Sunday Night Status

A fairly productive weekend, considering how long the list is. Not only how long (how many items) but how wide (so many steps, posts, joists, and so on).

This is the weekend that I had to stomp on a 4x4 to finish a cut from my anemic cordless circular saw.

Copper Green Brown (long story)

I cut ten 4x4 posts, then notched them--not a trivial task, since it involves aligning circular saw cuts from two sides and finishing with a hand saw. Once they were notched, I marked and drilled for 20 through-bolts. Just the countersink--the process I developed on the upper deck calls for making the post plumb in both directions and holding it that way before drilling and installing the bolts.

In one big push after dinner on Sunday, I cut the stair stringers and applied wood preservative. You only need preservative on cut edges, so if you cut a 2x4, you just "paint" the cut end with preservative. Now picture the 12 cuts made on each stringer.

I made a note to myself to be careful applying preservative to the stringers. For the upper deck, I lined them up on the wall in the narrow alcove where Casey's bath meets the breezeway. I "painted" all the edges while breathing in the stuff I had already painted. So, for the lower deck, I applied most of the preservative with the stringers in place. Lots more fresh air. You know how cop movies always have an officer who's just days from retirement get shot? Well, on the last board, I flung a bunch of preservative at my bare arm. I washed it thoroughly and immediately. I haven't turned into the Hulk yet.

Tomorrow, following the list, I'll install the stringers (using Simpson LSCZs at the top) and continue down the list. I think the next thing is 2x4 "X" bracing, the Simpson DTT1Z tension devices, then mounting all ten posts. Then I stain everything black with the Valspar "Darkest Night" stuff--the stair stringers are almost all painted, the deck joists almost all not, but I do have to go around the edge of the whole deck. Then I paint the wall of the house where it meets the deck. At some point, I have to install black joist tape on every single joist. I won't get to the decking before August at this rate.