I'm not sure what thread this should go in. Could say it could go in the guns thread, home improvement, or woodworking. I'm gonna put it here, because I think it's most closely related to the project.
I am a member of a 275 member private outdoor gun range. The 10 yard and 25 yard pistol ranges both share a shooting shed, and are both basically in a "bowl" of earth. You go down to get to the shed, and the backstop and the barrier to the adjacent 50 yard range form essentially a soup bowl where water tends to collect in the spring and fall. Since it's outdoor, it's a lot of water. This means that for most of the spring and a good chunk of the fall, and any time it rains, the entire range is essentially mud. I wouldn't actually care about it, but, you've gotta go hang targets, and that's where the annoyance comes in, because if you're not wearing some pretty decent boots, you're in for a treat.
When I joined a couple years ago, I ripped a sheet of plywood in half and tossed that down as part of a walking path to the target hangers, but it was quickly swallowed by the mud, just literally vanished into the earth. I'm sure you could still find it pretty easy, but it's definitely not a walkway anymore. So, i proposed we build basically what amounts to a deck all the way down to the target line. I've gotten approval and the funding to construct the one for the 10 yard range, and based upon that, I'll probably get approval to do the 25 as well. My plan is pretty simple - I plan on using green treat 2x6s as a frame, and then green treat decking, and build 8' by 32" (so I can tri-sect a 8' piece) sections in my garage where I have all the power tools, then haul them down to the range to install them. The plan is to have this thing basically just be a boardwalk - it's only gonna be raised up off the ground high enough to be not in contact with the ground to stave off rot as much as possible. Of course, when you're a member of a 275 member range, everyone's got a fucking better idea than you have, and I'm kinda sick of it, because I'm the one doing the work here, so I don't really care what they think I should do. But, I can see the merit behind a pair of ideas here, and I'm looking for some more feedback.
This thing can't just lay on the ground, even if we leveled it all out with a bobcat or something, it would twist and warp and sink and rot and basically just be useless, so it's gotta be up on something. I had originally though about just getting an augur and digging post holes, drop in some 6x6's and a piece of concrete for a footing and calling it good. Probably dig a hole every 4 feet, so 6 per section. That seemed easy enough. But almost everyone I talk to seems to think that I can just get some landscaping pavers and lay the frame on there - just so it's enough off the ground for water to run under it, and the bottom not to rot. Level it out either with some shovels or with extra pavers (which are pretty fucking cheap). I gotta admit, that's a helluva lot easier than setting posts all day, but I can't help but think that's halfassing this a bit too much. But then I've got people saying that frost is gonna heave it if you put footings in anyway, so now I'm not sure what to think.
This is not gonna be your standard deck with a railing - more like a boardwalk. But it's gonna be rather large - the first section is 11 out to the target wire, and then 20' across it, so L shaped. The other side is gonna be 56' out to the wire, and another 16' across.
What thoughts do you guys have about it? I've never built a deck before - but I'm super excited to finally do a project that's not part of my fucking house -- and with someone else's fucking money!
