I still need to do a little clean up around the site, but next will be installing the deckboards:
This is composite decking and will go on top of the frame. Here’s a close up:
Each board is about six inches wide and about 12 feet long — some are 16 feet long. They are heavy. Really, really heavy … I mean back injuring heavy. I carried all this from the driveway to the backyard. It took two hours to move and my back hurts — really, really hurts.
Well, it did a couple of days ago, but after some ice, heat, rest and ibuprofen things are getting better. Just in time for Heather and I to go on vacation. I’ll have pictures when we get back and I’ll have about a month of good weather left to finish this deck. It should be finished just in time for the winter snow.
Well that’s it for this week, if you need me I’m packing my clothes and checking the weather forecast.
I have two joists left to install along with all the blocking between the joists. I didn’t get as much done last week as I wanted as I had a very busy week with various commitments with church. That and the weather didn’t cooperate as much as I wanted with some very hot afternoons that kept me indoors. This week is looking better — both schedule and weather — and I hope to finish the deck frame in a few days.
Then it will be onto putting the deck boards down. Well, right after I buy and get the deck boards delivered. Turns out the decking I want is special order and I’m still working that purchasing project.
That’s it for this week, if you need me I’m on the phone to lumberyards.
The kitchen project is 99.9% done. Just waiting for one part that is still on backorder. We’ve been enjoying our new kitchen space. We decided to take a little day trip and drove down to see trees in the Sierra:
This is from a trail in Grover Hot Springs State Park. The hot springs were close for some maintenance work so we didn’t get to see that, but we had a nice picnic and a short walk along the creek.
We had weird weather all week with afternoon thunderstorms and flash flood watches from the weather service. So far nothing bad has happened but we’re keeping a close eye on the clouds these days. Just yesterday the Burners started moving through town on their way to Blackrock where they got a taste of what desert wind can do to a campsite.
When I’m not watching the weather or driving around the state I’ve been working on my deck. Here’s today’s progress picture:
I got a stack of lumber for the deck structure. I’ve finished the three support beams and next I’ll start putting the joists in position. Then I can do the final decking surface. I ended up having to buy 20 foot long boards to span the distance for the deck and this is all pressure treated lumber because it is so close to the ground. Altogether there were about 25 boards that I cut down to make the beams and the joists you see on the right. Yes, they are heavy and I had to carry them one at a time.
Here’s the other feature I completed:
It is a pile of gravel — actually it’s technically a dry well. I dug a two foot wide and two foot deep hole, lined it with landscape fabric and filled it with rocks and gravel. There will be more landscape fabric over this area to prevent weeds. The idea behind a dry well is to deal with the occasional water flooding in this part of the yard. It’s not uncommon to get a pool of water here during a rain or snow melt. The dry well lets this water soak into the ground preventing a standing pool. We’ll see if it actually works.
And the little thing with wheels a thing we bought for gardening. It’s a small seat and storage for tools and lets you get close to the ground without having to get on your knees. My old knees don’t like being in the dirt anymore so this little thing has been handy to have while I was install all the screws for the beams.
That’s it for this week. If you need me, I’m in the shed looking for those joist hangers I bought.
This last week we had the last of the major work done on the kitchen and we’ve moved back into it:
There’s a little bit of work left on our new fireplace:
The logs and remote control needs to be setup and tested. The service guy is scheduled to come by this week to do that. We are going to get a mantle over the fireplace and are just waiting to that to be delivered. Other than those two details, the kitchen is 100% done. It nice to have a real stove and a real kitchen sink to use. The project only took six weeks longer than I was expecting. Now I have time to move on to other projects. Like:
It’s a little hard to see in this picture, but I have all the concrete posts set for the deck project. Here’s a close up:
There are six of these. Each is 8 inches in diameter and is sunk down about 18 inches. It took a long time to dig the holes but pouring the concrete only took a day. Now I have to wait a week for the concrete to cure before I can start the next phase which is installing the main beams.
This next week is supposed to be hot here, many in the low 100’s so I don’t know how much I’ll be working on the project, but I want to make some progress even if it’s just buying the materials. That’s it for this week and if you need me, I’m drinking ice water and watching the thermometer.
