Dedicated BBQ deck build

[ttkt57]

Progress. Hard to concentrate with a hunk of beef in the Outlaw on the patio behind me!

 

[gtsum]

Looking good!


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[kls44]

Tip: install deck boards so end grain turns down, otherwise board will warp with edges up.
Been there, done that.

 

[ttkt57]

Tip: install deck boards so end grain turns down, otherwise board will warp with edges up.
Been there, done that.

There are good arguments for bark side up and good arguments for bark side down.

I went with bark side down because I would rather have crowning than cupping and because the cedar I'm using shells less than, say, Douglas fir or Southern pine.

Also, since the deck is small and I have the time, I'm adding a third screw every other joist.

 

[ttkt57]

RANT WARNING RANT WARNING

I have nothing but sympathy for those poor folks who work at "global materials" foundries seeking a better life for their families. It must beat a rice paddy with a wooden hoe any day (I least I think so). My beef is with the modern global elites that knowingly (and VERY profitably) put bad screws in American big box stores where they lurk on shelves waiting for amateurs like myself to snap them off (yes, I pre-drilled) in $45 boards.

A few oligarchs on their yachts are laughing over their drinks, while slave-labor workers and penny pinching consumers alike have no recourse but to suck it up and suffer under their boot.

RANT OVER

(I saved the board but it wasn't easy.)

 

[bschoen]

"Global Materials" a code word for Chinese crap. Don't even know where to buy a decent screw* of any kind these days.

*No, not that kind of screw. Pervs...

 

[tom b]

what kind of screw is that anyway, it looks like a titen concrete anchor

 

[ttkt57]

what kind of screw is that anyway, it looks like a titen concrete anchor

Box says:

Deck-Drive
DVS Wood Screw
#10 x 3"
T-25 Drive
No Pre-drilling (!!!!)

 

[tom b]

those seem like the would be decent, I like "deck mate" screws

 

[4ever3]

I approve of that rant...

 

[pjtexas1]

We didn't pre-drill those on my deck. Went in pretty easy. But that was several years ago.

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[TravelingJ]

Were you using an impact? I've heard of impact drivers causing stress fractures in screws that can results in the heads breaking off.

At least, I saw that possibility on a single thread when I googled it. I use an impact for everything, most useful tool in our house.

 

[ttkt57]

Were you using an impact? I've heard of impact drivers causing stress fractures in screws that can results in the heads breaking off.

At least, I saw that possibility on a single thread when I googled it. I use an impact for everything, most useful tool in our house.

I'm using a standard cordless Milwaukee, made in USA in 2002. Last great American-made drill.

 

[ttkt57]

All the deck boards are on except for the last one which needs to be ripped first. I thought the only problem today was going to be the broken screw, but my cat proved me wrong. Argyll of Stone Quarry, my normally indoor Scottish Fold, got out, and in the way of a swinging gate . . . and took it right on the nose! A rough way to learn a lesson for sure!

 

[pjtexas1]

Smushed face cats are cool...

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[4ever3]

What a cool cat!!!

 

[ttkt57]

Hard day at the office

 

[ttkt57]

Rain delay. At least it gives me a chance to see what a "natural" finish would look like. Thinking of going darker, but that does look nice. Wait. What am I saying? It's my wife who always picks colors (and changes her mind after I paint)!

 

[bschoen]

Cedar will darken on its own with time in the sun.

 

[wazzou]

Cedar will just turn gray if not stained.