A trip to the Lobby of Hobbies

I don't have the time to complete the deck/porch the way I want so I needed a good stopping point until I can take another week off to work on this project. I think I have a solution so I'm headed to the craft store to buy some material. I think going for the cabana/cafe look might work.

TGIF

We'll Friday was a big day. It was to hot and the sun got to me, I really got sick of his project, I had a minor accident and drilled into my hand and decided to call it quits for the day. Man I hate working with concrete, those 80 pound bags are heavy!
I needed some inspiration and a change of pace so I've bought a couple of boxes of tile to try out. I think I'll go with the look. We'll I should be done with the deck today once the sub floor is laid. Then the framing of the porch begins!

BTW I came across this article on one of my favorite blogs, funny I did not here about this one on the local news, I guess they men to surprise us with it I wonder how much that surveillance company paid that senator in Houston to get this passed? You can read the article here, Texas Senate Endorses Camera Based License Identification System.

Thursday was a very busy day. After an other trip to the Homie for brackets, 7 dollars worth, I was finally able to knock out the framing over the existing deck.
Now to frame the new section, that required creating a transition. I cut a 2X11' notch into the 2x6's the thinner piece sits on the deck and butts up to the 2x4x10's. These are then held together with a "splint".


I framed out the forms for the footins and the lip that will support the new section.I hoped to have the deck floor half way done and I did it. I will mix and pour concrete this morning and hopefully get to go to a movie! I hear Up is good and Terminator Salvation is entertaining...

It's hot already so better be prepared. Pith helmets are perfect for this kind of weather. Pith helmets are made from the soft spongy inner core of the Sola ( Aeschynomene aspera) plant grown in the swamps of Vietnam. I bought this one from the Village Hat Shop there cheap enough so I actually have a couple of them.
To use a pith to it full potential you must soak them in water, the pith is a sponge so it really soaks up the water this makes the helmet a little heavy. However the secret is the vent on top that lets water escape as the water evaporates it cools you down. That's the theory and it works!

This is a Wolseley pattern and has the classic fireman's helmet shape and provides the best neck protection from the sun.

OK enough about the hats. I have ripped 5 2x4x8's and one 2x4x10. these are the boards that are sitting on the existing deck.
I then cut the 2x4x8's down to 2'7". These will be screwed between the beams to support the deck further.

Humpday update.

Well yes I got lazy, I could easily use the sore muscle excuse, boy was I sore. I did get another trip to the homie to buy the floor. I did wake up this morning ready to go, I'm just giving the neighbors the time to get out before I start using the power tools. I hated waking up to the sounds of power tools when this neghberhood was being built so I dont want to inflict that on anyone else.

Today's goal is to complete the frame an have half of the deck installed! By lunch?

Real Progress!

Got to an early start now that have a plan the goal was to get the foundation laid today. I started by cutting and digging up the sod. I'm glad it rained now, this was not as hard as it could have been.

I was able to roll up the sod and place it on some bare spot around the back yard.
After the sod was removed i trenched out and built the forms to pour the concrete.




I got the south side of the deck foundation done. Starting to think doing it all in concrete would not be so bad, and then maybe tile over with Saltio... This 12 x 2 strip took 11 bags of concrete, Oh I had to make a trip to the Homie again this morning to buy 10 bags more of 'crete.
Not an other road block!
I started to cut down down the runners, but the table saw is dying on me! Should i borrow the neighbors saw or buy an other one?

Memorial Day

We had more rain on Sunday but I have the plans and a very good idea of what the deck will look like. You can see the inspiration here.

It must have rained last night, it's pretty wet outside.

The sun is beating down on the fence in the back yard and the steam coming off is adding a tropical feel.






I better get started while it's still cool. I'll keep you posted on my progress so stop by back later today.


How am I going to do this?
I've laid out the long and short bards to visualize the deck. I think adding on to the concrete pad out back would have been easier but expensive. I don't want to remove the existing pad but instead bill on top of it using it as a stable foundation.

I could cut the cross beams to fit on top but I am concerned I might break the boards by compromising them. I could lay the boards on the pad flat but then would loose strength having to reinforce with another board underneath like an I-beam.
I could combine the two methods by laying boards flat on the pad and build piers along the edge of the pad to transition to the vertical supports. First bust out the mower and grass trimmer.
Update!
I found the answer, my original idea will be the best, here is a link to Extreme How To.
Well I've got the boundary line set and square. The deck looks bigger than I thought. following the plans it looks like most of the deck really is on the pad so this could be easier than I thought. I will need to by additional wood, 2x4 for the sleeper but no biggie. Another trip to the Homie, hope Pearl is up to it.

Let's get started!

Welcome to Steve builds a deck.

My niece, and most of my family for that matter, have never seen where I live, the little house on the prairie we call home. So she decided to have her high school graduation party at my house.


What does having a party have to do with this blog? The house is small and my family is big. I come from a family of five brothers and two sisters. I don't know how many nieces and nephews I have, and can't remember their names most of the time. I needed more space, fast.


So I've decided to build a deck. Easy enough, I just have to build this deck by June 5th. I could build a little every weekend but that would just drag this out. I have decided to take a week off from work to build my deck.
....................
This blog will chronicle the project to share the progress with my family and friends. My hope is this blog will also keep me on task and let you contribute your experience or ideas.

Let's take a quick tour.


These are pictures I took this morning. The house was bought new in 2002 for $109,000 the idea was to buy a house I could afford to keep if I had to drive a school bus the rest of my life.



The front yard is filling in nicely, I want to plant a row of Crape Myrtle along the sidewalk. Maybe next year.







This is the view out the back door, hard to believe there wasn't even any grass here when we moved in.



Here is an other view to the south east, that's the garden in the back. Oh that dog is Bandit. He will supervise the project.







The view of the house from the back.



This is the the gate to the secret garden. The poor little
weather vane gets a workout. It get's very windy here.







The little rain we had this year has gotten the grapes really going. Hum, maybe a home wine blog?





This is where the deck will go. My plan is to simply purchase the wood I'll need to get started today and draw up the plans, I hope to post those tonight.



And away we go...

Then again maybe not, meet Pearl, she is a little temperamental and has decided not to cooperate today. She likes to run when it's cool so we may try again this evening or first thing in the morning!

It's alive!



Pearl decided to start up after all. Made it to the Lumber Despot and got the wood to build the deck frame. Cheaper than I thought it would be:

7 - 6x2x12
5 - 6x2x16
6 - 4x4x8 posts
3 - 80 lbs bags of cement
cement forms
1 - box of deck screws

$114.00

Now what!

We just made it home in time to unload the truck and get the bags of cement in the garage. It's flooding out here in manor and we just got hit by strong winds and pea size hail.