Home Improvement

Burren

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My general contractor who I've honestly had more bad experience than good with, regarding his subcontractors, wants to go ahead and lock me into redoing my deck for 11k with pressure treated wood even though he has no start date. Says hes backed up probably a month. Just sent me a text asking me to sign agreement so he can go ahead and order it but he has no start date. Seems like I'm getting fucked. Fuck him?

Fuuuuuck that unless said agreement returns 100% of your deposit (if there is one) if it doesn't happen by a certain date (also get it notarized and keep your copy handy). But, even then, fuck that because you can find someone else.
 
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Kovaks

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Im getting fucked. lurkingdirk lurkingdirk was it you who just redid a deck?

It's not some elaborate deck, just literally redoing it and extending it 2 feet. At this point, i already have the tools and a buddy with woodworking experience who wants go help. I bet we could get material for 2-3k, each pocket 2k and still come in under this ridiculous 11k.

Fucks sake I even have a trailer to haul off the old wood.

How hard is doing a deck? Literally keeping it the exact same other than extending it two feet.
Easy as fuck if you have the tools and it is just the boards and rail, if it is the frame maybe more work but still doable, they sell spacing jigs so you can put the screws in at an angle from the side too so you won't see them. For the two feet you could probably brace it off the existing structure.
 
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LachiusTZ

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Eh fucking HVAC system in this house sucks donkey dick.

Blows cold, but never actually cools down the house.

Apparently plaster and ultra dense wood hold so much heat etc it makes it a nightmare. So can't let the house warm during the day as much as I expected.
 

lurkingdirk

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Foler Foler do it yourself. Take your time, plan plan plan. If you're just duplicating what's there it's simple. Especially if you don't have to redo the support structure and you're just doing the decking and railing. Extending it is no big deal. Honestly, have faith in yourself. And if you have all the necessary tools you better use them.
 
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BrutulTM

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Yeah, it's not rocket science. All you need is a tape measure, a saw of some sort and an impact driver or two. If you have the old one to go off of then you don't even have to figure anything out, just copy the old one. YouTube has lots of advice I'm sure.
 
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Dandai

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The whole thing is worth watching and taking a couple notes, but key takeaways are:

Use a spacer between boards (paint stirring stick is what I used)
Crown up (grain oriented like a rainbow) so as the board dries the edges won’t lift and create a tripping hazard
Pre drill (or do his “burn in” technique) the screw holes or you’ll be sad
 
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iannis

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Decking is one of the least complicated carpentry projects.

You'll be surprised how easy. If it's a ground floor deck you and a buddy can do it in a weekend. If it's a high deck you need to plan it out.

11k for a deck is straight robbery. If you're making it out of pressure treated wood.
 
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Dandai

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So this is what im working with. Yeah, it's on an incline. I have a bunch of tools, no budget to acquiring more and even have a flatbed trailer I can use to haul shit (along with pickup truck).

We want to extend it two feet. Would you guys just replace posts where they currently are and add more two feet out? See anything I could do to make the deck better? Gonna start research this weekend. Thanks for all the help, dexperts!



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If you’re not planning on putting something heavy on the edge of the deck you can get away with diagonal bracing against the posts that are currently there. Would be much simpler than setting new posts but obviously not as structurally sound.

Use at least 1/4” lag screws or lag bolts not regular deck screws. The more meat the less likely they will shear. Predrill a hole the size of the inner part of the lag screw (ie the drill bit should be smaller than the threads) before driving it in. If using lag bolts predrill the whole the same size as the threads. Whether lag screws or bolts, use washers.

Edit: Thinking more about it, there isn’t a good way to fasten the other end of the diagonal brace without replacing the joists to get your 2ft extension. You’d be saving the effort of replacing the posts but it’s still a lot of effort for an extra 2ft. You could probably come up with a janky solution by adding some blocking to attach short joists to the end of what’s already there, but that exceeds my personal risk tolerance.

In short -
Perfect: Build new deck designed to size
Good: Replace deck boards and maintain current size
Sketchy: Replace deck boards and use blocking and diagonal bracing to extend deck 2ft

DC242043-849C-4037-A95D-53CA371A921E.jpeg
 
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Kovaks

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Lachius might be right actually, how rotten are the boards, maybe just try sanding them down and see if they are good below the surface, then stain and seel.
 
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Dandai

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Lachius might be right actually, how rotten are the boards, maybe just try sanding them down and see if they are good below the surface, then stain and seel.
From the pictures they look to be in pretty good shape. I imagine a thorough pressure washing would be sufficient if he doesn't want to seal for some reason.
 
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lurkingdirk

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I think I'd replace those deck boards. I'd also test each of the joists to make sure they're still solid wood. As far as extending it, I'd never do the angle bracing. Especially if you're going to put benches on that end. I'd cut the existing end posts flat, drop new posts, and just put decking over the old posts and voila: they disappear.

The only possible glitch is the water tap at the end. Do you have the know how to extend that, too? If you're going to have a plumber do it, build the new structure, but have the tap moved before you put the decking on. It will be much simpler.
 
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Lanx

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So this is what im working with. Yeah, it's on an incline. I have a bunch of tools, no budget to acquiring more and even have a flatbed trailer I can use to haul shit (along with pickup truck).

We want to extend it two feet. Would you guys just replace posts where they currently are and add more two feet out? See anything I could do to make the deck better? Gonna start research this weekend. Thanks for all the help, dexperts!



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to my untrained eye, your deck looks fine, it's just old and ugly from years of weather
35b823f8dfb002b870dfb638dd7513ec.png


just used the 25degree insert and your deck will look like new

also
wtf is that faucet doing underneath the deck
 
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lurkingdirk

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Faucet makes sense to me, so you don't have to crawl under the deck to attach a hose.

But try a pressure washer first. You might be happy with it. Harder to make the extra 2 feet blend in, though.
 
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Dandai

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to my untrained eye, your deck looks fine, it's just old and ugly from years of weather
35b823f8dfb002b870dfb638dd7513ec.png


just used the 25degree insert and your deck will look like new

also
wtf is that faucet doing underneath the deck
I don’t remember what it’s called but there’s a rotary head attachment for like $60 but it leaves a perfect finish and covers a huge area.
 
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Dandai

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I think I'd replace those deck boards. I'd also test each of the joists to make sure they're still solid wood. As far as extending it, I'd never do the angle bracing. Especially if you're going to put benches on that end. I'd cut the existing end posts flat, drop new posts, and just put decking over the old posts and voila: they disappear.

The only possible glitch is the water tap at the end. Do you have the know how to extend that, too? If you're going to have a plumber do it, build the new structure, but have the tap moved before you put the decking on. It will be much simpler.
I agree. No benches on the edge if using angle bracing.
 
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BrutulTM

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From the pictures they look to be in pretty good shape. I imagine a thorough pressure washing would be sufficient if he doesn't want to seal for some reason.

I thought the same thing. They are dirty as hell but they don't look rotten from the pictures at least. Might be able to just clean and reseal it.
 
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