Project Information
With the demand for custom finish carpentry and in home repairs lagging a bit, I took on several outdoor/ treated wood projects this spring and summer. This 20'x14' was designed around the homeowner's desire to have the sliding glass door as a center point. I had to maintain the same square footage as the old deck to avoid costly vinyl siding adjustments, so I incorporated the lateral section as a storage/grilling area. I brought on one extra set of hands for this job and in 3 days time we cranked out the whole project start to finish including demolition, grading, post setting and concrete pours, and the design/build. In fact, it was largely due to the rapid progress we made in the first two days on the job site (combined with my bull headed inability to let the weather dictate my schedule) that led to the hillbilly big-top you see in the last two photos. I ran the table saw and the miter saw through 7 hours of torrential thunder storms so that we could finish all work in three days as planned. The only other trick to building in a downpour is sealing up all cordless tools in plastic bags with only the business end exposed and just enough slack in the bag to pull the trigger. Also, make sure to keep your body over the tools you are using to deflect as much moisture as possible. I will go to great lengths to avoid an extra day on the job or wasting gas on extra trips. Unless there is a tornado dropping out of a funnel cloud right in front of us, you better get used to working through the weather. And if that tornado touches down and heads in any direction besides "straight for the job site", you best zip up that wind breaker and strap on the goggles because we are about to be sawing lumber in high winds and I don't want to hear anyone crying about an eye full of sawdust and splinters. Adverse conditions give us all an opportunity to adapt and overcome rather than tuck tail and run.