cruzer wrote:We are planning four weekends. I don't know how long it will actually take. I think we will finish the concrete this weekend and be able to buy the framing wood. We already bought the decking part. Home depot had a deal on composite decking for half off($1 per linear foot) and we decided that it was too good to pass up.

Hi PWA, happy birthday Cruzer!

I started to build a deck last summer, about 600 sq. feet, two levels. I had to stop for some unexpected lung surgery and I am finishing it this summer. I had built decks in the past, I did building/remodeling work for about 5 years. Wood here is very expensive and I always wanted to build a deck with a steel frame so that is what I did. The frame is 5x5" steel posts with more 5x5 horizontal support and 1x3" steel stringers on top. I put 2x3 wood stringers next to the steel to screw the deck boards into. The upper portion has a wood rail, the lower portion has flower boxes for the railing, framed with steel studs, faced with wood on the part facing the deck, stucco to match the house on the outside part. When finished you won't see any metal, only wood. I'll post some photos in my Photobucket account when I get some time. It is fun building this, I never built with heavy steel before, only studs. Lucky for me my neighbor knows how to weld and he did the welding. Everything else I did myself, the steel studs go together quickly with self tapping screws. The soil here is mostly sand so it was no problem to dig the holes with a shovel, about 10 minutes per hole, the hard part was hand mixing the concrete! A dollar a foot for composite deck boards is dirt cheap. They cost about $30.00 for a 10 foot section here, too much for me! I have a connection with a lumber yard so got the deck boards for about $3.00 for an 8' board. Of course I needed about 200 of them. Large type wood (for example 2x8) for good quality treated wood is very expensive. I figure when my step-son inherits the house he may need to replace the deck boards but the frame will last forever!

kdccrosby wrote:we just drink a lot when it's hot. or have a pool. or both

a pool would be nice to have. Even with the deck planned, we would have enough space for a pool in the back yard. We could even move the fence towards the front of the house to get even more room if we need it.

That being said. There's no way in h. e. double hockey sticks that I'm going to take care of a pool! No thank you!

edlada wrote:Hi PWA, happy birthday Cruzer!

I started to build a deck last summer, about 600 sq. feet, two levels. I had to stop for some unexpected lung surgery and I am finishing it this summer. I had built decks in the past, I did building/remodeling work for about 5 years. Wood here is very expensive and I always wanted to build a deck with a steel frame so that is what I did. The frame is 5x5" steel posts with more 5x5 horizontal support and 1x3" steel stringers on top. I put 2x3 wood stringers next to the steel to screw the deck boards into. The upper portion has a wood rail, the lower portion has flower boxes for the railing, framed with steel studs, faced with wood on the part facing the deck, stucco to match the house on the outside part. When finished you won't see any metal, only wood. I'll post some photos in my Photobucket account when I get some time. It is fun building this, I never built with heavy steel before, only studs. Lucky for me my neighbor knows how to weld and he did the welding. Everything else I did myself, the steel studs go together quickly with self tapping screws. The soil here is mostly sand so it was no problem to dig the holes with a shovel, about 10 minutes per hole, the hard part was hand mixing the concrete! A dollar a foot for composite deck boards is dirt cheap. They cost about $30.00 for a 10 foot section here, too much for me! I have a connection with a lumber yard so got the deck boards for about $3.00 for an 8' board. Of course I needed about 200 of them. Large type wood (for example 2x8) for good quality treated wood is very expensive. I figure when my step-son inherits the house he may need to replace the deck boards but the frame will last forever!

I could be wrong, but I think wood and metal are flipped here. I think the metal is more expensive. The decking we got was grey, but we'll make it work. We just couldn't pass it up though. It takes so much maintenance out of the equation plus we don't have to stain it now and it comes with a 25 year warranty and well, it's going to look better, really.

When the deck is completed we'll have some where in the 750 sq/ft range of deck. We'll have to buy a little bit more of the composite decking some place else, but it will be good enough. I do hope to have the rectangle portion of the deck finished by the end of May. I think we can do the framing part pretty quickly once we have the concrete poured and set and I know the deck boards will be done very quickly the next weekend. My hope is that the 'rents and in-laws will be generous with the home depot/lowes gift cards to help us finish the deck. We have about $800 left for the framing and railings and I'm not sure that's going to be enough. We'll see. I was hoping that it would be enough for the second part of the deck, but when we decided to go with the composite decking, it changed the budget a lot.

cruzer wrote:a pool would be nice to have. Even with the deck planned, we would have enough space for a pool in the back yard. We could even move the fence towards the front of the house to get even more room if we need it.

