Tag Archives: composite decking

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So much thinking…

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Work has resumed on the front porch replacement and there’s a whole lotta thinking goin’ on.

( If you read that while humming Jerry Lee Lewis, you’re my people)

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As I mentioned before, my husband is not a contractor. Not a builder by any means.

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He’s never worked with composite decking before… and if you think it’s as simple as laying wooden deck boards you’d be wrong.

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Our old deck had small wooden boards running vertically, from lawn to house. That’s what the frame was set up for. So of course my husband decided to run the new ones horizontally because it means less cutting and measuring.

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And while he added a few more supports, he didn’t make them 16” on center like you’re supposed to. More on this mistake later…

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And since he changed the plan, he now has to picture frame the boards which means mitered corners.

This has never been his strong suit and just one of the reasons why I wanted to wait for a professional to tackle this project.

🥴

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Getting on board.

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Now that the driveway renewal project is complete it’s time to turn our attention to other areas of Casa River that need help…. starting with our back deck.

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Granted it doesn’t look bad from far away.

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And the husband did replace the old wooden railings with these snazzy new metal ones 3 years ago…

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But on closer inspection you can see it’s time for a change.

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This viewing hole was not planned… just the result of dry rotted wood.

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And seeing that it was a direct result of staining this old deck that blew my knee out in 2020? I’m done with old wood.

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If you look closely you can tell this deck is actually composed of two different sized boards. On the left, the original wide planking. On the right, the already weathered, thinner cedar deck boards my husband hauled home from a yard sale because – wait for it – they were free.

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The size difference has driven me crazy for years, but since we’re if it ain’t broke don’t fix it New Englanders … it’s only now that our feet are in danger of breaking through that the whole deck will be replaced.

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With oh crap this stuff is expensive TimberTech composite boards. At $96 per I’m not looking forward to the bill, but if I don’t want to break the leg of my already damaged knee… it has to be done.

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