Step 4: Get Plans Approved

Where were we? Oh yeah, make plans, get plans approved. So we started with a vague idea of what we wanted to do: big, all encompassing deck. Measurements against the side of the house revealed that it couldn't extend the entire width of the house because we have power running in on one side. So we located the edge of the deck just shy of the metre, past our back door. For the total area we staked out what we thought looked good: 23'x12', with a 45 degree angle for the stairs making the backyard side 19'.

My Dad provided us with copies of the plans for his deck that he and my uncle prepared and had approved when they built his deck. They were really helpful for the planning stages as, for non-specialists, it's hard to know what the building permit department would want from us in the way of plans. It's a whole new language to learn, getting into building. A few calls to our local building permit department, where I met the other Laurie, set us on the right track. It didn't hurt that we also bought a really big book that we poured over for tips.

Revised plans showing the new post-hole placement

Step 3: Make a space for a plan

After the immense fun had by Kevin tearing the old deck off, I officially have nothing to fall off of anymore! If there's a hole to fall into or clumsy misstept to take, I'll find it! The cats however, have been acommadated with a new cat ramp to enter and exit the house complete with perpendicular steps strapped to two 2x4s so that they don't slide all the way down. I tried to use it but they looked disapprovingly at me and shook their heads.

Next step: make a plan for the big deck that will satisfy Kevin's adoration of outdoor living spaces. (I say why not think addition next?). So, what do two non-specialists do when they want to build something but have no clue how to? We bought a book, a big, big, book. Then, we read the book, examined the pictures for clues and debated the merrits of the complicated patterns complete with outdoor kitchens and fabric curtains. In the end we settled on something straight forward, mostly a rectangle, but with a 45 degree angle for the stairs.

We got to measuring the house and determined that our size would be 23 feet long, along the house side, by 12 feet deep. We then transfered our measurements to graph paper and began filling the details: posts, beams, joists, decking, stairs. Our municipality requires detailed plans for a permit so we tried to pack as much info into them as possible. Best laid plans...

In the meantime, as we were getting plans together, the area had to be cleared. The previous owner had installed a make-shift ground level patio at the foot of the old deck composed of 2 inch thick patio stones over about 4 inches of gravel, beneath which was plastic sheeting. We got to work clearing the patio stones (I say we, but really that was all Kevin- do you think I could lift one of those, let alone like 30? Not likely ;). Our new wheelbarrow was particularily useful for clearing the stones and gravel and we must have filled it with gravel 20 times before we were through. We piled all the gravel next to the back of the house. In hindsight this wasn't the best place to put it considering it made a raised mound that we've had to contend with during the whole process of putting in the concrete footings and posts. After clearing all the gravel we began moving the sod over piece by piece from the deck area to our freshly cleared former patio. Our sod pieces (some almost shaped like sqaures) ended up filling the lawn patch with only a few spotty exceptions.     

Step 2: Break stuff!

Often it's more fun to rip apart than it is to build. Of course the process is rather short-lived and building something provides a longer standing sense of fulfillment. Even so, breaking stuff rules.
Admittedly, ripping off the old deck was a slight challenge. The real concern was that the entire thing would simply collapse if the wrong component was removed first. The screws basically disintegrated as they released from the wood, and the boards, once getting in close enough to have a real look, were terribly warped and weather-damaged. Now, it's not as if the old deck we had on was massive by any stretch, but it was certainly heavy. We removed the railings, and then looked underneath to see how the previous owners had attached it to the house.

As it turns out, they had installed somewhat of a ledger, but it was simply lag-bolted to the wood sheathing we have underneath the metal siding covering the exterior of our home. The sheathing is only half an inch thick. With enough weather damage (which had already begun to settle into the 2x6 pressure treated ledger they had installed) the deck could have easily ripped straight out of the wall, ledger and all.

One of the setbacks in our planning was to account for being able to install a ledger against the wall and build from it. Unfortunately, seeing as the structure of our home lacks a foundational header joist to bolt in to, we had to revise the plans to create a free-standing deck structure, one that would not be attached to the structure of the house at all. Only problem with this: more post-holes.

IN the end, the old deck was pulled off the wall, and we broke it all apart and it is now sitting in a heap behind our back shed. Fun!

Step 1: Preparing to prepare

Now that we have the footings in the ground and a few of the post affixed in their post-cap saddles we thought we would start with a bit of a retrospective on what we've done so far in the planning and building process.

It all started when we first came to look at the house, before we bought it. Kevin is obsessed with decks... a deck was a major bonus for him when we were looking for a house to buy. The house we bought... good deck? Not so much. Our house had the most rickety, precarious looking deck we'd ever seen. Barely attached to the house, two of it's four supporting posts (actually 2x6s, not posts) sat on broken deck blocks that themselves sat on unlevel, heaved patio stones. The two remianing legs hovered above or barely touched the ground depending on where the ground was swelling. It had no railing for the stairs and the stair stringers (on which the stair boards are nailed) were attached to the frame of the deck with rusted, roting nails and screws of various sizes. The stair boards would bow every time we went up or down the stairs. So, not safe and ugly as sin.

If it was pressure treated wood to begin with it had long outlived its non-rotting capacities and had been slowly falling off the house for some time. There is no chance that it had ever or could have ever been covered by a deck-building permit... so it was like many of the decks in this area... scary.

We were eager to get it gone but I think Kevin shouldered more of the excitement for finally ripping it off and breaking it down. But a new deck needed a plan first. So we got to measuring, estimating and cleaning up the back to prepare for a new deck.