Decking to the other side and beyond!

Since I starting to lay the boards on the deck I've now completed the landing, completed the steps on the landing, and laid the boards around the curve. Now it's time to bring it all together and take the boards all the way across to the other side and beyond.

First up is to complete the decking all the way around the right hand side (when looking at the original plan) to meet up with the side gate. There was a complication with the side fence however. Whatever the fencing contractor had used to "concrete" in one of the posts wasn't like any concrete I had ever seen. It had set like black glass, leaching into the wood and destroying the bottom of the post. The timber literally turned into dust.

To fix it I had to disassemble the fence, dig out the old post and that "black stuff", and then replace it with a nice new post fixed in with conventional old concrete mix, and then rebuild the fence.

Once that was fixed I finished the deck up to the gate as you can see below.

Finished the decking to the gate

Now that the right hand side was finished I just trimmed off the end of the deck with a straight edge and circular saw, giving a lovely finished look. There was very little excess to cut off as the Deck Master system lets you pick and choose which timbers you use which minimises waste.

Below is the finished right side of the deck.

Right side of the deck completed and trimmed

With the right edge finished I continued to lay the boards all the way across until I came to the last board for the top of the deck!

Of course the edge of the last board didn't line up perfectly with the end of the joists! I challenge anyone can be that accurate in their planning. All I did was leave some excess joist hanging out which I then cut flush with the edge of the last board using a reciprocating saw. I then cut some front facing joists that connected in on a 90 degree angle to the top joists which will be used later to fix front facing boards to.

To start the last board I began on the left side of the deck near the steps which introduced their own set of complications! 

As you can see below I had to put a slight kink in the board to get around the top step because it juts out about an inch from the deck. Nothing some judiciously and carefully cut mitre joins can't fix!

Fitting around the top of the stairs

Below is the crowning glory of fitting the very last board to the top of the deck. Now if you remember, the Deck Master timber comes pre grooved, and because I didn't want the grooved edge showing I had to use a standard 90x20 mm decking board. Using a standard board requires slots to be cut along one side of the board using a biscuit cutter, to match up with the Deck Master claws on the inside board, essentially replicating how the grooved timber works. 

To fix the outside of the board I used the Deck-Max screws and plugs as I did with the landing steps.

Two connection methods! Claws on the inside and plugs outside

Below shows the last board fixed down! You can also see all the vertical joists that I now have to fix the facing boards onto. This will close up the underneath of the deck.

The last board done!

Below shows all the facing boards fitted, the fixing down the last board! You can see I've left a spot for a small access hatch which I'll knock up later, and this is also where I am putting an all-weather electrical outlet so I won't need to run cords across the deck if I need electricity on the far side.

Fitting the last facing board

The photo below shows the same but from the other end before I "release the clamps!". It's a big milestone to fit the very last board!

So close now

So here it is below with all the top and facing boards completed. You can see the trail I have worn into the ground walking backward and forward along the front of the deck! Nothing a bit of landscaping mulch can't hide I'm sure.

Front facing boards completed

So the deck top,side and landing steps are done and it really has come up a treat. Exactly as I hoped all those months ago when this kicked off. I guess I'll have to do something about the neighbour's trampoline now!?

Top deck completed

All that is left to do now is to lay the boards onto the steps which lead down to the grassed area, and then the job is pretty much finished. More on that next post. Enjoy.

Finishing up the Landing Steps

Happy New Year 2016 everyone!

I've been having a bit of a break enjoying the Australian Christmas summer time out on the back deck (asleep on the lounge some of the time too). 

Last post we laid the decking around the curved stonework, so now let's get back into it and look at finishing up of the landing steps by putting the boards down!

I decided to start simple and tackle the side steps first. Below you can see I start by fixing the nose board first, using the riser boards clamped underneath to make sure it all lines up. I then fixed the nose board down using the DeckMax counter-bore tool with screws and wood plugs.

The boards for the risers were a little trickier as I had to:

1. rip them down to size, allowing for a 3 mm gap above and below each board. You can see below I used slivers of offcuts to space the boards to 3 mm; and then
2. cut a hole in the middle for step lighting I wanted to fit (see the next picture below)

Fitting the nose board

The step light shown below is what I want to fit into the riser boards for all the steps. It took me a while to find exactly what I was looking for, and eventually had to import them from Hinkley Lighting in the USA via Amazon, as I couldn't find anything locally that was similar. They have a really comprehensive array of deck lighting available. 

They were pretty easy to fit, I just measured up the back of them and marked up the boards with the outline, then cut each board using the jigsaw.

Hinkley Lighting 1546BZ horizontal deck light (image courtesy of Amazon)

For the tread boards I had to cut in notches to the final board to fit around the stringers. I just measured them up, transposed them onto the board with a pencil, and then made the required cuts into the board with a jigsaw. Below you can see the bottom step completed with the light fitted in.

Bottom step completed with step light fitted

It's then just a case of replicating the process for the next set of boards for the facing riser and fitting it all together. Below is the completed side step with the lights in and turned on!

Side steps completed with operational stair lights

Having satisfied myself that it worked, I then moved on to the front step using the same methodology. In this instance though just to complicate things a little, there were mitre joins needed on each corner. 

I pre-cut all the boards before hand and clamped everything in place first just to make sure it was all going to fit. You'll notice I still use the Deck-Max "original" biscuits as spacers on the tread boards, as they are really great for getting the gap to exactly 3 mm, and I still have 1/2 a box left over from doing the side deck!

With the mitre joins I measured and cut the boards slightly over sized, and then using the circular saw proceeded to cut the smallest 1 mm or so "nibble" of the end, and tried it for size. If it didn't fit I'd take another mm off, and try again, and then again, until it was an exact fit. 

It's real easy to cut the wood shorter slowly, but it's damned hard to try and add it back on if you cut it too short, so take your time! 

You can see below I have already fixed the nose board, and have clamped up the next ones for size and spacing.

Checking the boards for size and spacing

Below shows the tread boards fitted and fixed. Like with the side step, I had to cut notches into the last board to fit around the stair stringers.

Step tread boards completed

As you can see below, it's worth taking the time on those mitre joins to get them spot on. The joins are all under cover, so I didn't have to worry too much about leaving a gap on the mitre. If this join was exposed to the weather you'd want to leave a mm or two gap on the mitre join to allow for any swelling of the wood that could occur.

Nice and precise joins make it a professional looking job

Below shows the finished step tread boards from the opposite angle. Once the glue on the wood plugs has dried you just cut them off with a vibrating multi-tool and sand them smooth.

Once small step for me, and giant leap in step building experience!

So once the tread boards were laid, as per the side step, I then ripped down the boards to go on the riser (to the same size), measured up, cut the holes for the step lights, and then fixed it all in. 

Below is the finished job.

The finished job

At last we can now walk out the back door without having to jump over anything! 

I could even sit on the back step and have a well deserved cold one.

Looking good

Below shows the deck landing with it's final coat of finish applied, and it really looks the goods, and quite professional in my own humble opinion! Well the wife is impressed too, and that's all that matters in the end really! A satisfied customer.

Not a bad job for an IT guy with some patience and power tools.

Adding the polish makes it come up a treat

Below is the step lighting fitted in and operational. I am really pleased with the look, and it was well worth the extra effort and expense to find the right lights.

The in-step lighting was worth all the trouble of importing the lights

Next post we are going to finish off the decking boards on the main deck, so until next time, happy new year for 2016 and chat soon.