Deck-day 2

Day 1 was Sunday of last week, I worked Monday, and day 2 was Tuesday. After Tuesday I have 4 long days in a row at work, so I felt I needed a little shorter day than I had put in on Sunday.


Even thou it looked like I am about finished with the deck, the rest will go slower because every board has to be measured to get a close fit.

I started with the 2x4's that go under the top railings. After all were cut and screwed in place, I added the top railings. At least now we would not fall off of the deck.









Next I cut the balusters boards at a 45 degree angle on bottom and installed them. I decided if I used a piece of 4x4, I would achieve the "right look" for them. Since there would be 9 balusters per section, it was just a matter of centering the first one (using my little centering trick) and using the 4x4 block to space the rest.


















The front 4 sections were all I had time for as I wanted to redo the steps.









This is what they looked like when I just threw them together on Sunday to get us by. I just used 2 sets of step stringers and had the steps overlapping the ends.









I moved the stringers out to the end of the steps and added a middle stringer. Lag screws run thru the stringers into the posts and are hidden under the steps. I installed the 2x4's and top railings. This made for very stable steps (don't you just hate handrails that are flimsy?).


I finished my day by putting the rest of the screws in the flooring. Seems like a lot less work, but it still took longer than I had hoped. Still I was very pleased for the work accomplished in 2 days.