.
Our deck
.
Monday, November 2, 2015
Tisdale
by: Timothy W. Shire
Tisdale
by: Timothy W. Shire
.
Several years ago, the little deck that was apart of our house and yard, when we moved here in 1995, had to be removed so that blue skin, weeping tile and fresh backfill, could be put around our basement that was leaking at the time. We got along without the little deck, but we missed it and the steps to the side of the house were long past replacement. Last fall, to get us through the winter, we covered up the structure with some plywood and hoped that in 2015, we would do something about replacing it entirely.
Of course, I had various ideas about how we might accomplish this, but nothing was locked down as a plan until early in the week before the Thanksgiving weekend, when my eldest son decided this coming weekend was time for the deck to be built.
I sent him some images of the existing situation, with some measurements jotted on them and he send us back some complete plans on how the new deck would look. However, it was not until late in the week, Friday to be exact, when he sent us a parts list. Immediately, we went to one of the two suppliers in Tisdale to see if we could get what we needed and the first one simply could not supply. They need a very long time to get their delivery system to work and we went to the second supplied. The bill was made out for the lumber and half an hour later, they were unloading it in our yard. ( So, if you need some building supplies and you need them now, Wood Country is where you ought to go.)
Two sons were leaving from Winnipeg Friday night, to make the ten hour journey out here and they were delayed by having a producer and director, demand work after working hours on Friday. The result was that it was midnight before they were on the road.
Son number three and his family arrived in good time Friday night from Regina. It was around seven when the Winnipeg guys arrived Saturday morning and around nine that morning, the old steps and partial deck on the side of the house were amputated. A reciprocal saw sliced through the old material and it was piled up in the yard. It took most of the day to prepare the site and get the side of the house ready for the new structure. One of Saturday’s tasks was to go to Wood Country to get the necessary hardware for the project and it wasn’t until Sunday morning, we discovered that anchors were the wrong size and a quick expedition was mounted to go to Canadian Tire in Melfort to solve the problem. They had two, that’s right two anchors the size we needed and plan “B” went into effect, as we bought threaded rod to be bonded in place to hold the sill on the house.
Weather played an important role in this project, just as it does in almost anything we attempt here in Saskatchewan. Saturday was absolutely astonishing, sunny and warm with the three fellows wearing short pants and they sustaining multiple nasty insect bites. Sunday was a mixed bag. The morning was quite nice and the clouds built up in the afternoon. In preparation for rain, we set up two screen tents to house the tools and in particular the cut off saw.
By supper time there was a roaring wind from the northeast and a mix of light rain. The wind clobbered the tents, which had been anchored, but the larger Root’s tent was seriously punished as the air flowed over the house roof had created a serious downdraft nearly flattening the tent. But work went on into the late night with lights set up and full blown storm in progress.
One of the benefits of a storm is it reduces the amount of discussion and work went quickly as the main twenty-nine foot beam was established in place and the main parts of the structure assembled.
Monday, Thanksgiving day, the focus was on completing the sturdy structure of the whole deck and that took most of the day. The two fellows from Winnipeg decided to wave off work for Tuesday and while one assembled the front step, the other concentrated on getting the whole project assembled and the beginning of the decking installed. Still it was midnight before they were in their car and headed for Winnipeg.
Judy and I were able to complete the installation of the decking in two stints during the week, as we had to go into Regina on Sunday to attend to my cataract repairs.
What was left, was a single piece of decking had to be sliced to fit, the rear stairway needed to be created and it would now exit south rather than west, as in the plans. The two from Winnipeg had decided that they would return and make the project useable. As it turned out, they were able to get away from the city in good time and had the energy to get a lot done on Saturday.
As we had done on the Thanksgiving weekend we set up two screen tents to house the tools, as the weekend saw several threats of showers. In order to rip the decking, a table saw was improvised with a workmate and a skill saw.
Time was saved by opting for a pre-made stairway and that lead to the decision to erect all of the posts for the railing. It was midnight Sunday before they finished their goals and they left us with the task of installing the spindles on the railing. Surprisingly, we were able to accomplish that in just over two hours and you can see the results in the pictures.
