Rebuilding a Deck

It’s probably safe to say that 95% of the homes in Coosawattee River Resort have some sort of deck.  And it’s safe to say that they will all need some repair or reconstruction at some point in time.  This post will address some key points that will hopefully help you should you tackle a project on your own – which I always recommend.  Nothing beats the personal satisfaction and the peace of mind you get when completing a project on your own.  I have to be brutally honest, if the builder had taken the care that I took during reconstruction when he was originally building the house, I would not have had to do this project.

 

Let’s start with the basics: 

1.     Screws (not nails) and TREATED wood.  I’ve seen too many decks that are nailed together.  Nails do not hold and over time work their way out of the wood.  ONLY use a good coated deck screw. 

2.     It should go without saying that you ALWAYS use treated wood.  Amazingly, my deck had some boards that had been replaced by the previous owners and they used untreated pine.  You may as well flush your money down the toilet and say your prayers as you may end up getting really hurt when that wood lets go.

3.     Always use a stain and or sealer.  I love the look of virgin wood, but it won’t be long before that beautiful clean looking deck turns grey.

4.     Use 2X6 boards for the top of your deck.  Many home improvement stores sell 5/4” decking (inch and a quarter in thickness) BUT 2X6’s are cheaper and you won’t have nearly the flex in the wood as it is an extra quarter inch thicker.

5.     You need a lot of energy!  Like many decks in the North Georgia region, mine is about 15 feet off the ground.  Not a distance you would want to fall and climbing around on one and a half inch stringers gets tiresome!

The first thing I had to do in my project was to eliminate a great deal of the existing deck.  I can only guess that it was original to the house and it had not been cared for on a regular basis.  Eliminating the top deck boards can be a challenge, because you want to leave enough boards to still be able to walk on – BUT you also need to do any repairs required to the stringers – so let the fun begin.  You can see by the picture below that a chainsaw, circular saw and sawzall all came in handy to ‘segment’ the deck.  I was fortunate that my stringers were in decent shape, and with the exception of one, were all usable. 

The first thing you should always do when re-decking is to examine your ledger board.  The ledger board is the board that attaches to the house and the stringers attach to it.  The ledger board carries the majority of the load of the deck, so you want to be sure it is in good shape.  I coated my ledger board in tar while the top boards were removed to help seal it from the elements.  It is treated wood and in good shape, but since it was fully exposed I took the extra time to completely seal it.  I also opted to add additional stringers. 

I was quite amazed when I examined my stringers to find that they were only toe-nailed into the ledger board with two nails each.  Now, granted, it had stood for 23 years at that point, but the idea scared the hell out of me.  Before installing the additional stringers I purchased double joist hangers to secure them.  Joist hangers are galvanized metal brackets that screw to a header or ledger board and the stringers set inside.  The stringers are then screwed into the bracket from the sides.  Since I was doubling up my stringers I purchased hangers that would accommodate two 2X6’s side by side.

Finally, the top deck was stripped and fresh stringers installed next the existing ones.   

It was finally time to add the new top deck.  Now, before you start decking, make sure you put some thought into the length of your boards.  You DO NOT want your seams to land in a row (think laminate flooring).  You want to be sure that your board seams are staggered AND the staggering is copasetic across the deck.  I bought a mix of 12’ and 10’ 2X6’s and had to cut each one down a bit to stagger my seams equally.  You may choose to add a bit of a gap between your boards for easier cleaning.  I caution you to not go TOO BIG on the gap.  Your new boards will dry out and continue to shrink after installation.  Your gap is likely to DOUBLE in size.  If you do add a gap a really easy way to do it is with a couple of pencils.  Simply put the pencils between the boards when you lay them down.  The pencils are a perfect spacer.  However, I prefer to butt the boards up snug to each other and let nature create a smaller gap.

Adding the top deck is the fun part.  You finally get to see the fruits of your labors start shaping up.  The final step you have is to protect your work and invest in a good sealer/stain.  I prefer Thompsons since almost everyone carries it and it is easy to color match when I have to re-stain next year.

Now, I actually prefer to wait a couple of weeks before I stain a new deck.  First, as I discussed before, the boards are going to dry and shrink a bit.  You want to be sure you get that sealer all the way down between the boards.  Allowing the boards to shrink and spread a bit will make it easier.  Second, the boards are pretty damp with treating when you get them home.  It is best to let them dry out a bit so they soak up that sealer.  One thing to remember about stain and sealer is that you don’t want to get it on your siding – it will not come off.  I always brush the stain on up close to the house and spray the remainder with a pump up sprayer (commonly used for weed killer or pesticides).  The sprayer makes it much easier to get into all the small spaces.  If you use a sprayer make sure to clean it thoroughly and IMMEDIATELY after using it.  Stain and sealer is pretty sticky stuff and will ruin your sprayer if allowed to dry.  I typically buy a cheap and sacrificial sprayer from my local home improvement store.  A one gallon sprayer can be found for around $10.00.

Well, spring is just around the corner and soon the brilliant green buds will begin making themselves seen along the Coosawattee River.  It’s time to grab a brush, a sprayer and some stain and make that deck look like a winner!

Till next time,

Chris