Monday, April 28, 2008

Under the Deck

We continued work on the back of the house, specifically, under the deck. There was one corner that still needed the stucco removed. For some reason, it was more brittle, in didn't come off in sheets. I removed the old water table, the part at the bottom of the house that diverts water away from the foundation. Instead of flashing, the house originally had a piece of wood sticking out. That was removed, when the stucco was applied. I've been using pressure treated 2x8" with metal flashing, so I just continued that section. We moved the dryer vent as well, it used to go under the stairs, but the stairs are there no more, so now it goes straight out (well it still has to go up). The top of the 2x8" has a 15 degree bevel, I just used the circular saw this time, a lot easier than the table saw, with wet heavy pressure treated lumber.
The other job was to secure the deck to the house. The deck is self supported (it doesn't depend on the house to hold it up), we planned it that way, because our house is settling at the back, and they didn't use footings on the foundation. We secured it to the house just for lateral support. The house doesn't have a 2x8" on the end of the joists, just sheathing, so I toe nailed (actually screwed) blocking between the joists. Then I used carriage bolts to attach the deck. The holes were difficult to drill, with all the wiring and plumbing in the way. It was a struggle, probably why I hadn't done it until now. There's a space between the deck and the house, so I used a 2x4 block to fill the space, wrapped with house wrap, to make it more water tight. There's a fairly large overhang on the house, so not a lot of water gets in there, unless it's blown in.
We were planning on doing the electrical for under the deck as well. I bought the stuff, but we ran out of time. I bought all the stuff. I've never worked with the plastic conduit before, so it's new to me. We're in need of light under there, so hopefully, we'll get that done soon. I'm not sure whether to put in an outdoor switch. Probably would be better for over the bbq.

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