Nice Weather and Nice Progress

Today's weather was fab-u-lous. It has been so unrelentingly hot for so long that I had forgotten what it felt like to have pleasant weather. I have no idea how long this great working weather will be here so we made the best of it.

We had several projects that we could have done today but decided to do the hardest project that would require working in the sun. That project was the last 2 X 12 fascia board on the rim joist and digging the hole for the 6 x 6 post that is needed to stabilize the far end of the deck.

To make sure we didn't overheat, we hauled out the fan for an added breeze. The final 2 x 12 on the front was joined with biscuits and glued prior to using 3 inch screws to adhere it. We have had really good luck using biscuits and glue to hold together two boards.
R started digging the hole for the 6 x 6 post. Tomorrow he has to dig an additional 6 inches and then we can concrete the post in place. This should add a lot of rigidity to the deck. I have no idea who in the past designed this deck but there was some structural elements that were left out.We have more joists to install on the overhang. There is a 46 inch over hang that only had a joist every 60 inches. We are adding beefier joists every 22 inches and using joist hangers which they didn't use. We chose 22 inches because that was the distance that worked within the existing smaller hangerless joists.

Along the way we have added 90 degree braces and joining plates where ever they are missing or needed. We are also using screws instead of the dreaded twisty nail. I find it hard to believe that these galvanized twisted nails never hold two boards together without becoming loose but yet that are a nightmare to remove completely.

We are very pleased with the look of the deck. Prior to this rehab, it was not only bouncy but out of scale. The rim joist was undersized and looked out of proportion to the size of the house. Adding the 2 x 12 fascia board to the rim joist added the correct proportion and stiffen the deck up greatly.

Foot injury update. My toes turned a little blue and black. A red spot did emerge where the clamp hit my foot despite the protection from my fleeced lined flip flop. Every day the over all swelling is going away but I am now bar clamp gun shy. I'll probably need some sort of therapy but until then I am only using the plastic coated clamps.