DIY Life

My impetus (your word of the day -- look it up) for this deck project was the very startling evidence (sawdust, clearly where it didn't belong) that the carpenter bees were back! I was not happy about that at all; over time, they can wreak havoc on a deck with their hole-drilling activities.

Even though I had stained all the visible (and accessible) parts of the deck, they are ingenious little beasts and, finding the uncoated areas, began punching their perfectly symmetrical holes last year. I thought I had discouraged them with my site-specific Sevin dust applications and caulking of their homes. Well, apparently not.

Let's get started. First off, safety: I used disposable gloves and wore glasses. It's not like anything I used was nuclear-grade, I just wanted to not wander around for a couple days with stain marks on my hands; just because the stain is water-cleanup doesn't mean, when it's dry, that it won't stick around. The glasses will keep the stain from getting into my eyeballs, which, I'm happy to report, didn't occur.

The time: I split the project into three chunks. I did the prep one evening, the handrails the next morning, and the deck and support structure after siesta -- it's hot in north Georgia at midday, and the sun was blasting the work site! So, total time about 10 hours.

The tools:

• A street broom to scrub the deck surfaces.
• A small hand scrub brush to hit the guard rails, balusters, and drink caps.
• A sponge for the smaller areas to be rinsed.
• A bucket to mix the deck cleaning materials.
• An orbital sander to smooth out the rough spots on the drink caps, with 60 and 100 grit sandpaper.
• A screw gun to replace or tighten the loose deck screws.
• Disposable gloves.
• A piece of plastic to protect from drips and splashes (any old piece of drop cloth will do.)
• A spray bottle to get the stain up under the guard rails, where the carpenter bee condos are.
• Water from my rain barrel. The local water restrictions, because of the area drought conditions, prohibit the use of domestic water for cleanup; I don't like to waste water, in any case.

The materials:

• Baking soda, to provide an abrasive component to the cleaning process; a four pound box, for about $6.
• A non-chlorine laundry detergent ("Oxyclean"-style ); 50 ounce size, for about $5.
• Behr's Semi-transparent Deck, Fence, and Siding wood stain for about $24 a gallon. It was a "penetrating oil formula with easy water cleanup" and contained a mildewcide.The label indicated a warranty period of three years on decks and five years on fences. I chose this product as I had had recent good success with another product of theirs -- concrete floor stain. I used just over two gallons (naturally) but I had purchased three -- better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it, in my view. In any case, I have a large expanse of pressure-treated steps that need their periodic coating, and this will do a dandy job. They are in full shade so they need a treatment only every four or five years, lucky me.

The process:

Preparation

I initially took the time to re-drive the screws that had poked their heads above the guard rails and decking, then I replaced those that were not cooperating -- that'll teach 'em! Bare feet and exposed screw heads don't make for a good combination.

With my orbital sander I, first with 60 and then with100 grit sandpaper, sanded all the drink caps to remove any splinters or sun-damaged areas. The horizontal surfaces of a deck (or any similar structure) take the biggest beating from UV exposure. The decking itself was in very good condition, with some minor cracking in the boards that were in the sun for the larger part of the day.

Then I scrubbed the deck and guard rails with a 50/50 mix of the baking soda and non-chlorine detergent. I had previously ruled out using any harsh or toxic cleanser as I didn't want any undue damage to the recently pruned plants surrounding my deck.

The baking soda provided the abrasion I wanted in order to get the dirt off the decking, and the detergent was excellent in reducing the algae levels. I wet the deck with my rain barrel water, applied and thoroughly scrubbed two buckets of the cleaning mix, and then rinsed the stuff off with more rain water.

Gallery: Construction Chronicles: Stain, seal, and protect your deck.

Looking for the carpenter bees

After the cleaning job was complete, my next task was to figure out where the carpenter bees were likely to make a home. I knew from prior observation that they appeared to prefer the undersides of beams and drink caps (though, curiously, not the bottoms of the deck boards) and stuck pretty much to spots that were in afternoon shade.

