Deck Demo Delirium

I've been remiss in posting deck demolition photos for the last ten days. It's been ongoing.

As of Sunday evening, May 17

The sledge hammer is a great persuader, but what would work even better on things like the hot tub platform is slicing the joist with a circular saw, so that the board itself can be used to pry out the nails.

Evolution R185CCS, $89

I used Casey's Skilsaw Sidewinder SPT 67WM on the pantry project, but it performed very poorly. I suspect that his blade is super-dull. So I need a corded circular saw. I can't get used to left-hand models, but there are a number of good basic models out there.

The key spec is weight. Eight pounds is a lot easier to control than 14, and they are all in that range. That's why magnesium instead of steel is desirable. They are all basically the same: bevel and depth control. Blade wrench attaches somehow. This Evolution saw I have my eye on also has an electric brake, LED light, 13' cord, and comes with a blade they say has no problem with nails.

Other models to consider are the DeWalt DWE575 at $129, or the Ryobi CSB125. The Ryobi is 13-amps, not 15, and is mostly plastic, but it's only $50. As someone said, Do you want to buy it once for the rest of your life, or do you want to buy two now and two later?

The boards in contact with the ground are mush. The joists are at the right height, though.

I still have a lot of miscellaneous wood boards to clean out from under what had been the deck.

The last few deck boards are stuck under the step framing; that'll go next

The joists outside the two doors are at the right height, so I hope to reuse as many as I can. The main deck (in the foreground) is not at the right height--they did what was convenient and created steps that were too high or too shallow. The main deck, however, will be quite simple to deconstruct.

Lots of rot where they rested wood on the ground. I have to figure out a railing replacement here.

I need to protect the basement stairs. Even though the new plan calls for the area to be a planter, it's not safe to leave it un-guardrailed. Makes me consider a basement door solution.

I need to protect the basement stairs. Even though the new plan calls for the area to be a planter, it's not safe to leave it un-guardrailed. Makes me consider a basement door solution. This has the added advantages of not putting a strain on the sump pump (I'd leave it in place, just in case) and giving someone emergency egressing from Bedroom #2 a softer landing.

Kitchen Clean-up

I'm declaring victory over the kitchen. Last week, I realized that I was storing things that I crammed into cabinets years ago, and that Casey's food and my bread were just taking up counter space. So, I built some pantry and coffee shelves.

I noticed, for example, that I was keeping all my pantry foods in one of the least-accessible cabinets. Also, there was a lot of extraneous things making it difficult to get to plates and glasses, which we do everyday. The same was true with pots and pans--they were stacked on top of each other, with the most commonly-used pan farthest from the stove. This pan was so commonly used, I often left it out on the counter for ready access.

The area to the left of the sink was hyper-cluttered with Casey's collection of coffees, teas, and devices for making coffee (French press, grinder).

The solution was to buy melamine shelves designed to be mounted on flimsy metal standards. Instead, I used shelves as verticals and screwed into the edges of the horizontals. Not the strongest of constructions, but it will last until the kitchen remodel, I think.

They didn't have strapping longer than 3', so I couldn't tie the pantry with X-bracing. The shelves are 8", but they didn't have 8" sides, so I ended up ripping down two 12" x 72" for the sides.

The coffee station accommodates Casey's stuff, the K-cups, and a few mugs

The kitchen was fairly dirty, so I washed the cabinets inside and out, which meant pulling everything out and having a look at it.

Hopefully, a more usable kitchen

Oh, and the old, hard to access pantry cabinet by the refrigerator? It's now the appliance garage. I have a waffle iron that I didn't know about. The rice cooker that was balanced on the highest shelf over the plates and glasses is now front and center in the appliance garage.

I bought a plastic crate to hold the enormous paper bag collection, and a proper plastic recycling bin. I also labeled the two trash bins: Garbage and Recycling, with the rules from the sanitation people.

They Said It Couldn't Be Done

While I'm quoting poetry...

They said that it could not be done.
He said, "Just let me try."
They said other men have tried and failed--
He answered, "But not I."

They said it was impossible.
He said, "There's no such word."
He closed his mind, he closed his heart
To everything he heard.

He said, "Within the heart of man
There is a tiny seed.
It grows until it blossoms--
It's called the will to succeed.