That being said. There's no way in h. e. double hockey sticks that I'm going to take care of a pool! No thank you!

Coworkers with salt-water instead of chlorine say the salt-water pools/filters are great. Maintenance is cut in half if not more.

kdccrosby wrote:we just drink a lot when it's hot. or have a pool. or both

I like the "both" option. =D

kdccrosby wrote:Coworkers with salt-water instead of chlorine say the salt-water pools/filters are great. Maintenance is cut in half if not more.

I have heard that those are better, but still...I dunno...

Afternoon, folks.

cruzer wrote:I have heard that those are better, but still...I dunno...

Save yourself a lot of money and aggravation - make friends with people who own pools, boats, and cabins.

AZGman wrote:Save yourself a lot of money and aggravation - make friends with people who own pools, boats, and cabins.

I like that idea!

dontwantaname wrote:Well, it might work better if you have one of those things to share.

You don't tell them about each other!!!

I don't know if I'll be back to say it or not, but thanks for all the birthday wishes! I appreciate it! Have a good day if I don't come back!

cruzer wrote:I don't know if I'll be back to say it or not, but thanks for all the birthday wishes! I appreciate it! Have a good day if I don't come back!

See ya in 87+ pages.

cruzer wrote:I don't know if I'll be back to say it or not, but thanks for all the birthday wishes! I appreciate it! Have a good day if I don't come back!

Just in case you come back, our neighbors had a new deck put on last summer and put on a wrought iron railing (or maybe it just looks like wrought iron, no maintenance.) Looks fantastic.

kdccrosby wrote:Coworkers with salt-water instead of chlorine say the salt-water pools/filters are great. Maintenance is cut in half if not more.

Dumb question, but how does one fill a salt water pool? Regular water and then add X amount of salt? I have a pool and finally finally found a reliable inexpensive pool service. What annoys me more than anything about it is the amount of time and money it costs to keep it full enough in the heat. Water costs a lot here, and I run the hose for about 2 hours every 10 days when there is no rain. Dont even ask how many times I use it!

dontwantaname wrote:I've never seen a pool service truck around here. I know from google earth, that there are a few inground pools. Not that large. I guess everyone takes care of it themselves. Which is surprising.

//pool boys!//

pooflady wrote://pool boys!//

down, girl.

no1 wrote:down, girl.

Well, yeah...I mean, right.

klozitshoper wrote:Dumb question, but how does one fill a salt water pool? Regular water and then add X amount of salt? I have a pool and finally finally found a reliable inexpensive pool service. What annoys me more than anything about it is the amount of time and money it costs to keep it full enough in the heat. Water costs a lot here, and I run the hose for about 2 hours every 10 days when there is no rain. Dont even ask how many times I use it!

There is salt to add to regular water. It's cheaper than chlorine and chemicals

kdccrosby wrote:There is salt to add to regular water. It's cheaper than chlorine and chemicals

I've never heard of that.

pooflady wrote:I've never heard of that.

It has become a pretty big thing around here. A co-worker had her pool changed over last summer and she loves it. She says the water isn't too salty.

I've never been in one, so I can't say which one I would prefer to swim in. But everyone who has one says they are easier to care for,

dontwantaname wrote:I bet it is easier to swim in. You float easier.

I float pretty easy anyway.

Night all. Tomorrow.

Good morning all.
FRIDAY!

Mornin', folks.

Good morning everybody!

Morning!

Good Morning PWA!

Good morning all. Fairly busy day today. Nice, cool weather this morning anyway.

pooflady wrote:Just in case you come back, our neighbors had a new deck put on last summer and put on a wrought iron railing (or maybe it just looks like wrought iron, no maintenance.) Looks fantastic.

I'm not quite sure what we are going to do for the railing. I think we are going to have to do more composite type railing since we are doing a composite deck. I haven't looked too hard, but metal balusters look good as well as glass, but I worry about the glass thing.

AZGman wrote:See ya in 87+ pages.

I just made it under the 87 page mark!

cruzer wrote:I just made it under the 87 page mark!

Barely!!!