Landscaping - The Deck!

The back of the house is now mostly set and time and mother nature must do the rest. As promised in my last post, here are the photos of the back of the house with things cleaned up (the place looked like a pigsty in the other photos of the back of the house). I am also including a couple of pictures from around front of the Homestead to show the progress the grass and landscaping have made.

The first two sections of railing in place. Given our aversion to tall spindling decks and typical wood decking I wanted to avoid lots of balusters and rails. I elected to design and build a slat rail deck railing.

I started by cutting a base of PT lumber in a 5-1/5" square and lag bolting the 4x4 Douglas fir post to it.

Next I shimmed and leveled the posts to the deck surface.

I used 3-1/2" screws to affix the base of the posts to the deck. It is important to use exterior specific screws for this part of the operation. Galvanized and PT lumber do not mix well. These days one uses stainless steel and plated screws for exterior deck applications. They are not cheap. A 5lb. box runs about $24.00. Here you can see the Douglas fir 4x4 which has been lag-bolted to the PT 5-1/5" x 5-1/2" base screwed down to the deck. The 3-1/2 screws cut through the deck into the PT 2x6 carrying beams. This assures the railing, once tied together with all sections, can support the required load of a person leaning against it.

The next step is to put together the railing components. I selected 1x6 PT boards @ 8' and a ready-cut railing in PT as well. I used a 1x4 PT as a rail stiffener and you can see this screwed to the underside of the railing in the picture. The railing is just to the right of the 4' level. I assembled the components I had cut on out front on the deck where they will be installed.

While I would love to prime the railings with alkyd primer in white I must wait. PT lumber is soggy and wet when it comes from the vendor and needs to cure in the sun at least a month or two before receiving paint or treatment of any type. Here is the latest section of railing in place.

Rounding the bend, one last section to go!

Finally, the deck is about finished. I capped the posts with my very own creation. I used 5/4 lumber to make a 4-1/2" x 4-1/2" top to the post and a chamfered detail on top.

In the next month of so we will paint the railing white and add lattice under the deck to obscure the deck supports. Rain is coming tonight to nourish my grass seed! I leave you now with a few photos showing the property taking shape.