I was finally able to get the last three sections of railings welded into place on Saturday. I was also able to trim the three tallest posts to be even with the shortest post so they are all the same height - about the same as the eaves of the roof. I even had enough time and good weather to get a coat of paint on all the railings, posts and ball caps.

The next step (pun intended) is to work on the stairs and the concrete landing pad for the stairs. The concrete pad will require a bit of dirt work, and I plan to size it large enough to have a place to part the grill, and possibly a pizza oven. I will also be designing a gate for the top of the stairs to help contain our furry friends on the deck. The plan is to allow it to latch closed, but also to latch against the house in the open position. I will be machining some hinges to make the gate self-close due to gravity alone.

The work on the railings continues. I have cut, fit and pre-assembled the remaining 7 railing sections in preparation for fitting them in place to permanently weld them to the posts. Next up is to design a gate, and get to work on the stairs.

Also, the cast iron balls have arrived, and look great. I just need to figure out how to properly anchor them to the tops of all 13 posts...

I made a couple plywood jigs to properly locate the railings on each post, which set them at the correct height from the deck for tack welding to each post. Each jig also has 9 holes, so when it is time to drill and tap the holes for the cables, I can simply use drill bushings to get them all evenly spaced and perpendicular. There are 9 sections of welded in railing, one gate section at the top of the stairs, and the two sides of the stairs. 5/9 are cut and 2/9 are welded in place. The two welded in place already are far stronger than I had thought. Very happy with the outcome. Just need to get back to welding & painting.

Got the steel railings ordered on Wednesday, delivered Friday. 80' of steel railing and 144' of 1" x 2" steel rectangular tubing to support the hand rail and to run around as a foot rail below the cables. Lots of cutting, fitting, paint grinding, welding and more painting to go...

Finished up the last of the waterproofing material and fastened down the outer 10 deck boards. Also added 2x12's to the outer face of the deck for more strength, and to support the outermost deck board. The extra height adds stiffness, while also helping to conceal the gutter I will be adding that will channel the water away from the house. All I have to do is trim the remaining three boards, and the decking is done!

Even though the decking isn't even completed, and the railings aren't started, we have assembled the first furniture for the new deck. A couple recycled plastic Adirondack chairs and a funky steel table.

The weather was finally warm enough to get the majority of the deck boards permanently fastened down. As I am using the full 16' length boards, there are minimal cuts needed. Only 4 out of 40 required minor modifications to clear the central end posts. I am glad that I purchased the hidden fasteners, as you can't see any screws on the entire 400 sq. ft. deck.

Next step is to finish the waterproofing under the last 4 boards farthest from the house once the weather is warm enough to dispense the adhesive. Once that is ready, the last 8 light gray boards and the dark gray trim boards can be installed.

I'll be placing the order for the steel railings and post caps tomorrow, which will need to be cut and welded into place.

As the space below the deck is a large useable storage space, I really wanted it to stay dry so I can use it for storage, and perhaps a parking spot and storage, etc. I researched several options, including a system from Trex, but those options were upwards of $1500 for my 12' x 32' deck. I did some research, and found this exceptionally helpful video: https://youtu.be/aFjK6ANYLW0

I purchased a 15' x 40' EPDM pond liner for $550 from Amazon with free shipping, a chalk line for $8, and Tanya and I proceeded to cover most of the driveway with it, layout and cut the trapezoids. Saturday afternoon and Sunday I stapled and sealed all the larger sections in between the joists to drain the water away from the house. Once I have the majority of the deck boards installed, I will install the smaller trapezoidal parts and a gutter under the deck to contain and control the water.

Sunday evening I finally got started permanently attaching the deck boards. The central charcoal board was cut to length, and I CNC'd a square hole to fit over the center post. The two charcoal boards closest to the house also needed some notches to clear the posts closest to the house. The first two light gray boards also needed notches, easily added with my router. Only got the first 7 boards down, but it's a start!

The two railing posts at the ends of the deck are bolted to the double outer beams. If you really pull on them, you can twist the beams along their length. With wood posts, a piece of board is used to connect it to the next beam to significantly reduce this ability to twist. Instead of wood, I fabricated these additional horizontal square tube and angle braces and welded them to the base of the posts I had already installed. I positioned them at the bottom of the post leaving a few inches above to accommodate the next part of the project - the waterproofing drainage system.

This weekend I also installed the last two joists, spaced out slightly from the double end beams. These joists accommodate the darker trim accent board that runs around the perimeter of the lighter gray fields.

