Deck Remodel: Day 9 (Monday)

Day 9 passed with many significant changes. The list follows:

(1) Attached stair stringers to concrete pads
(2) Added more 4x4 posts to bottoms of stairs and landings
(3) Began laying decking on landings and deck

This next photo is a view from standing on the deck and peering over the edge looking down toward the patio and the new set of stairs.



Picture 3 is of the top of the deck - looking from the existing stairs (near walkway)- facing west. As you can see, boards are being cut and fastened, with lots of loose boards near the family room side of the deck.

The crew is using invisible fasteners (see picture 4) and stainless steel screws to hold them in place. They are also gluing the boards down at the joists to make sure that they are completely tight. Finally, they shim under the very end of the boards to make sure that they are level with the border decking.



As you can see from this closeup of the fasteners, they are little plastic, oval biscuit looking things. They are screwed to each joist and the rounded part of each biscuit helps lock the grooved board to the deck. They provide uniform spacing and a very secure attachment. It takes three men to get the boards in place efficiently. Between running the screw gun, levering the board into place and applying glue and holding the fasteners in place, it is a multi handed job to say the least.



All seems to be going well - weather looks to be favorable for the the next few days. I expect all decking to be completed tomorrow and maybe starting the railings -they (crew of 5) worked until almost 6PM today, so another good day like today should get them pretty far.

The stair treads won't be complete until later this week as they need to receive another shipment of ungrooved decking.

Exciting to see such progress - would be much slower if done by my two hands! Also nice to finally be able to pace around on my new deck surface. They are shooting for completion by the end of the week... stay tuned!!