Stone, blocks, pinning... Man I have spent a tremendous amount of time and thought on this issue.

I absolutely must have the frame solidly supported. If the blocks shift or slip out that would be bad under thousands of pounds of water and electricity. I could pin the block in place with a piece of sheet metal I guess.

The gravel is cheap though and not especially inconvenient to acquire. That truckfull cost 16 bucks. Haven't worked out how many trucks full I'll need though.

Plus I do really like the vertical support the gravel provides. Ffs I drive on it in the driveway. That's reassuring. Seems solid.


Thinking thinking thinking....

When I said pin them I meant an angle nail or straight down.
You might want concrete blocks directly under the tub, they're super heavy, as you know.
That stone may hold moisture but the concrete should at least help keep it from coming up from the ground.

Around the 500th photo of cutting the supporting blocks, I wondered if it would have been easier to just order a load of gravel, rake it out level, and build on top of that? And then I saw your picture of the gravel load. LOL.

That's a huge project! Lots of work, and I see SonOfV in some of the photos. Isn't he in NYC now? It takes forever to do projects in your spare time.

Looking good. I'll be interested to see the final product.

Very cool!

Bummer. At least he was able to supervise some of the early work, make sure you did the job right! :thumbsup:

I will file this under; Go big or go home!

This is easy, cut down a tree, carve a frame, then buy the ugliest fabric you can find.
A fabric that will make your carving look good. ;)

^^^spam

Sorry man, put it in the wrong thread. :o
I can't delete it, have to get one of the people with the power.

JUST KIDDING!

In other news...

I filled a few of the bays in deck framing this weekend and I *love it *. It is absolutely solid. Bombproof.

The screens at the bottom do their job perfectly,.... Where I put them in, that is. I found one small spot, a inch across or less that I'd overlooked. Sure enough, gravel was leaking out. It'll work out OK though.

I managed to unload about 3/4 of the truck before I had a little accident with the wheelbarrow. I had a heavy full load and I crashed it, broke the handle, went ass over teakettlle into the grill and hurt my hands. I hyper extended my thumb enough to bruise my palm. Hurts like a bastard. Pics later.

I have a replacement handle set and hardware in the car and once I have the wheelbarrow repaired, I'll be able to unload a truckload in one night.

V,

What kind (species) of wood is that? you're laying it right on the concrete. I'm skeert.


why not say fuck the concrete, dig a few footers and put posts up and hang it like a normal deck?

The wood is I don't know, probably fir or pine or hemlock, but it's rated for ground contact, Copper Azole pressure treated.

Attachment 65084

The superstructure is just regular premium 2x4 material, picking the straightest each time I went shopping.

As for digging and posts and footers.. good question.

The short answer is I could only have the top of the deck about 3-6 inches above the height of the concrete. Otherwise I'd have to step down from the deck to get into the house. I didn't have room to build a deck that "thick".

Here's the post with a longer explanation and a picture for reference.

And here's a post with a better view of the step in front of the door to the house. It's a chunk that's almost level with the threshold of the door to the house. At the very beginning of this project, I thought about taking out all the concrete, digging down, laying some gravel and making room for piers and posts and beams like you describe. Then the prospect of taking out all that concrete made me achy and tired. Noooope. Plan B was born, and you're lookin at it.

Ok, some updates:


So, here is the first wheelbarrow load of gravel I dumped into the frame. I want to offer a word of thanks to xoB for helping me with the idea of the blocks as a ramp. I got the idea from his help on an old thread about my car ramps. Still, I hadn't forgotten. Thanks xoB!

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Anyhow, DUMP!

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More dumping.

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Lots more dumping and screeding and tamping. Looks good doesn't it?!

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This is what remained in the truck by the time I'd broken the wheelbarrow. You can see the bucket; it took about four buckets to make a wheelbarrow full. I don't remember exactly, but I might have loaded five buckets into the wheelbarrow--not sure--might have just been tired and frustrated. That ramp, ingenious though it may be, is not a smooth run up to the top of the frame.

No pictures of the crash or the cursing. The wreck of the wheelbarrow is on the side yard, waiting the installation of the already purchased replacement parts.