BTW, an update to the last post, the new fridge is a huge improvement! It went in the reverse order of the old one going out. I plan to make sure that the old ramps can be used once the stairs are in place, so I'll hide some anchor points on the top step to accommodate them. It will make moving things in and out much easier.

Also, its a little tough to make out in this image, but I made sure to add a 7/8 hole and a doubling plate in the 3" angle to accommodate a shackle and my grandfathers old chain hoist, should I ever need to unload something from my truck or trailer.

This deck will have steel welded railings top and bottom, and horizontally between these railings will be stainless steel cables. I didn't want to spend a ton of money on the hardware for stainless cable, so I am making my own hardware. For the sections all around the main deck, this will entail drilling and threading holes directly into the 1/4" thick post steel. I will be machining lengths of stainless steel RH and LH threaded rod to make crimp-on cable ends. When standing on the deck, all the right ends of the cables will have right handed threads, and all of the left ends will have left handed threads. This will allow me to rotate each cable in the same direction to tighten them. The tricky bit is when the cables, and therefore threads, are not perpendicular to the vertical posts. My solution was to make some steel bungs that I can weld onto the posts that provide additional length for the threads, but also give a perpendicular face to drill and thread into. The challenge came when trying to hold these parts to cut the very specific angle into them. I made up double ended blanks, Ø0.500" x 0.750" long, and center drilled both ends. The blanks were then clamped in a specially designed angled V block with two clamps. I used the spare steel cutting metal saw in my Bridgeport to neatly slice them in half. Luckily I remembered to do this before installing the end corner post of the deck, as welding, then drilling and tapping these in place would have been far more difficult than welding them in place on my welding table.

With three coats of paint applied, it was time to add the deck hangers. All thirteen hangers were lag bolted into the rim joist of the house over the stainless steel flashing and ice & water shield material.

This should be a huge improvement over the old deck which was 7" below the level of the first floor, and therefore lag bolted into the 1/2" OSB sheathing, without using any type of water barrier and aluminum flashing (which was dissolved by the pressure treated wood).

Trim is always trickier than it looks. While this wasn't too bad, it did take multiple trips to the planer, chop saw and table saw to get the puzzle pieces fitting properly. It took a few extra trim boards due to the 2x6" framing of the house. I also made sure to use some spray foam to fill the gaps to prevent drafts. It is "Peanut Approved".

Also, I completed the welding on the 4th and final post, and got one coat of paint on it. Tanya put the second or third coat of paint on all of the other previously painted parts.

Next step is to mount the hangers to the house and start assembling the framework!

The weekend began with the removal of the old sliding glass door. First, the siding needed to be pulled back or removed to allow access to the flange that holds the door frame in place. As the deck will be the full length of the house (the old deck was only 20') I also needed to add ice and water shield and proper flashing to the rear of the house. I hope to not have to rebuild the rear of the house again due to improper construction.

To remove the old door, I first lag bolted a pulley above the middle of the door, and ran a large rope over to the side yard of the house to connect to the winch on my quad. I removed the moving door panel from the track, then tilted the frame and stationary pane out away from the house to tie the rope to the upper frame. My son then lowered the panel and frame down to the ground using the winch on the 4 wheeler.

The ice and water shield went on next, along with replacing much of the siding. The new pre-hung french door was disassembled by popping out the hinge pins and carrying the doors inside. The frame was carefully carried to the back of the house and lifted into the opening. The tedious process of leveling and shimming the two doors in the rough opening was taken care of, and the doors were reinstalled on their hinges. Unfortunately, the deadbolt we had purchased was not a drop-in for the openings in the door, so I removed part of the stationary door and used my manual milling machine to modify the receiver pocket for the deadbolt. By the time I had completed the door install and adjustment, it was dark outside as seen in the picture.

Next up is the completion of the siding install, stainless steel flashing, and then finally the installation of the hangers that will carry the frame of the deck on the side of the house.

7 of 9 short posts have all of the angles welded, including the two corner posts closest to the house, and all five intermediate posts. The two posts at the bottom of the stairs are not yet welded. Two of the four tall posts are mostly done, ready to be stood up, which should be an interesting challenge. I also was able to measure the height of the tops of all four concrete posts relative to the height of the bottom of the wooden beams. These measurements were then transferred to the tall steel posts so that the 3" steel angle that supports the framing is at the proper height. If needed, I can adjust the concrete to steel spacers to tweak the height perfectly. I hope to complete the next two posts this week. Next week it will be on to changing the sliding door out for a french door, and finishing the sealing and re-installation of the siding, flashing, and ledger board hangers.