Constructing Deck Extension
From SkyInsight
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May 28, 2005
After completing the construction of the lower pier for the telescope, we moved on to the deck extension. Two post footings were placed at the end, twelve feet away from the deck. At the existing deck, a post was connected to the existing end-post. The corner where the deck met the house, I had hoped that the end of the deck would suffice to provide the support at that end just like a ledger board connects to a house. My plan was to connect the beams into a rectangle and then place them on the three posts, and clamp it onto the existing deck and carriage bolts used to connect the two. That plan wasn't feasible because of the weight of the beams (two 2" x 8" in 10' or 12' lengths). Lifting the "frame" over our heads with just three people wasn't possible. If we had at least one more person and some scaffolding, then maybe. Without the option of bolting the frame (the beams) together first and putting it in place, the corner by the house became a problem.
At this point, although we decided a post needed to be added there, we forged ahead. I would add the post in a day or two before stepping up on top. After some careful measurements and cuts (as well as some measurements and cuts that were too early to get) we put the posts and beams in place. Although we still needed to put post-to-beam supports in place, we hurried to nailing in the joist hangers. With my brother on one side and me on the other, we successfully provided enough force in opposite directions to pop the beam out of the end of the deck extension sending half of the structure to the ground. Luckily no one was near the falling post and beams so there were no injuries. I re-evaluated the structured and decided to put it back up with the post-to-beam supports. We called it quits for that day after that.
June 3, 2005
I dug three new post holes, one by the corner of the house and the other two in the middle of the 12 foot beam span. Once again, I rented an electric mixer, and as evening faded into night (thank goodness it was cloudy, otherwise I'd have been distracted by the stars) we mixed and poured bags of concrete for the new footings.
June 6, 2005
I cut the lumber for the three new posts and did a dry run to make sure everything "fit" properly. This picture shows the new post at the corner of the house.
June 12, 2005
I rented a section of scaffolding from Ralph's Rent-All for $13 for a week. Since my wife was the only one available to help putting the beams back up, I figured I could lift them to the posts and she'd hold them in place while I secured them. Using the scaffolding in this manner worked very well. I still needed to move the ladder around to do some parts but the height of the scaffold and the extra work space it provided for me, my tools and hardware made many part much easier. In fact, when I did the joists I was able to handle it myself by lifting the ten foot joists to the scaffold, climbing up and them putting them in place. I was a tiring task but went smoothly. While the beams and posts are much more stable then before, there is a problem I need to address. There is a slight, but noticeable, wobble at the end of the deck extension. I'm researching ways to stabilize it and currently my thought is to add one more (ugh!) post in the middle of the ten foot span at this end of the deck. I'm not sure if adding the additional posts and using the Y-supports will be enough or if I need to use different types of bracing as shown here:
June 15, 2005
Here is an illustration of the problem and some ideas to remedy it:
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June 25-26, 2005
After a week long road trip, I decided to go with this option to address the shearing issue. Of course, this means I need to dig two more holes and pour more concrete. The biggest challenge with digging the holes was the first six to ten inches. This is mostly dirt which is extremely dry due to the lack of rain and temps in the 90s. Once I get a foot or so down, there is a lot of gravel and sand for the next foot followed by mostly just sand down to the 42 inch mark. I say mostly because there are also baseball sized rocks throughout. The holes were dug and concreted poured on June 25 (Saturday).
June 27-30, 2005
I took advantage of every opportunity when it wasn't raining after getting home from work (45 minutes here and there) to install the railing posts and the last two posts and cross members for shear support. After adding the shear supports, I did my "shake test" to measure the north/south movement. The movement was dramatically reduced. Before adding the latest supports, I could easily cause a one inch movement north/south by pushing on the middle of an corner post. Now, with the extra supports, the north/south movement is one-half inch but the corner post needs to be pushed higher up (not in the middle) to get the full movement.
July 1-4, 2005
Friday
It was finally time to start adding the decking. Cutting the sixteen foot boards with my miter saw wasn't too challenging as I used a rung on my aluminum folding ladder to provide extra support holding up the board. As I was laying the decking, the most challenging cuts were for the railing posts. I came to realize the I stink at geometery as the diagonal boards made the process more complicated than I expected.
Satruday
Party at our house, no work done.
Sunday I got the decking done on the extension and have about 10 boards left over. Partly because I overestimated and partly because I reused 6 of the old boards towards the end. The extra 10 decking boards will be used to replace some of the old boards on the existing deck since my wife and I like the extra rigidity of the new boards.
Next, I was able to get the railing that used to be the end of the old deck up at the end of the new deck extension. I also put up the side railings support extending to the end of the deck. The rain was moving in so I packed up and called it a day around 6PM.
Monday I put the railing supports and all the balusters in place. I didn't get to the railing top boards before the rain came in. About 98% done. Soooo close.