"Its roots are strength,
Its stem is hope, its petals inspiration.
Its thorns protect strong, green leaves
With grim determination.

"Its stamen are its skills,
Which help to shape each plan.
For there's nothing in the universe
Beyond the scope of man."

They thought that it could not be done.
Some even said they knew it.
But he faced up to what could not be done...
And he couldn't bloody do it.

--Benny Hill

My Mind's in the Gutter

The trees around the house litter. The existing gutters are unprotected, so they fill with needles, roof granules, and other debris. I bought some plastic screening and tried it out.

The plastic could be lower if I cut out around the gutter supports

The plastic just plain didn't work, because the debris just collected where the barrel vault hit the fascia.

I tried about 20' of the plastic, but you can see how the debris collects

There are many, many products on the market to solve this, including an open-cell foam that fills the gutter so that there's no room for the leafs. The water trickles through the foam. LeafGuard(tm) quoted me $11,000 years ago, if memory serves. That's $42.80/LF.

Hoover Dam

What people seem to like best is a product called Hoover Dam, from Amerimax. Home Depot sells 3' sections for $4.97. $1.66/LF, or $426 for the whole house. The plastic netting I tried first is about .23/LF, 14% of the cost.

Kevin has a hard plastic shell on his gutters. Water runs off toward the house, and a single groove lets it fall into the gutter. One thing that the Hoover Dam literature says is--if you have a dark roof and a light fascia, install dark Hoover Dam.

I installed Hoover Dam where I can watch it from the Kitchen

The shadow line on the little fake gable end is a small edge flashing, so the larger edge flashing I put on top of it looks a little stupid. More so because none of it is fastened down--the larger edge would look better if it was tight against the older edge. I haven't fastened the Hoover Dam, either. It gets two screws in front of each 3' section.

I'm planning to take the existing gutters down, in sections, to replace rotting fascia and other wood and to correct the slope of the gutters. They angle down to the corners because the entire roof sags at most of the outside corners. That's a particular problem outside BR2, where collected gutter water dripped constantly on the deck boards right where I put my foot through it.

Estimating Lumber Cost

Some notes regarding lumber costs for the deck.

2x8 Construction Select #2 Ground-contact Hem Fir pressure-treated. Home Depot sells a 16' board for $24.77. That's $1.55/lf. ($1.16 per board-foot, if I'm doing the math correctly.)

Lowes has a 12' board at $18.37 (5% less than usual $19.37). $1.53/lf (usual would be $1.61/lf)

Dunn Lumber has 16' boards, but wants $1.98/lf.

Back of the envelope, I seem to need 580 linear feet of 2x8 for girders and joists. They say add 10%, so that's 40, 16' boards, or $1,099.07 with tax at Home Depot, about $300 more at Dunn Lumber.

Home Depot 2x8x16
Lowes 2x8x12
Dunn Lumber 2x8x16

To-day We Have Salvaging of Boards

This weekend, I got started on demolishing the hot tub platform, the weird little shelf next to the house, and the lattice "privacy screen" at the corner.

Saggy "shelf," along with the unfinished 2x4 railing put up when hot tub was removed.

There's the weird "privacy" screen and the old TV bracket like 8' above the deck

A demo contractor would crunch it all into toothpicks and charge me to haul it all away. Instead, I'm salvaging the boards, giving me a pretty good lumber yard for blocking, x-bracing, and so on. But it's tedious to say the least.

Step 1. Clear off the lumber and needles that had piled up

Step 2. Demolish the shelf and privacy screen. The long 2x8 is a 20' deck support.

Step 3. By Monday evening, all gone

The 26 5/4x4 boards used for decking under the hot tub came up pretty easily and are all reusable. Each one had (14) 8d nails that had to be pried up, pounded through, then pried out. 364 nails, but who's complaining?

The two downspouts, by the way, had 45-degree elbows at the ground, directing the water to saturate the ground under the deck against the foundation.

The hot tub was heavy--two of the 2x8 joists were replaced with 2x12s, and while the structure rests on a number of 12x12 concrete piers, they strengthened the center with some 4x4s that rest on the ground.

Not sure how I'll demolish the joists--solid blocking both sides is a challenge.

