Wednesday, February 10, 2010

How To Rebuild A Deck When You're Alone ala Rube Goldberg

Tie the main post to a tree to keep it vertical,













Tie one end of the front support board to the corner post,















Drive a huge screw into the middle post and tie a rope to it,
then tie it around the other end of the board.



















Go into the cabin and find a stool, a barrel, a paint can and bricks
to prop up the end of the board after you've pulled it up with the rope.



















Go into the cabin again and get a garbage can, some bricks and some boards.
Lift the second board onto your piles of stuff and place-nail them to the posts.


Secure all your boards with screws after pre-drilling to avoid splitting the wood.
Measure and space your brackets, screw them in and place the support boards into brackets.
Measure and cut your deck boards and lay them on the cross supports (not shown). Be sure to leave a space between the boards so they don't heave when they absorb moisture.















(corny sign has since been taken down. I could only stand it for a few weeks)

17 comments:

  1. Love this. We could do with a lot more posts like this! It has everything.

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  2. Cookie, my hat's off to you. I have energy, industry and intellect to my credit. But I don't have this kind of know-how. I'd love to help you with this and take alone-ness part away from you while learning something new!

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  3. DAVE - Thanks so much. The post has everything except a picture of the finished project, which I will give you in the spring.

    LES - There was no know-how involved. Just hit and miss and miss and fumble until you get it sort of right.
    Come on over. I don't need any help right now, unless the snow breaks my deck off again, but we could just hang at my cabin.

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  4. I'm on the way! I could learn much from you, the first thing being this: don't get so caught up in what you don't know. Jump in and learn. Sometimes I'm too conservative. Thank you for pointing out a good life lesson. Jump, Les, jump.

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  5. brilliant! where there's a will, there's a way, and boy, have you got a will and a half! i admire your ability to assess what needs to be done, and use whatever's at hand to make it happen. a sign of genius, my friend!

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  6. Thanks standing, but sometimes I could use a hand just to hold things while I hammer. I once dated a man who said I should at least appear to be more helpless. Yep, you guessed it, I don't date him anymore.

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  7. Hello there!

    Loved your Haiku on Mr. Dave's blog.

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  8. Love your resourcefulness! Reminds me of me! Am currently redoing my bathroom...tiled the shower, and then started on the floor, only to find that I need to replace all of the underlying wood....am glad I didn't know that when I started...glad I found you! ox

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  9. A woman with a good set of tools can do anything.
    oh I am so impressed !
    and even more impressed that you managed to buy the timber as well - dealing with the guy at the lumber yard can be difficult.

    and thank God for That TREE.
    I love trees and get genuinely sad wherever I see one has been destroyed.

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  10. WOW, you're one handy lady....good for you for getting this all done by yourself!!!

    Thanks for stopping by my link love post today, hope you have a wonderful weekend.

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  11. I love self-sufficiency. It is an incredibly hard-to-find talent anymore! Good for you!

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  12. Janis - Thank you for stopping by. I hope you have a week-end as lovely as your blog.

    Jenny- Thanks for visiting. Love reading your blog.

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  13. Hi Kass thanks for your sweet words on my blog. You gave me a good feeling about myself and a smile from ear to ear.

    You did a hell of a great job here building yourself. Going in construction maybe?
    Keep the good work up.
    Bye Dagmar

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  14. DAGMAR - It was a pleasure visiting your blog. Thanks for coming to mine. No, I won't be going into construction anytime soon.

    AFFECTIOKNIT - love the title of you blog. Thanks for dropping by.

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  15. nice post. thanks.

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  16. Holy Cow!!! You are woman, hear you roar!!!

    How does it feel to be the Queen of Improvisation?

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  17. Thanks PJ - sometimes I DO roar.

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