Deck for my daughter

This past week (2nd week June 2009) I went to my daughters to make a deck for the front of her house. When she bought the home the front deck and sidewalk had been patched and the corner of the deck was falling off.

I heavy wind came by a month or so ago and swung open the storm door and it hit the railing around the deck and broke it loose. We pulled both side of the railing off before they hurt someone. The front step was not built to the current code and it was very high.

So the need to replace the front steps. and a little work.

My daughter got the building permit and they wanted holes dug to 30” deep so she did that before I and her two brothers arrived.

We put cement in the holes on Tues night after arriving. It was hard on Wed morning so we went to buy the wood for the posts and beams under the deck The hurricane straps, joyce hangers and the cement to set the posts.

We completed the building of the frame on the first day. That night we bought the wood for the fascia boards and the deck surface.

We then mixed the cement to put in front of the steps and replace the patched sidewalk.

After installed all of the deck boards we went for the steps and railings. The deck surface was completed the second day.

That night we went for the posts and railings.

We started to build the steps, using all of the math that hadn’t been used in a while and following the requirements from the building office. All steps must be the same rise and depth and have a kick plate at the back.

Pictures were not coming fast at this point in the construction.

We set the steps three times. First too high so instead of lowering it we raised it even more. Of course we had it all screwed down before me measured.

The third time we put each riser in and then measured. It worked the third time. It didn’t require any re-cutting just changes in the attach point. I also had to cut a little more wood off the heal of the steps to make it fit around our new cement.

We put the railing on the left first. It was a full section. The railing on the front required about 3” to be cut off.

The right side required two sections. We cut 3/4” off one end and 20” off the other end, that centered the balusters between the posts.

The construction crew.

And who it was for.

!

The deck is 21” off the surface. The building code only requires railings if the deck surface is over 30” and so we opted to not put a railing down the step to give it a more open look.

The happy construction crew after three days.

-- Retired in Delaware