Deck Construction, Pro advice

[look 171]

Originally Posted by Bill Douglas

Stylish deck, Look 171.

Thanks, unfortunately I am not a stylish person, just a typical dork

[70SATMan]

Originally Posted by look 171

SAT,

Here are a couple of pics of my deck, or should I say my kid's deck. They built about 60-70 % of it with me watching and doing some of the finish angle cuts and connection.

The beach chair is only 4' 3" wide. Its narrow. At 6', it becomes the walkway.

The pic with the angle deck and the tall glass window is a house I flipped up my street with all kinds of hill side foundation issues. We had to put in a new foundation on the entire side of the home. The "walkway" is 5' wide. Notice the old deck boards. I built the angle section so a table and a bit of outdoor living can be had for my new homers to enjoy the view. That section is about 12' in width going out from the house. There's an other section like it on the end of the house.

A couple more pic of the underside and the unfinished hand railing. Raw Ipe, needs lots of oil. My deck goes out from the house 14'.

Very nice! Floorboards are 1 by?? Totally understand the need for the 4 by joists. I'll for sure run numbers for the Ipe with more joists vs using clear redwood 2 by.

[flatbutt]

Originally Posted by look 171

Us boys seem to way over built, over analyze everything that has to do with fabricating something, large or small. Think about this for a bit, a simple 18"x18"x 24" deep footing or pad will hold up a huge beam that supports part of the second floor on a normal home. How big is this telescope? I understand its just a little more digging will create that concave hole. It isn't a big deal unless its the Hubble telescope but other then that, a simple pad will work jsut fine IMO.

Only 8" but I will do imaging and can't afford any deflection.

[look 171]

Originally Posted by 70SATMan

Very nice! Floorboards are 1 by?? Totally understand the need for the 4 by joists. I'll for sure run numbers for the Ipe with more joists vs using clear redwood 2 by.

1-1/4" (known as 5/4" in the lumber business) Ipe to eliminate flex. The actual span from the house to the big girder is about 11'. The 4x isn't really needed but I like the heavier look from the bottom. Of course, it add structural rigidity too which I like. There's little flex from up top.

[look 171]

Originally Posted by flatbutt

Only 8" but I will do imaging and can't afford any deflection.

8" is a thick pad whereas most driveways are only 4" thick on average.

[look 171]

Muhahahahah. Got my supreme commander working on the hand railing today instead of kids since they are busy with their heavy, busy scheduled goddamncomputer games.

[look 171]

Ipe is fire rated down here. I discovered a number of years ago building a large hillside deck for a house we remodeled. Ipe 5/4" x 6" is running about $6.80 a lin' wholesale or contractor discounted a few weeks ago when I bought the rest of my hand railing. Just so you have an idea, The little over 400sq' of Ipe decking and hand railing (has a top cap not yet installed) ran me about 8500 bucks not including the structural treated and 4x4 red wood post that holds the railing.

[70SATMan]

Update time... Finished the big remodel and getting ready to pull the trigger on deck materials.

So,,, Ipe I love.. Cost I don't love.

Was also shown a bamboo engineered product that looks really nice.. Samples I have are really good, nearly identical look as Ipe. Comes in 6' max lengths unfortunately. Couple of dollars less/ft than Ipe. Will take stain and weather similar.

https://dassoxtr.com/

Anybody have experience with it??

[look 171]

Originally Posted by 70SATMan

Update time... Finished the big remodel and getting ready to pull the trigger on deck materials.

So,,, Ipe I love.. Cost I don't love.

Was also shown a bamboo engineered product that looks really nice.. Samples I have are really good, nearly identical look as Ipe. Comes in 6' max lengths unfortunately. Couple of dollars less/ft than Ipe. Will take stain and weather similar.

https://dassoxtr.com/

Anybody have experience with it??

No, but I like to know more about them myself. I didn't see them at the builder's conference this year. Maybe I completely missed it. It sound's like a great product.

[70SATMan]

Update time. Major construction is done. We went with the bamboo and with my design on 18” centers, had very little waste of the deck boards since it only comes in 6’ lengths. It’s got grooving on one side and we used that side up for the stair treads.

With the savings in the decking, we splurged on the facia and posts, using IPE which the bamboo matches really well for grain. The bamboo was pre-finished but, it’ll take sanding, stain and oil. Super stable being engineered. Pre-grooved edges for hidden clip fasteners and the ends are tongue and groove for the butt joints.

