Progress on the deck

Loyal fans will recall the deck renovation exercise. The first phase is finally coming together.

Here’s the view from the back door as of yesterday evening.

The deck surface is manufactured wood. We have homemade spacers that keep the right spacing between boards, which are held onto the joists with clips,

Detail of the spacers. Nothing but the finest, here. You can buy a spacer commercially, but these work just as well, and we have six of them instead of just the one that we would have purchased.

A close-up of a clip. Theoretically, each new board just slides onto those ears and life is simple. Well, not quite that easy, but it does eventually come along.

The clips on the deck boards actually pulled loose the wooden block on one of the newly installed piers. The only explanation is that the pier must have settled an eighth of an inch or so after having been placed. Anyway, Roger mixed up some quick-set concrete and worked it into the gap under the wooden pad, so that it will have a surface to rest on. We don’t need it to resist horizontal pressure, just carry a vertical load.

Evening today, and phase 1 is complete. The view toward the back door, above, and from the door, below.

We will start working on the area to the right, and the outdoor worktable (formerly known as a picnic table) is to the left. So that big pile of plastic tarp in the background gets spread across the new surface to minimize damage that would otherwise be caused by gravel-encrusted shoes and who knows what!

But it’s real progress. Thanks, Roger, for doing a good job on it.