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This bay shows the little patches of hardware cloth I tacked to the inside of the frames to hold the gravel inside the frame. I feel gratified that my intuition made real performed so well. It does exactly what I intended.

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So here is another shot at a different section (and a wider shot of the same location) that shows how well the wire mesh works. When it's installed, that is. The little section on the left I'd overlooked an it's about an inch wide, I didn't see it from the inside, didn't cover it, and look, it leaks. I think once the gravel is tamped solid and locks in place the leak will stop. This sharp edged gravel does lock in very, very nicely.

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Ok, a couple pics that are not strictly images of the construction.

This hurts.

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This is a sketch I used to try to figure out if 8 ft boards will suffice across the width of the deck.

Turns out, math says it will. Yay!

Attachment 65094

No pics tonight, you're welcome.

What's making me happy tonight?

I installed the first seventeen deck boards tonight.
I just finished, good night now.

oooo nice bruise

heh, thanks. That's a little reminder from the crash of the wheelbarrow. The wheelbarrow was a write-off, I have a new one already. The right hand was repaired and is back in regular service.

As for tonight, I'm still installing deckboards. I'm really, really stoked. I'm having another episode of moving my construction materials out of my work area to install the same materials. It's raining now, but not cold, so I'm working working working. The more deck boards I install the fewer I have to keep moving around. And the next batch will have clean dry DECK to rest on while I install them one by one in the uncovered part of the deck.

I'm only here because I came in to plug in some rechargable electronics I use out on the deck for entertainment while I work.

Anyhow, more pics later, after the boards are installed!!

eleven and a half more boards installed.

good night. I have to be out of the house in seven hours.

11 and a half?:eyebrow:

Ain't that twelve boards, Precious?

Well Gollum, I'll tell ya.

I got eleven full length boards installed and the next board required some cutting. Specifically, I had to notch it to fit in under a post. I *did* notch it, but not quite enough. I needed to enlarge the notch, but by that time I was out of patience, energy, daylight, and gumption.

Half a board it is.


The following night only ten and a half boards, then Friday night, none.. I'd burned my candle all the way down. Saturday was a daylight working day but lots of rain, so I got stuff done, but minimal boards installed. I did buy another fifty or so.

Those all had to be unloaded and trimmed to length and stacked.

Today's work is measured in half decks.

I have installed boards across half the deck.

Pics later.

:D

Half-a-board it is, then!

Daylight, clear skies...means motive and opportunity....

I'll be out on the deck.

TTYL

Well, that update from a week ago turned out to be optimistic.

This weekend I have done what I'd intended to do last weekend. All the full length boards have been installed. All that's left, decking-wise, are partial boards, installed, measured, uninstalled, cut, reinstalled, rinse, repeat. There are four triangular sections left to fill in. Then lots of boards to trim flush at the edges of the deck. Then a skirt of sorts to hide most of the framing and to corral the spacer blocks at the outermost edges. Then a picture frame wrap around the edges of the deck boards, and a seam of silicone caulk between the end grain of the deck boards and the picture frame wrapper to keep the end grain from staying wet when it rains.

Then..
Scrubbing with TSP and a stiff brush, as much air drying as I can get, then a coat of Penofin tinted translucent stain.

quick update.

I have daylight and clear skies. Out to the deck I go. It *is* cold though.

How cold is it? It's 33 here.

Yeah, winter has shown up here as well. How'd you make out?

Hi guys.

I wanted to answer Griff's question with a couple pictures and realized I am way, way behind in my workflow maintaining the continuity of the pictures. So no pictures, sorry.

The answer is that I have all the deck boards installed and about two out of three sides trimmed, one side out of three still wild. I started on the wrong side, wound up realizing I'd be sawing backwards to progress, stopped, moved to the other side of the deck and began again now each cut leads forward to the other. Basically I'm sawing around the perimeter of the deck in a counterclockwise fashion. Before I would saw right to left, then resetup the guide board behind me... ugh. Wrong!

Ran out of daylight, Twil said she was ready for dinner and I leapt at the chance to call it a night.

There will be pics, there *are* pics, but I'm still downloading them from the cloud to the computer for editing and organization and resizing, etc. etc. And captioning. There is a story here, and I want to tell it.

Work first!

Work always.