Given the size of the house and the size of the deck, I actually like the board pattern better than random seams. The ‘while you’re in there’ got me so, decided to start residing the house as well. That turned the two week major project into three since we re-sided along the whole backside of the house with new trim. Went with a clean smooth Hardie Board shiplap. That alone is going to make a huge difference in the south exposure.

From this evening…












Still have to do a little finish sanding, install intermediate pickets and stainless cabling for the railings. Then seal it. Tonight was the first official gin and tonic sunset with the pups.

[Bill Douglas]

Well done. Looks great.

The dogs like it too. It gives them a commanding view of everything LOL

[craigster59]

That looks solid! I like the grooving up on the treads on the stairs, I'd imagine things can get "slick" in your location.

That Dasso looks like a good product. Easy to work with?

[70SATMan]

Originally Posted by craigster59

That looks solid! I like the grooving up on the treads on the stairs, I'd imagine things can get "slick" in your location.

That Dasso looks like a good product. Easy to work with?

Thanks Guys! My wife laughs at me all the time because I over design and build. You should have seen the first rabbit hutch I built, LOL...

The bamboo is easier than the Ipe but, wasn't much to do other than trimming off tongue pieces and cross cuts for the deck boards. I planned the deck sizes and joist lengths so that we could end on a full board widths and lengths (important to the wife unit)

It's a very solid product, cuts easily enough but, like the Ipe, it's worth it to use a fresh blade. Since it's engineered, no issues with warp, no trying to pull board gaps in etc. Laid right in.

We did have to go with the full stair skirts because you'd see the grooves in the ends of the stair treads otherwise. They make boards grooved on one side only for deck edging if you don't frame in with the facia. Used those for the exposed edge stair treads.

The Dasso also comes in a dark espresso color but, we liked the cognac because it matched the IPE pretty well. I recommend it over composite for sure. It'll take the abuse of the dogs.. Sure, it'll scratch but, it can be refreshed and I'm confident it'll outlast redwood or cedar. It's an outdoor deck to be used, we weren't after an Architectural Digest cover, haha. I do think it makes the back side of the house more sophisticated especially with the siding we picked. Can't wait to get the rest of the house resided now and then of course paint,,,, The Hardie is pre-primed and they say to paint within 180 days of install so, we have some time to pick a new color.

[70SATMan]

I've got aluminum tubing on the way to build my pickets and have been looking at drill guides for drilling my Ipe posts. Angled drilling is a must for the two stair railings I need to do.

The simple little handheld guides might do the trick if I clamp them in place. With the density of the Ipe, I don't want to try holding them in place with one hand because I want to use my corded 1/2" drill instead of the battery 3/8".

Do those 'drill thru' guides last?? How good are they for keeping a staright, plumb line?I also looked at the chucked, spring loaded guides as well. Some can get pretty expensive which isn't a concern really as I'd probably use it again on other wood projects. Chuck run out seems to be the biggest concern.

Has anyone experience using drill guides? One brand over another? Any pitfalls?

[Tobra]

I like the grooves on the steps

[70SATMan]

Originally Posted by Tobra

I like the grooves on the steps

Thanks Tob! It's amazing how much grip that gives even with shoes on and it'll channel water instead of having smooth treads with some puddling.

[Tobra]

You can throw a little sand on the stain while it is wet too, or even get some of the real deal non skid and tint it to match

[Baz]

Sorry I can't help with your question(s) about the drill guides, Michael, but wanted to pay you a huge compliment on the job you did. I mean wow - really beautiful work.

Congrats!

And thanks for sharing!

[70SATMan]

Originally Posted by Baz

Sorry I can't help with your question(s) about the drill guides, Michael, but wanted to pay you a huge compliment on the job you did. I mean wow - really beautiful work.

Congrats!

And thanks for sharing!

Thanks Baz! I can't wait to get the cabling done and then get a few lights wired up. I'm leaning toward solar low voltage for the deck steps. I've three wall mount boxes and I'm looking at the types of lights that illuminate vertically down the wall rather than shine out to illuminate the deck area. The roof overhang seems perfect if I want to hang string lighting and I already have copper hooks there that I use for Christmas lights.

Then moving the shed, relocating the hot tub...landscaping. Tell me that at some point it ends and I can just enjoy??

[VINMAN]

Looks great! Beautiful job.

Did you use the Simpson stair brackets on the steps?

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