Recently I spent some time at a job site with pro contractor Steve Wartman and his crew as they built a new deck using composite materials. Adding a deck to your home is an awesome home improvement project, and if it’s done right you’ll be able to enjoy that deck for many years to come. Here’s an overview of the work they did. If you’d like to see more, check out the full How to Build a Deck article available at that link.

Ethan Hagan is the primary editor at One Project Closer. He spends most of his days shadowing real contractors on actual job sites and most of his nights writing about the experience. To see what I mean, check out their latest “Pro-Follows” or finished, expert guides like this How to Build A Shed article. If learning and interacting with pro contractors sounds like something you’d enjoy, sign up for OPC email updates.

This deck is a freestanding structure (ledger board is not load bearing) with a double row of posts set 8′ apart. In Maryland, footers need to be at least 30″ deep X 9 posts = a lot of digging. After inspection, they poured about 8″ of concrete before setting their posts and backfilling with dirt.

Here’s a quick mockup of the deck. They used PT 4×4 posts and the ledger and support beams were 2×10′s. The joists were 2×8′s set 12″ oc because they’re using composite deck boards that require less span. They also “picture framed” the perimeter to conceal all the ugly, cut ends of the deck boards.

The guys staggered Red Heads to attach the ledger board, putting one in each bay. You can see they’ve already marked the joist locations.

Steve setup a string to make it easier to set the joists, working to keep everything square and consistent. They also made sure to introduce a 3/8″ slope to direct water away from the house.

A palm nailer made short work of fastening the hanger ties.

Here’s a shot of the progress after they had all the joists in place. Next, they added the band board, and got started on the stair stringers.

The crew poured a small concrete pad for the base of the stairs. Otherwise, the ground would have slowly eroded underneath.

Next, the guys started laying deck boards at a 45° and used 8d nails to act as spacers to account for expansion / contraction. They used composite decking fasteners, and each one needed to be pre-drilled. Yeah- it was slow going.

The stair stringers, band board and stair risers were trimmed out in white PVC that provided a nice color contrast.

Steve’s crew installed a white, vinyl rail system that included 4×4 sleeves, post caps, base trim and plugs for screw holes. The rails went up fast and they feel (mostly) solid.

Here are some shots showing the finished product.

If you enjoy seeing contractors in action, check out the other Pro-Follows on One Project Closer.

SkillsUSA began in 1965. Today there are more than 54 state and territorial associations at the high school and college levels.

Now that the holidays (first salvo, Christmas) have past, it’s a good time to think about what the new year holds.

And with that the first order of business is training. The December 2011 issue of Qualified Remodeler includes details about SkilsUSA and its plans for the year ahead.

With 300,000 student members and more than 16,000 instructional programs, Skils USA is working hard to fulfill its goal of building “a partnership of students, teachers and industry working together to ensure America has a skilled workforce.”

Check out the article and check out the SkilsUSA site  for more information.

I go to plenty of different cities (Chicago today), I find myself identifying various sounds that are associated with urban life:  the street sweeper, the garbage truck and the frustrated traffic cop.  But the sounds I know best are those from a construction site – the circular saw ripping through plywood, the grinder with a diamond blade on a cement block and the 18-volt drill working its way through a wood post.  Whenever I hear them, my ears always perk up, and I have to quiz the people that I’m with, to see if they know what it is.  Now it’s your turn.  I don’t think I’m alone in this knowledge of construction sounds.  I’ve posted two sound files here.  Can you guess what they are?  (First one the correctly guess gets a set of Daredevil Spade bits). Continue Reading

This is the first in a series of posting about seismic and hurricane resistant building that we plan to do. Have anything relating to those ideas that you’d like us to cover, or would you like to submit something for us? Shoot me an email at joethepro@contractor.net

As we hear about the recent damage reports along the East Coast about Hurricane Irene, thoughts turn to the destructive hurricanes in recent years, including Katrina, Ike and Andrew. Major storms inflict serious damage on houses and buildings in the affected areas. Man, Mother Nature can really be brutal.

Continue Reading

The construction industry really is a community, especially in these times. It’s tough to break into the business and for people who’ve been at it for a while, it’s tough to navigate a totally new way of doing your work. But you have help from folks like me and my friend Rob Robillard at A Concord Carpenter up in Massachusetts. We’re out in the field every day looking for the products and technologies that will help you do your work better and faster. Here’s an item from Rob about the new Daredevil spade bit that does just that:

And how about this item for you remodelers — decks are all the rage still. If you need to maintain yours or if deck refurbishing is part of your service offering, check this out:
click here to view video We’re here to help one another. That’s what good communities do.