Deck boards, joists and catepillars. That pretty much sums up this week.
Quick recap, last week, I finished installing the four post supports for play fort's raised deck. With the supports in place, I added on the rim joists with 1/2" galvanized lag bolts.
Once the rim joists were in, it was time to add in the joists. I added in joists every 16" on centre. To help line these up, I measured out and marked along the rim joist the location for each joist.
Since I was working on my own, I used the help of clamps to hold up one end of the joist to get the other one squared up. This trick seemed to work much better than using one leg to hold it up.
With the joists in place, I attached the joist hangars. I used 2x8 joist hangers. Make sure you select the galvanized joist hangars that are rated for decks and the outdoors. You don't want these things rusting. Using Simpson Strong Tie SD Connector screws 1.5" and 2.5", I attached the joist hangars to rim joists.
Once the joists and the joists hangars were in place, I trimmed off the post tops using a sawsall and it was time for boards.
The deck boards I used were 5/4" x 8' pressure treated. Since my structure width was 8' there was no cutting required, just screwing. First I laid out all more boards to make sure they fit. Some pieces weren't the straightest so I had to play around with the order a bit. I also made sure all boards had the grain cupping downwards, so if they decide the warp or cup further, they will cup towards the joists.
I used #10 x 3.5" deck screws to attach each board to each joist. Two nails per joist per board. I'll admit the size of deck screw I used was overkill, but I had a huge 500ct box of them in the garage to decided to use them.
After attaching 9 of the 18 boards, I ran out of battery in the impact driver so decided to call it a day. This is me jumping for joy, because it was pool time!
For more updates, you can check out my Week 1 and Week 2 posts on the blog The Ruthless Maker or check me out on Instagram @theruthlessmaker . There are also many awesome projects happening now by other participants on the One Room Challenge.
Cheers!
~The Ruthless Maker~
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