Click here to see the pictures that show the project before the old structure was removed, the plans then in sequence the assembling of the deck. No pictures were taken during the storm as I huddled in one of the tents because the weather was unsuitable for photography.
Of course, I had various ideas about how we might accomplish this, but nothing was locked down as a plan until early in the week before the Thanksgiving weekend, when my eldest son decided this coming weekend was time for the deck to be built.
I sent him some images of the existing situation, with some measurements jotted on them and he send us back some complete plans on how the new deck would look. However, it was not until late in the week, Friday to be exact, when he sent us a parts list. Immediately, we went to one of the two suppliers in Tisdale to see if we could get what we needed and the first one simply could not supply. They need a very long time to get their delivery system to work and we went to the second supplied. The bill was made out for the lumber and half an hour later, they were unloading it in our yard. ( So, if you need some building supplies and you need them now, Wood Country is where you ought to go.)
Two sons were leaving from Winnipeg Friday night, to make the ten hour journey out here and they were delayed by having a producer and director, demand work after working hours on Friday. The result was that it was midnight before they were on the road.
Son number three and his family arrived in good time Friday night from Regina. It was around seven when the Winnipeg guys arrived Saturday morning and around nine that morning, the old steps and partial deck on the side of the house were amputated. A reciprocal saw sliced through the old material and it was piled up in the yard. It took most of the day to prepare the site and get the side of the house ready for the new structure. One of Saturday’s tasks was to go to Wood Country to get the necessary hardware for the project and it wasn’t until Sunday morning, we discovered that anchors were the wrong size and a quick expedition was mounted to go to Canadian Tire in Melfort to solve the problem. They had two, that’s right two anchors the size we needed and plan “B” went into effect, as we bought threaded rod to be bonded in place to hold the sill on the house.
Weather played an important role in this project, just as it does in almost anything we attempt here in Saskatchewan. Saturday was absolutely astonishing, sunny and warm with the three fellows wearing short pants and they sustaining multiple nasty insect bites. Sunday was a mixed bag. The morning was quite nice and the clouds built up in the afternoon. In preparation for rain, we set up two screen tents to house the tools and in particular the cut off saw.
By supper time there was a roaring wind from the northeast and a mix of light rain. The wind clobbered the tents, which had been anchored, but the larger Root’s tent was seriously punished as the air flowed over the house roof had created a serious downdraft nearly flattening the tent. But work went on into the late night with lights set up and full blown storm in progress.
One of the benefits of a storm is it reduces the amount of discussion and work went quickly as the main twenty-nine foot beam was established in place and the main parts of the structure assembled.
Monday, Thanksgiving day, the focus was on completing the sturdy structure of the whole deck and that took most of the day. The two fellows from Winnipeg decided to wave off work for Tuesday and while one assembled the front step, the other concentrated on getting the whole project assembled and the beginning of the decking installed. Still it was midnight before they were in their car and headed for Winnipeg.
Judy and I were able to complete the installation of the decking in two stints during the week, as we had to go into Regina on Sunday to attend to my cataract repairs.
What was left, was a single piece of decking had to be sliced to fit, the rear stairway needed to be created and it would now exit south rather than west, as in the plans. The two from Winnipeg had decided that they would return and make the project useable. As it turned out, they were able to get away from the city in good time and had the energy to get a lot done on Saturday.
As we had done on the Thanksgiving weekend we set up two screen tents to house the tools, as the weekend saw several threats of showers. In order to rip the decking, a table saw was improvised with a workmate and a skill saw.
Time was saved by opting for a pre-made stairway and that lead to the decision to erect all of the posts for the railing. It was midnight Sunday before they finished their goals and they left us with the task of installing the spindles on the railing. Surprisingly, we were able to accomplish that in just over two hours and you can see the results in the pictures.
Click here to see the pictures that show the project before the old structure was removed, the plans then in sequence the assembling of the deck. No pictures were taken during the storm as I huddled in one of the tents because the weather was unsuitable for photography.
.
.