Removing the 5/4 x 4 boards taught me to pry a bunch up, pound all their nails through, turn them over and pry all their nails out. That was much faster than doing a board at a time. I think I'll go ahead and remove all the remaining decking, then tackle the framing. I had told Casey that I wanted to preserve a path from the breezeway to the basement, but we have other options for that, like temporary plywood on the deck and temp stairs from the breezeway level to the dirt.

Naming of Parts
by Henry Reed
To-day we have naming of parts. Yesterday,
We had daily cleaning. And to-morrow morning,
We shall have what to do after firing. But to-day,
To-day we have naming of parts. Japonica
Glistens like coral in all of the neighboring gardens,
And to-day we have naming of parts.

This is the lower sling swivel. And this
Is the upper sling swivel, whose use you will see,
When you are given your slings. And this is the piling swivel,
Which in your case you have not got. The branches
Hold in the gardens their silent, eloquent gestures,
Which in our case we have not got.

This is the safety-catch, which is always released
With an easy flick of the thumb. And please do not let me
See anyone using his finger. You can do it quite easy
If you have any strength in your thumb. The blossoms
Are fragile and motionless, never letting anyone see
Any of them using their finger.

And this you can see is the bolt. The purpose of this
Is to open the breech, as you see. We can slide it
Rapidly backwards and forwards: we call this
Easing the spring. And rapidly backwards and forwards
The early bees are assaulting and fumbling the flowers:
They call it easing the Spring.

They call it easing the Spring: it is perfectly easy
If you have any strength in your thumb: like the bolt,
And the breech, and the cocking-piece, and the point of balance,
Which in our case we have not got; and the almond-blossom
Silent in all of the gardens and the bees going backwards and forwards,
For to-day we have naming of parts.

Scope of Work

I'm the critical path, it seems. If we call the design 90% done, we can imagine a construction schedule.

Bath 3, Deck, Laundry, Breezeway, Kitchen, Entry Doors, Bedroom 3, Exterior Paint, Front Yard, Master Bath, Flooring. Most can be done in any order, but Laundry must be done before Breezeway,  and Exterior Paint and Flooring need to be later.

Bath 3
Move hot tub 240v circuit inside
Install new water heater
Replace toilet
Replace sink
Paint, shelving, mirror/cabinet

Deck
Dismantle existing deck
Build 2x8 frame, 2-2x8 girders, footers, stair stringers
Install composite decking, skirt
Install railing, handrails at stairs

Laundry
Move MBr door
Demo linen closet, wall next to fireplace
Frame new Laundry, cased opening, dining room casing
Move thermostat
Plumbing: hot/cold and drain
Electrical: Move 240v, install washer power
Insulate, drywall, floor finish
Move washer, dryer
Bi-fold door

Breezeway
Move bookcase, demo walls
Reroute electrical- move all those switches
Demo stair railing
Build new stairs
Drywall, floor finish

Kitchen
Remove dw, range, refer
Demo 6 base cabinets, sink, and 4 uppers
Demo glass blocks, greenhouse window, coffee maker
Repair exterior siding
Plumbing: move sink hot/cold and drain
Electrical: move lights, outlets, switches
Repair insulation, drywall
Paint ceiling, walls
Install new cabinets
Repair floor
Install new countertops
Install dw, range, refer

Entry Doors
Buy, fit 2 new entry doors

Bedroom 3
Remove exterior door, window
Demo wall under window
Fill in door, repair exterior siding
Install new garden door
Repair insulation, drywall
Replace interior trim--2 doors, garden door, window, baseboards
New carpet?

Exterior Paint
Remove gutter and replace fascia at 5 or 6 corners
Fill and sand siding, prime patches and dark blue (and some green) areas
Paint the eaves and trim
Paint the siding

Front Yard
Form and pour concrete steps, walkway
Build new fences, gate at breezeway entry. Build gas meter screen
Trim overgrown plants

Master Bath
Demo whirlpool tub, wall, sink, tile floor and stupid door
Plumbing: Move tub, toilet, sink rough-in
Electrical: Move fixtures, outlets
Install new window
Patch exterior siding around window
Repair insulation, drywall
Install new tub, toilet, lav sink

Flooring
Remove carpet at hall
Move everything into storage locker, workshop, breezeway
Repair, sand, refinish hardwood floors
New baseboard where needed, touch up paint