All Hands on Deck

 The majority of the week was spent building the joists to support the walk-around deck. The joists are constructed out of 2 x 8’s attached to 2 x 10’s. The 2 x 10’s are secured to the ends of the 16 girders and at the intersection of the girder and each side beam. As the picture at the right shows, there are also 4 x 4’s attached to the end of each girder to provide support for the (yet to be built) railing.

The weather turned extremely hot and humid towards the end of the week. I found it easier getting an early start, taking an afternoon siesta and returning later in the afternoon to work into the evening. For the most part the insects have not been too bad, but I have been extremely cautious of walking through any tall brush. There are numerous cases of Lyme disease in the area. I was recently awaiting a well driller’s quote. When I did not hear from him for a couple of weeks, I called him to find out that he was laid up with the disease. It’s quite scary knowing that the deer ticks that are spreading the disease are out there somewhere in the brush.

On Friday I began building the deck. The deck will be 3′ in width and it will go completely around the exterior of the house. Based on our latitude, a 3′ deck will be sufficient to cast a shadow during the summer months to keep the sun out of the windows, but during the winter the sun’s angle will be low enough to let the rays in to help warm the house. It was interesting to finally see the house casting shadows.

As with the rest of the house, each deck panel needs to be cut with a 11.25 degree miter cut. Although I haven’t been able to get that precise with the angle, I have been close enough to make a decent mesh at the seam. The picture on the right shows the first two sides of the deck. Only 14 more to go!