Though, it's a little misleading to just flatly call it work. It is work, sure but it's also relaxation and investment and creation and recreation... So much more than merely work. I know you know...

Fuckin right

And each session ends with, It's WHAT time??

It's fucking snowing.

*Not* the Polar Vortex--not a competition.

Still my dexterity with the hand tools is dropping faster than the temperature.

:cold:

Too easy to get hurt when it's cold.http://cellar.org/2012/nono.gif

When I was wiring the barn in the cold/dark, I bled a fair amount and didn't know it until I came inside...

People who haven't done wiring have no idea how much it tears up your fingers. Thick snipped wire is sharp.

Stuff breaks in the cold. Mechanical stuff...Bones...

That's true, I think cold stiff muscles contribute to that because they are less bouncy.

So is that little ground wire, and I was surprised how sharp the leading edge of that cold plastic insulation can be. It won't stab you through the heart like copper but don't use any Purell. :sniff:

I've pulled insulation from speaker wire outta my fingers a couple times.

Still cold
Still snow on the ground
New flurries
:cold:

Stained the deck today.

I didn't want to change the color of the wood, it's so beautiful just natural. But, I defer to Twil on the aesthetic decision. She wanted gray, the color the untreated cedar would become after years of unprotected exposure to the sun and elements. We found a color she liked in a product I liked and I applied it today. We'll give it at least 24 hours, then I'll take another panorama for you. And posterity.

You're gonna finish that deck if you're not careful...

Will require much furniture, shade, bbq,.. he never actually has to finish

Rainy and dark when I got home, so no panorama, sorry.

Breaking News

The electrician has just left the premises. He and I had a very thorough walkthrough of the site and a detailed plan to get power to the location of the hot tub was developed. A quote for this plan will be forthcoming this week.

Just put a large microwave transmitter in the window and that tub will be lobster cookin' hot in no time.

smrt...ish

This thread.

Put some fucking pictures up or change the title to IIY.

Imagine it yourself

Here ya go.

Attachment 67277

That's about right. Thanks

If you're not going to put pictures up, you need 1000 words when you bump it.

bump

I'm back. *This time* I have the pics to prove it.


When we left our hero, he was breakin' rocks in the hot sun, makin' little ones out of big ones. No, that's not right. He was haulin' rocks in the cool pre-dawn light, makin' home ones out of store ones. Yeah, that's better.

I lined up before they were open (technically I'm in front of the BIGger truck to my left here). When they open the gate, I drive onto the scale in my little truck. I get weighed unloaded (click!), get loaded (ooooof!), get weighed again (pay the man!).

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That's all for tonight. I have many more to share, but not tonight.

Couldn't you have found prettier stone? Some cool bold colors, no pastels. Oh, and sparkly bits, quartz, gold flakes?

They'll have little truck-colored flakes when he gets it unloaded...

...whoop, wait. Bedliner. Ya get rock-colored rocks.

As you can see (GVWR), I was pushing it. Spoiler alert, truck lived.
Attachment 67407


Up the ramp, dump.
Attachment 67408


See how it fills in under the bottom edges of the frame?
Attachment 67409


The last shot shows a couple deckboards (and a lot more gravel) laid in place as gangplanks, also to give me a visual frame of reference how the deck boards will look when I install them.
Attachment 67410

before
(load, unload, rinse, repeat, emphasis on repeat)


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Attachment 67414

*SNAP*
after
DONE!
Attachment 67412


Plus a 360 degree panorama at the link.

https://panoraven.com/slider/V2gkGBNNoR

Here we see a little fix I had to engineer. The nailing surface for most of these boards has included an edge of one of the frame members that would align under the ends of the deck boards. But not in this corner. This is where the hot tub will live, so we'll never see this again once its installed. But I didn't want to have a section of deckboards that didn't have their ends securely fastened to the frame.

Attachment 67415


So, here are my additional boards, laid in place across the blocking in this section of the frame.

Attachment 67416


They obviously sit up too high, so I cut some giant dadoes to set the nailing surface flush with the rest of the frame. I measured them in place and made a number of relief cuts to the proper depth with the circular saw, then knocked out the pieces with a hammer and a chisel.

Attachment 67417


In the last picture you can see the new boards fitted, flush with the rest of the frame.

Attachment 67418