample of how I'm doing the corners. The old deck was butted square and looked like shit. Because each catwalk is a different width, and the house is not square, I ran a butt trim between the angles.



... and I was an 1/8" off on my calculations for the last board along the wall, probably because I've been hosing down the lumber pile every evening to stop the wood from warping in this ridiculous heat wave. I don't want to rip it, so I'm going to let the boards dry and shrink in this heat, then pop the last one in and run a bead of Flex 9000 along the wall after I replace the lower clap board with an ice/water shield behind it that lips over the ledger. Yes, I will carriage bolt the posts.



BTW, do yourself a favour when building a deck and use FastenMaster Guard Dog screws. They do not strip, twist, bend, rust, or try and mess with your little sister. You can put them in and take them out numerous times. Also get a good quality cobalt Robertson #2 (square for you Yanks) bit and an impact driver and call it a day.

It's been brutal working alone in this 34*C heat (42* + with the humidex).

 

1. looks FANTASTIC

2. thank god, so tired of nails and screws messing with my little sister. home depot will be happy to not receive any more complaints as well

 

Thanks, man!

You should have seen the 28 year old train wreck that was there before.

I just want to get Tier 1 done:

Stage 1 - framing (done, some touch-ups and re-enforcement/blocking of the angle header required)
Stage 2 - picture frame and decking (in progress)
Stage 3 - balusters and railings

I'm just fried from working out in the heat yesterday. I'll deck this little inside corner up to the outside corner section today and call it 5 o'clock:





I am running out of deck plank. Thank heavens...

BTW, my outside clock quit at 5:05 two years ago. I refuse to fix it. Look between the bugs on the wall:

 

@taczilla did you run lags or timber screws for the ledger to building connection ?

Looks good

 

for a bed platform,

think OSB plywood would be fine? don't expect it to get very wet under my canopy. hmm

 

It'll still draw moisture and swell and crumble depending on what part of Oregon you live in lol. If you're in the desert no prob

 

Thanks!

Because this is an older house and had crappy insulation, I had already foam sealed all of the floor joist/header/sill pockets inside. I ran 4" lag screws through the ledger into the building every 2' and paired at 4'. I figured they would bite through the ledger/sheathing/joist header without encountering any surprises (e.g. wires that shouldn't be there). Much better than the 4" common nails that were scattered hither and yon along the ledger.

The house is an older Beaver Lumber kit A-frame home that was put together by Fric & Frac. Don't get me started on the main girder support beam that I replaced with a 12" steel I-beam. That was four 2x10's butt scarfed together at parallel half-way points (2 inside mated together and 2 outside at half way over a span of 27', if you can picture that) without any thought towards engineering! I had to jack the center of the house 1 1/2" to make it level, support the entire floor on both sides with jacks and temporary steel beams everywhere, all the while avoiding the fresh-air return and main heating ducts, remove the old wood girder beam sawzall, and then slide the new I-beam in, shim and pack it. Inside double and triple header supports for openings and support walls only had a few nails holding them together on each side, all without hangers on the ends. I screwed all those together at 8" intervals and installed hangers everywhere that was necessary. The floor does not bounce anymore.

My wife was freaking out through the whole process and went and stayed at her friends place.

 

Phase 2 all ready to go for tomorrow

2 coats of paint inside and out on the steels and the jigs all set , plumbed and braced

 

Concrete truck is all ready to go to work in the morning

 

If I'm not mistaken, that's the latest Armstrong 4700R model, correct?

 

well aint that some shit. good engineering there man!

 

why not dump concrete mix in ground

pour water


profit

 

yep, ..it's the smaller one, the DF 500... i like their track saw so much, and came to the point where if feel i need a good (and faster, ..and dust collection port!) tool for joinery...

 

I'm using Xypex

http://www.xypex.com/docs/default-source/product-data/admix-c-500-NA.pdf?sfvrsn=18

 

it's the rob cosman dovetail saw (woodcraft.com has them on sale).

specs:
1. the one i got has the black composite handle, ..the white handle was on backorder... i think he'll be offering this saw with the option for a wooden handle (various hardwoods), but i think it's considerable more money.
2. brass spine and flush copper pins, brass saw nuts
3. progressive pitch teeth, designed to make starting the initial kerf easier...
4. 0.002 set
5. dovetailed pine box included!

i have to say, it has a good feel, and heft, to it... it comes in the nicely dovetailed (of course) pine box, ..i've been going a while without a true dovetail saw, and, as a rob cosman fan, i think this will be a joy to use... he's got videos on his youtube channel talking about the saw, and a longer one about how he manufactures them, all 100% hand built there at his shop!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fb8tVZtX1_4

BTW, rob is also now making a tenon saw version...

 

Wifey's potting shed coming together..

 

I love the look of that retaining wall.

 

Crap! I just sold an old rusty cart like that for $20. Coulda, woulda, shoulda.