With demolition parts one and two complete, along with the subsequent reassembly (one and two), the focus is fully on the stairs to the hot tub pad and the decking around it. Any hope that just perhaps this section of decking was done correctly was quickly lost. It was quickly evident that if this deck had been built in a more humid environment, it would have rotted away a dozen years ago. Even with the low humidity in Colorado, rotten spots were still found. Three cheers to the dry Colorado air. Enjoy the gallery of face palming construction decisions by a previous owner.
Critical Tools: Circular saw, pry bar, hammer, drill, pliers, knee pads, Sawzall, end of day margaritas.
Skill Level: Intermediate
Tip(s): Don’t use scrap wood to build a deck. Even if the scraps are a ‘good deal’.
The spacing between decking boards allows water to drain and air to circulate. Without the air circulation, the chances for rot are greatly increased.
Choose two of the three – good, fast, or cheap. Previous owners chose fast and cheap. Don’t be like the previous owners.
Gallery
Top of the stairs. Got to love it when folks are too lazy to cut an angle on the ‘reinforcing 2x4s’. Not helping to much when the 2×4’s aren’t properly installed (a grossly undersized solution) Nails will save the day!
No, nails won’t save the day if not enough were used and the board is rotting.
Bottom step pulled off. Drinking to commence.
Reinforcing 2×4 pulling away from stair horse.
Rotting 2×4? Check. Stair horse split by bolt? Check.
Stair horses were improperly over cut. The over cut essentially reduced the support to the equivalent provided by a 2×4. This is grossly undersized for stairs.
2×4 scraps being used to ‘reinforce’ the stair horses. This is NOT how to do things.
After the stairs and decking were removed, the framing was available for inspection. Band board starting to rot. How many pieces were used? Three. Not good.
Nothing like having a free floating joint in space. No, this is not a marijuana reference. Note that the support post is 4 x 4. A 6 x 6 would be better.
So this band board joint is backed by a post. The post is sitting haphazardly on a rock. And there is a bolt going through the joint.
This craziness would make Jenga masters proud.
2 x 6 that is almost rotted through. The post that was askance and rotted out at the bottom was ‘attached’ in this area.
So they used brackets, good. Joist hangers, better. But only nailed
the brackets into the joists, not the band board. Very bad. Didn’t even bother to try and use chewing gum as a stickum. This devolves to . . .
. . . .no brackets. Just a few nails.
Ending on a high note. Joists overlap with inner band board by only two inches. Looks like mold has found a happy home.
With Part 1 of the deck demolition and rebuild complete, we get to see what structural disasters are hidden in part 2. How can we be so confident that this portion of the deck is not structurally sound? The most visible symptoms is the drooping corner and the improperly cantilevered boards.
Once the decking came off, the situation was worse than originally thought. Check out the gallery below for great pictures of rotted boards and improperly done construction. This deck was permitted and it is hard to believe it passed inspection, a score and four years ago. It is amazing the deck didn’t collapse long ago. Time to do things right and repair this shoddy work.
Demolition went quickly using technique 3 described in the first demolition post. Tips described in the previous post also apply here.
Critical Tools: Circular saw, pry bar, hammer, drill, pliers, knee pads, Sawzall, end of day margaritas.
Skill Level: Intermediate
Tip(s): Don’t step on boards that have been cut with the circular saw. This will result in a painful trip through the deck.
Gallery:
Bow in the old deck surface at the top of the stairs.
Deck board pulling away from others.
The leaning post is not indicative of good things.
Improperly done cantirlever is the reason for the deck slope. Shoddy construction essentially created a lever. Which also explains the bow in the deck surface.
The rotten wood might explain why the post is leaning.
Not a good thing when the rotting major support is held together by carpenter ants holding hands.
Temporary support of the joists after the rotten board was removed.
Wandervogel with the McElvains 