ENDelt's deck thread

[ENDelt260]

One of my favorite things about my condo is my big deck. Unfortunately, my deck's kinda ****ed up. I knew it was ****ed up when I bought the joint, but I've never gotten around to doing anything about it. I'm finally taking care of that now. Over the next couple weeks I'm getting bids on getting work done on it. I figured I should put my digital camera to good use and document the transformation.

An added benefit of sharing the pics here is some of you fellers that like to build stuff and know all about that might pipe up from time to time and say, "Hey, you should do this." Or, "Holy smokes, you dipshit. I can't believe you did that."

I find the deck kinda hard to explain to folks who have never seen it. Hopefully these pics make it easier to understand what my situation is. If I can provide a better picture or description of something, let me know.

[Phobia]

Use douglas fir on a deck only if you intend to put about 3 coats of paint on each side.

[Logical]

Originally Posted by ENDelt260

Putting together the new decking has begun.

.

That looks nice. I expect a great result. On other fronts your HOA sucks, because those stairs are indeed same as before in color and look almost as bad. Oh well at least I am sure they are safe now.

[Skip Towne]

Originally Posted by ENDelt260

New steps.

.

Are those steps wide enough for.....um.....the things you need to take up there?

[Baby Lee]

Any consideration to laying your deck out in Trex or the like?
My buddy just got one of those multi-level decks that span the entire back of the house, and it was composed entirely of composite. Don't know if it was Trex or one of the competitors. Mix of sawdust and recycled plastics with UV protection. He chose the one he did because of it's sturdiness and because it was molded with redwood grain.
Very nice.
Not too much more expensive in the long haul, considering that it's maintenance free. Biggest drawback was it is murder on sawblades. Think MDF on crack.

[PastorMikH]

Originally Posted by Skip Towne

Are those steps wide enough for.....um.....the things you need to take up there?

If she won't fit up those steps, she's to heavy for Phil's work anyway.

[Skip Towne]

Originally Posted by PastorMikH

If she won't fit up those steps, she's to heavy for Phil's work anyway.

Good one!!

[ENDelt260]

Originally Posted by Vlad Logicslav

That looks nice. I expect a great result. On other fronts your HOA sucks, because those stairs are indeed same as before in color and look almost as bad. Oh well at least I am sure they are safe now.

That pic doesn't accurately reflect the improvement, but yeah, it does suck they gotta stay that color. But, I understand the desire to keep the complex looking uniform. Now, if the whole complex were a different color scheme...

[ENDelt260]

Originally Posted by Baby Lee

Any consideration to laying your deck out in Trex or the like?
My buddy just got one of those multi-level decks that span the entire back of the house, and it was composed entirely of composite. Don't know if it was Trex or one of the competitors. Mix of sawdust and recycled plastics with UV protection. He chose the one he did because of it's sturdiness and because it was molded with redwood grain.
Very nice.
Not too much more expensive in the long haul, considering that it's maintenance free. Biggest drawback was it is murder on sawblades. Think MDF on crack.

There was discussion of using composite, but Phil was concerned that the composite decking holds heat more than wood, and that in Arizona that could be an important detail. So, we went with wood.

[Bob Dole]

Originally Posted by ENDelt260

There was discussion of using composite, but Phil was concerned that the composite decking holds heat more than wood, and that in Arizona that could be an important detail. So, we went with wood.

Wood-amia.

[Baby Lee]

Originally Posted by ENDelt260

There was discussion of using composite, but Phil was concerned that the composite decking holds heat more than wood, and that in Arizona that could be an important detail. So, we went with wood.

I can see that as a concern, particularly as you are inevitably gonna run into recycled plastics.
Just kind of interested in how much work they've put into durability under extreme heat, because my buddy put a lot of research into what the specs were on durability under UV and durability under changing conditions [hot to cold].
And I must say, it's a sweet deck. Now to see how it looks 10-15 years from now.

[ENDelt260]

Originally Posted by BobChief

Wood-amia.

I don't think that speech pattern ever did actually get utilized. Though, to be honest, my memory's kinda blurry.

[Bob Dole]

Originally Posted by ENDelt260

I don't think that speech pattern ever did actually get utilized. Though, to be honest, my memory's kinda blurry.

Perhaps that's one of the problemamias.

[|Zach|]

I just started a new job today doing deck preservation and stuff like that. It has been good so far.

[Phobia]

Originally Posted by Vlad Logicslav

That looks nice. I expect a great result. On other fronts your HOA sucks, because those stairs are indeed same as before in color and look almost as bad. Oh well at least I am sure they are safe now.

Those steps haven't been painted yet. The kickboards were recycled from the previous stairs, but the decking on the stairs is an unpainted redwood. Despite the grain patterns in the wood playing tricks on your eyes, they're completely straight and level now. In some spots we had to make a 3" adjustment to the right side.

[Phobia]

Originally Posted by Baby Lee

I can see that as a concern, particularly as you are inevitably gonna run into recycled plastics.
Just kind of interested in how much work they've put into durability under extreme heat, because my buddy put a lot of research into what the specs were on durability under UV and durability under changing conditions [hot to cold].
And I must say, it's a sweet deck. Now to see how it looks 10-15 years from now.

I wasn't as concerend about the temperature affecting durability as I was comfort. I've experienced a hybrid wood and trex deck in 90 degree heat. The trex was too hot to stand on and I had to jump over to the wood decking. I can't imagine how that would affect not only the comfort on his feet, but also the surrounding temperature if the plastic is holding that much heat. If he were allowed to cover the deck, that would be another story.