Finally getting some curb appeal around here! New cedar trim, new shingles, new light fixture, new electrical outlet, new paint around the window flashing, new security lights to see the ninjas with, new door mat, lots of improvements here.
I still hate those logs, but the time to get rid of them has come and gone. Twelve years gone. They’re part of the house. I can’t even imagine now all the things that would need to be undone to get rid of them.
A little light humor.
Oh, I don’t know, the Parkour Method of getting up on the deck helps keep me in shape.
For three weekends, this was my life. A drill, a driver, a bucket of screws, a clamp, a screw template, two spacers, and a towel to kneel on. And a cat. Always a cat.
Each plank of decking was 20 feet long. They’re made out of a composite of wood fiber and plastic, and the longer they sit in the sun the more bendy they are. Imagine carrying a spaghetti noodle that weighs about 70 pounds. You get the picture. Just getting them into the shop so I could chop them to length was a challenge. It wasn’t until the deck was almost done that I realized I could have probably just set up my saw outside near the planks.
It wasn’t hard.
Composite deck planks are finally going down. It’s not the easy part, but finally get a little satisfaction of seeing what the finished deck may look like. That’s almost enough to walk on up there!
Inky was really, really good on the joists. She may be an old cat, but she has good balance. Had no compunctions about just stepping out the front door and walking out on them. She probably wonders where the deck went, though.
I’d say 9 out of 10 are in pretty good shape. I’m sure they’ll hold up. My biggest issue is there aren’t enough of them! These joists are spaced at 24″, and I need 12″ to 16″ spacing for the composite decking. I’ll be adding in new joists in between the existing ones.
So many things are living in my deck that it has its own ecosystem. It’s a biosphere of moss, plants, insects and mold. I barely need that crowbar to pull it apart.