Another D.I.Y project is underway. This time i’m helping my brother build some decking in his back garden. It’s going pretty good considering neither of us has ever done this before and the book we have is useless. A combination of web searches, tool store tips and ‘judging by eye’ have seen us this far.
It’s taken 3 days to get to where we are now. On the first day, saturday, we didn’t manage much as we had to go back to B&Q to change some parts. B&Q is like a big home & garden centre over here. The parts in question being joist hangers – metal cradles that hold an adjoining joist in place. In the end we basically dug our initial outer holes – they’re a foot deep each.
On day two we accomplished more. We had to redo some of our holes as they were too deep/not deep enough. We then cemented in the outside posts, about 11 of them I think, and left them to dry over night. The weather has been scorching here all weekend – the weather girl said 28 degress Celcius but the thermometer in the garden says 36 degrees? Needless to say it was thirsty work and we consumed alot of beer – not the best way to hydrate yourself!
I was back at work today but I went round tonight and we got the outer frame in place. We’ve spent alot of time measuring everything and I don’t think it could be any straighter (Note that the lawn has a squint edge so it would be a mistake to use that as a reference). We had alot of trouble with the screws down the left side as the heads got chewed up too easy by the drills we used (drills with screwdriver adaptors). In the end we managed and the frame is rock solid.
If my brother’s free tomorrow I’ll go round after work and we’ll put in the three cross beams and two support beams underneath. After that it’s just the floorboards to go on and a tidy up of the edges. We’re still considering a few options for making the deck more flush with the lawn – it’s set where it is due to the concrete at the base of the washing pole on the left and the hedge on the right.
If we get good weather and all goes well then possibly we could be done by this weekend, but we’re taking our time. It’s a big project and mistakes would be costly. It’s fun though – I like the problem solving, even if it does involve alot of arguing and cussing. That’s brother’s for you.
Needless to say i’m pretty tired and my neck is sore from some mild sunburn so i’ll have to love you and leave you for now.
Adios.
