The latticework and beams and posts are all in good shape row. It's time to put those scissors trusses up on the roof.
Attachment 64927


This shot is a little out of sequence, one truss is already on top, but it give a good view of the frame of the old roof. All the new trusses are going up here. There are a couple boards laying flat on the roof as skids to move the truss toward the house. There are two board sticking up vertically in the back of the roof where I'll tip up the first truss. It will rest against these backstops to keep it vertical while I get the second truss onto the roof and braced to the first truss.
Attachment 64928


You can also see that by now they've all been painted gray.
Attachment 64929

The tips of the trusses rest on the top plates of the beams. To locate the trusses neatly on the top plates, a notch is cut, called a "bird's mouth".
Attachment 64930

Attachment 64931

Kicking one end up
Attachment 64932


then looking for this bit of overhanging top plate.
Attachment 64933


I tried sliding them up these skids too, this was harder.
Attachment 64934


Here you can see how I put a post next to the house to keep the truss from tipping over toward the house and when I got the second one up, I used a couple of braces with some cleats on them to hold it upright and the right distance from the previous one.
Attachment 64935

The bird's mouth notch fit over the top plate.
Attachment 64936


You can't see it in the previous picture but the truss is pressed up against a block like this against the ledger board.
Attachment 64937


Now a block to be moved against the truss
Attachment 64938


and locked in and nailed down. This was repeated for each truss.
Attachment 64939

From underneath you can see the unpainted flat boards used as planks to walk on, the gray trusses, the white lattice. The little sections of wiggleboard would eventually be removed, I just didn't know it yet.
Attachment 64940


Another shot showing the installed trusses and the perpendicular boards are called purlins. The purlins will directly support the corrugated roofing material.
Attachment 64941


Shots of the roof being installed
Attachment 64942


also some mostly vertical braces to secure the trusses.
Attachment 64943

Now the remains of the fence on one side has to be removed
Attachment 64944


fence gone
Attachment 64945


and so is that wiggleboard.
Attachment 64946


Lattice looks clean now, but needs painting. Look at the roof on the top of the purlins!
Attachment 64947

All the roof is on now, and a tidy stack of lumber under shelter!
Attachment 64948


Now I only have eight foot long 2x4s for the frame, I decided to make four squarish frames, put them in the corners leaving an empty cross-shaped space in the center.
Attachment 64949


A super wide shot of the whole area with one frame laid down and three stacked upright.
Attachment 64950

Another frame laid down with some supporting material underneath to make it solid underneath and level on the top
Attachment 64951


And another corner frame laid down. I left one side open so it would fit around the pier block post base.
Attachment 64952


Here's a look at an "arm" of the "cross" of unfilled space.
Attachment 64953

This picture is a little out of sequence, we're clipping the corner off this square, just so it fits better into the flow of the deck. SonofV handling the Hackzall. I love that tool. The saw's awesome too! (j/k son, j/k)
Attachment 64954


cut cut cut cut
Attachment 64955


separated
Attachment 64956



and the wound is covered. It looks better now, doesn't it? You can see all the frames in all the corners now.
Attachment 64957

Cutting some pieces to fill in one of the empty spaces
Attachment 64958


starting to dry fit the little rectangle
Attachment 64959


they all fit, now let's build it
Attachment 64960

and drop it in
Attachment 64961

So let's talk about the concrete for a minute. There are plenty of cliches about the value of a good foundation. For cause. This foundation has some good points and some faults.

Pros
already in place
strong
waterproof
cheap

Cons
not level
difficult to remove
not level
quite high relative to the threshold of the door to the house
not level
not expandable
not level

I'm sure the balance of these attributes is obvious. This is a poor foundation. Poor maybe unfair. It is a foundation that will be difficult to work with and build on. Y'know, the important parts of a foundation.

I thought of tearing it up, moving it out, digging downward and laying a bed of gravel which could offer good drainage and a compacted solid level foundation. Upon which I could place pier blocks. Upon which I could place and level strong beams. Upon which I could easily place the frame. Upon which the deck boards could be laid. Ah, such a beautiful dream.

But the prospect of breaking up all that concrete and hauling it away, or using it as rubble... suffice to say we did not choose that way. It was easier (at that moment) to just build on it, after all the old deck was built on it. I have come to regret this decision.

The keen observer probably has noticed in some of the pictures pieces of wood underneath the frame. These are shims and blocks and spacers to support the 2x4s that comprise the frame joists.

A word here--the distance between the threshold of the doors to the house down to the surface of the concrete patio is about four inches. I don't have much height/depth to work with. This deck will basically be a floor--very thin.
Attachment 64963


The concrete is strong, and there's no way I'm going to crush a 2x4 on edge, but it will sway and bow if I have it suspended between two (short) posts. And if I don't raise the bottom of the joist, I won't have a flat level surface to attach the deck boards to. Do you see my dilema?

This deck will be very thin, and variably so. *sigh* This part of the job will take a very long time, solidly supporting the joists in each part of each frame. I went through a few different versions of how best to accomplish this. I tried fitting the proper thickness of wood (well, really, everywhere this is the ultimate goal) but with different attempts to secure these little posts. Nails. Shims. Construction adhesive. Other blocks of wood.

I have finally settled on friction. The early efforts of this method involved me eyeballing the distance between the bottom of the joist and the concrete, cutting a section of 2x4 the right height/thickness, test fitting it, and if it was perfect, *WONDERFUL*. If it was really loose, maybe find another spot nearby to fit it into. If it was too tight by a lot, I'd have to stand up again and walk to the saw, grip the fragment and trim it a little. Walk back, kneel down, fit it in again.

I eventually learned the hard way that I could not rest on the frame while I did this, screwing up the distance and the level. I could not tap the block into place with a hammer, screwing up the level. I could not shim it firmly with wedges or shims, screwing up the level. It really just had to be finger snug. Scores of times. I started to say thousands, there aren't thousands of these blocks. It felt like it, and I made many more trips back and forth than there are actual blocks. Tedious as fuck. Regret.

What will keep those little blocks in place, you ask? You ask good questions. You will get your answers, stay tuned.

Back to the goddamn frames and blocks and knee pads and ibuprophen and sawdust and colorful language.

THIS is what I'm talking about. The board across the gap between the two corner frames, come on. I can't put the deck boards on that!
Attachment 64964


Here's the section built and dropped in but not blocked up.
Attachment 64965

A closeup of version 1.0 of the leveling blocks. Secured with other blocks and boards and nails.
Attachment 64966


Version 2.0, secured with construction adhesive. Both of these sections were really low, low enough to accommodate another whole 2x4 thickness plus another chunk plus some thinner pieces plus some wedge shims.
Attachment 64967


Version 3.0, frickin frickshun. The little chunk of cement-board at the bottom center was my marker as I tried to remember where I'd just measured.
Attachment 64968

Speaking of measuring, I eventually realized that this eyeballing method was hopeless, and I bought a caliper. It's not designed for this kind of setup, though it did an adequate job of indicating the distance from the concrete to the bottom of the board.
Attachment 64969


Not leaning on the board, marker in place
Attachment 64970


Carry the caliper to the board to be shortened, line up the end of the caliper with the end of the board, mark where the "upper" jaw hit the bottom of the board, make a mark.
Attachment 64971


Extend the mark so I can see it under the saw.
Attachment 64972

The mark
Attachment 64973


The placement
Attachment 64974


The cut
Attachment 64975


The result
Attachment 64976