Deck, Part 1: The Foundation

Putting the deck back together is a lengthy process, to say the least. We have about 700 square feet of deck, a third of which has been pulled up.

Our first step was installing flashing. This wasn't done originally and is the reason for the dry rot against the house. The hardware store only had 3 inch L flashing. We needed 2 inch, so we made do. My Charles trimmed it down with our metal shears.

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We then slid the flashing underneath the siding and attached the bottom siding beneath it. You can see a couple of the galvanized nails sticking out of the siding, waiting to be hammered into place. (You can also see part of the totally awesome plastic we're using to seal the sliding glass door until we can replace it.)

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Siding set, the horizontal beam was put in place. This is the piece that braces against the house. Eventually, we'd like to have more of a floating deck, if it's possible with our slope, in order to not have to worry about water collecting close to the house. If it wasn't actually connected to the siding, we also wouldn't have to worry about installing siding across the rest of the house.

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Then the lag bolts were put in place. It wasn't that hard to get them good and set, actually. My Charles drilled pilot holes and then took out the socket set, found the right attachment to fit the bolt, and after a few cranks, voila -- bolt set.

We also had to strengthen the structure a bit, as we discovered part of a footer missing and also that some of the boards are getting a bit spongy. Next spring, we'll be replacing the entire deck, and we'll be using composite thank you very much, but for now, there are a few more steps to get the deck back together and strong before the snows come (this weekend, eek!).

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