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8/25/05 

Sorry for the lack of updates!  We went on vacation for almost two weeks since the last post, then we were without our digital camera for another week and a half...  But we've been progressing! 

The first item of business to work on once we were back from vacation was the rail posts.  They needed to be installed before we could install the decking.   Each post had to be blocked in with 2x10" joist material to be secure, and then bolted in with large carriage bolts.  Unfortunately we don't have any pictures of this stage since we had left our camera back at Mom's coming back from our vacation, but you can see the posts here after the decking was installed, and before the rest of the railings were.

For installing the decking itself, we used a hidden fastener system called Tiger Claw.  It worked fairly well, but there are some caveats, which I'll list here in case someone Googles this page in search of info and could possibly learn from our work:

Again, the decking looks great and I'd recommend the system -- just know it's not quite as easy as they make it out to be.  We don't have any pictures of the work-in-progress for the same reason as above, but you can see the finished work in all the other pictures coming up.

The next step was the railings.  We already had the rail-post up from the previous steps.  To complete the railing, we needed to attach an L-shaped railing bracket at the proper heights, and fill them in with balusters.  To finish it off, a top-cap gets attached for a nice finished look.   For this stage Mom came up to watch William so Cathy could help full-time and the railing process was completed in a couple of evenings after work. 

Tonight we began work on the stairs, although not really.  Before we can start the actual stairs, we need to complete the "mini-patio" which will serve as the lower stairway landing.  Tonight, after completing the railings,  we started the excavation necessary to build up a proper paver base.  The patio will be made with some concrete paver blocks of various colors laid out in a random pattern.  I think it will look a lot nicer than a standard concrete landing.   Pictures to come soon...

9/8/05 

Well we've been working on the deck and not this website.  We've made lots of progress since the last update.

We installed the concrete-paver patio to serve as the landing for the stairway.  To do this, we excavated out the existing ground, installed about 7" of paver base, and a few inches of sand.  We rented a vibratory compactor to do the compaction and make it a sturdy base for the stairs.

Once the base was right, we laid out the pavers in a random, 4-color pattern (called a "half basketweave").  Plastic edging was applied around the bricks, and staked down into the ground.  In this picture, Cathy is spreading sand  on the newly-laid bricks.  The sand was swept into the cracks, and then the vibratory compactor run over the top to vibrate everything.  Lather.  Rinse.  Repeat.

Then it was onto the stairs themselves.  The stairway was a tricky project, but went reasonably smoothly.  Laying out  the stringers is critical, as many codes govern the stair height, rise, run, etc.  We were extra-careful to get the first one correct, and then used it as a template to create the others.  Then the stringers were hung, one at a time, to the deck framing above.

Once these were hung, and we double-checked everything was level, the bottom was anchored (using expanding concrete anchors) into the brick patio below.  Then, it was a matter of adding the railing posts (which like the deck itself, had to go on before the treads), riser boards, and  stair treads. 
 

The railings were basically done the same way as on the deck itself, except everything has to be cut at the correct angle (this is where compound miter saws come in very handy!)  On the side closest to the deck, the railing was run only to the underside of the deck framing, which meant some careful calculations, but all worked out well.  

Meeting handrail codes  proved to be a bit trickier and more frustrating than we had hoped.  We had less usable width for the stairway than we had originally planned (due to the way the railings needed to lay out to meet the deck railing).  Codes not only dictate a minimum width, they require the handrail to be "gripable", a certain width, height, and continuous from the bottom to the top of the stairway.  The ChoiceDek railing system didn't meet this code (which they acknowledged when I called the factory), so we knew we'd have to come up with something.  I had planned to install a standard handrail at the inside of the stairway, but due to the reduced width, this would make the stairway "out of spec" as far as the stair width codes go.  Ack!  I spent a frustrating night scratching my head trying to figure out how to salvage our work thus far.

We finally figured out that if we cut the rail posts on the outside of the stairway at an angle (which had to be done in-place with a Sawzall, since we had already finished this part of the railing) we could place a second handrail (one that actually meets the "gripability" and width specs) over the top of it.  This should meet code, as it preserves the proper width, height, etc. for the stairway.  We'll see once the inspector gets here.

Another mini-project we've completed is finishing off underneath the deck.  The previous deck had nothing underneath, just mud and weeds (and large portions of the rose bushes that you can see in the early pictures).  This, combined with all the digging we did, made for a muddy mess.  For the new deck, we brought in 2 cubic yards of river rock, and some plastic edging, and the end result looks great, I think.

So we're very close to done now.  I'm finishing up the handrail mentioned above, and starting to install the low-voltage lighting which will be on the corners of the deck as well as on the stairway and a few other places.  We hope to have the inspection early next week (had hoped it would be this week but ran into the handrail issue).  

9/13/05 

Success!  We had our final inspection today, and passed!  The inspector was very complimentary of our work (he actually told us we should teach classes, as many contractors he inspects don't do as good of work!  Not to brag but that made us feel good!)  He also told us that it's very rare for a homeowner to pass on the first inspection. 

In the last few days, to prepare for this, we:  a) finished the handrail, mentioned above b) did some final painting on and underneath the patio door, and the railing, c) moved our new gas grill up (it's a beast, and very heavy!) d) removed the remaining construction junk from under the deck, e) fixed up and hung up the bench we brought over from the old house (I still need to re-stain it).  We were not able to use it with our original deck due to the rose bushes...  f) cleaned out the garage, which has been dominated by building materials and tools all summer, and actually parked both vehicles in it!

Thanks for coming along with us and walking through as we built our deck!  This is the biggest project we've completed for this house, and it feels very good to have it done!