Backyard Deck

I've been wanting to do this for quite some time.  Our spring break vacation got canceled due to the virus/quarantine, so I thought, might as well get started.  My original plan was to build this in June.

This is how the back of the house looked before the deck.  The trash cans cover a cistern, and being early spring, the yard does not look all that great. Usually, between the garden, the green grass and the fruit trees, it looks ok.  It definitely needed some sprucing up.  Early spring-the season of mud and yuck.

So I moved some dirt and dug some holes.  I planted some 4 bys into concrete, then built up a frame out of 2x6s.   I used that post setting concrete, which sets up real fast.  You stand the post up,  level it,  dump in some cement, add some water, add some more cement, add more water, and repeat until hole is filled.  Probably used about 1-1 1/2 bags of concrete per hole.

Here's the finished frame with the steps temporarily set into place, it's about about 8' x 16'.  I bought a 6' level at Harbor Freight.  Never had a 6' level before, but I've always wanted one.  I don't know why I waited, it cost under $15.00 and it made leveling the bigger pieces of lumber a lot easier.  I know I'll use it next time I hang a door.  It does not fell real robust, but it will hang on a wall mostly and not get used too much, so it should last me fine.   The steps took longer to draw and build than I'd like to admit, it's only my 2nd set I've ever built though.  I'd like to do a big set with someone who knows what they're doing someday.  

Here's the deck all covered with decking!  I used the average 5/4 treated decking, on top of regular 2 by treated lumber. I covered the joists with this self stick flashing tape, which, in theory, means the joists should not see much water at all and should last forever. I've never used it before, but it seems like a good idea.  I could have used screws for the decking, but I'm 'kinda lazy and have a framing nailer. I bought it over 20 years ago with part of the money I got when I sold one of my Vespa's. 

So the decking is held down with  galvanized, ring shank nails.  It went pretty quick, and the ring shank nails should hold nicely.  I know they are certainly hard to remove, I had to pull a couple.   For the frame, brackets, joists, etc., construction, I used outdoor grade screws, and pre-drilled the holes.  It's pretty tight.  For power tools I used mostly Ryobi, 18 volt battery powered stuff. The new brush-less stuff is definitely better in terms of battery life and overall torque.  I had no trouble cutting the 4 bys with the battery powered circular saw or driving 4' screws into lumber.

For a hand rail and for privacy I built up some frames out of 2x4 lumber and lattice.  They are secured between posts sunk into concrete, so they seem decently strong and don't flex too much when you lean on them.  Reasonably priced and effective. CBE standard throughout! (crude, but effective, or cheap, but effective)

Here's the deck, with a handrail and the lattice panels up.  I'm storing all my accumulated treated lumber under the deck, which is handy.  I need to make some corner trim next.   It's not a very sophisticated sort of thing but it serves it's purpose and looks good to me.  Looking at it now makes me want to do the roof on the back of the house.  I'm thinking bout changing it to a gable, then either red metal or some thick, grey, asphalt shingle.  Shingles are easy to handle, one at a time, so I'm leaning towards that at the moment, but I like the idea of red metal.  Wife is not keen on the red metal idea though, she thinks it will look like a pizza hut.  Yeesh, girls? 

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I also made a table.

I took antique cast iron, Singer sewing machine legs and made a table top from scrap decking. I screwed and carriage bolted it all together, with a little 2 by lumber.  Again following strict C.B.E standards. I then painted the whole thing black with oil based Rust-oleum. Looks ok to me and certainly functions well.  On April 8th, 2020, the wife and I had supper outside for the first time at our Tipp House!  We used to eat outside fairly often when we lived up North. I'm sure we'll start that up again now that we have a deck with chairs and table right off the dining room.   I drilled a hole through the top to fit the umbrella Liz bought and added a block with a hole drilled at the bottom of the table to stabilize it.  Seems to work fine.

This is just a shot of the bottom so you can admire my fine furniture building skills.