Decks of the year - Floating Foundation Decks

Summer 2002

Day 19 (Aug. 8th):
Finally, we are decking the main deck! First thing we did was to go over the framing of the deck to assure that all joints were sufficiently level so as not to hold the deck planking up. So a little sander work was in order. After that was done we started laying down the deck boards.

The material for this part of the job has been on site for some weeks, most of which was 90+ degrees weather. So the boards had started twisting. We selected a very straight board to start with, got it set at 45 degrees and then ran the next boards off one side of it. These were 16 foot long and we were challenged to get these down tight to the next board.

Decided to stop and see if we could find a "board bender". This is a tool designed to assist in coaxing the boards into a desired position. It saddles a joist board and is designed so leverage can be applied to the side of the plank board forcing it in the needed direction. After four stops and a phone call, we gave up. Back on the site we ended up using a short crow bar's clawed end against the joist board and prying it against the plank board. This worked but required more effort than the board bender would have required.

Taken at the end of the day, the shadows are hiding detail. Look closely and you will see that the left half of the deck is complete.

This is a better shot. The planking is being held past the band board 1 inch. This gives a nice finished look rather than cutting them flush. The material was installed with the extra length extended towards you in this shot then later the 1 inch was determined, chalked and all the boards cut at once.

I think you can see that the half inch space between the top of this deck section and the bottom of the perimeter pool frame is as designed.

From another angle... Changing the perimeter deck planks to parallel to the pool's perimeter and running the main deck's planking on a 45 degree diagonal has been well received by all who has seen this project to this point. I think it has added a lot to the appearance of the surface.

From the edge of the deck where I am standing to the edge of the deck at the far side of the pool as seen here is 51 feet!! This is a huge project.

There is about 12 more feet to be decked. I did about 14 feet today.

Another shot of the remaining deck work.

		Of course Blackie wanted to finish the drink. Now was that pop or beer? Given his druthers, I think Blackie may prefer beer, I know the rest of us were ready for a cold one!!

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