So I made it my mission to get as much of the stain as I possibly could into the confined space under the caps. The initial stain job on the roof support structure, from three years ago, was still in excellent condition, given that it was well-protected from the sun. I will stain that part next time around.

Finally, the staining begins

I began the actual stain work by filling my spray bottle and shooting the liquid vertically upward, between the balusters, onto the bottoms of the drink caps. I shot enough stain such that it would drip down onto the plastic drop cloth; that was the only way I could be sure that there was complete coverage. I then wiggled the brush into the area to spread the stain around as best I could.

After that exercise, I applied the stain to the tops of the caps, the balusters, and finally the kick plates at the bottom of the balusters. I made certain, particularly on the horizontal surfaces, to apply plenty of stain; that was doubly true for any that had cracks -- there I really slopped it, then brushed it in thoroughly.

I waited until late afternoon to begin the deck staining. Because the temp was in the low 90's and the deck surface still hot to the touch, I was concerned that the stain would "flash dry" before I could brush it out. Not a problem. While the dry time was certainly less than that of the stain applied in the shady areas, I had ample time to apply it, get it into the cracks, and brush it out.

I always tried to keep a "wet edge" (i.e. I didn't stop in the middle of a board), so I worked my way up and down the long axis of a section of boards three wide, as opposed to applying the stain perpendicular to the boards. And did I mention that I applied liberal amounts of stain to the cracks in the decking? OK, I thought so.

The little stuff

After the upper structure of the deck was complete, I headed for the support posts, and the outside ledgers, giving them a thorough coating. This was not so much for bees as termites, although I have never had a problem with those guys on my deck, probably because of the massive footings and pressure-treated lumber.

I also stained the bottoms of the new copper post caps, mostly for UV protection. When they were dry, I attached them them to the tops of the posts with silicone.

As for the need for post caps, you may have noted, particularly in your drives in the country, that fence posts typically have some form of protection for the top; it's not decoration. The top of the post suffers from rain getting into the cracks in the top of the wood, from UV radiation degrading the surface lignin of the wood, and even the acid contained in bird droppings. It's very important the you not leave your post tops exposed to the elements as they will be one of the first things to rot.

The wrap up

Refinishing a deck is not difficult; in order to ensure a good outcome, it does require some preparation, but it's hardly a back-breaking problem. If you initially employed good construction techniques (e.g. used good quality materials, sunk your screw heads below surface level, and applied a suitable protectant) then the rehab will be substantially easier than if you got stuck with a sub-standard build. In either case, failing to take care of your deck will, at the minimum, leave you with an unsightly appendage (yet another word of the day) to your home, or perhaps a safety issue. With the proper care, it shouldn't be either.

Survey your deck and do the rehab. You'll find that the end result will be cause for immediate gratification.

Gallery: Construction Chronicles: Stain, seal, and protect your deck.

I rebuilt my back deck about three years ago, doubling it in size, pouring new footings, enlarging and reinforcing the support structure, adding a steel roof, and making provisions for a future screening job. At the conclusion of the work, I coated the wooden parts with what I thought was a high-quality finish in order to repel water and maintain the color.

Instead of lasting for the better part of the five year warranty, it made it about a year and, although it never evidenced failure by peeling, checking, or overt color loss, it just kind of went down hill. The consequence is that it's been sitting there for the past two years, baking in the north Georgia sun, while I was otherwise occupied.

Take a look at the gallery to see what I did to rehab the deck and, after the jump, press ahead for the details. Thanks to my DIY LIfe colleague, Kelly Smith, for other information on refinishing a deck.

Gallery: Construction Chronicles: Stain, seal, and protect your deck.

We are finally at the end of our five part project: the transformation of a backyard into a very nice landscape.

This part covers the construction of a very cool little water feature. The initial design did not envision a pond, but there was a highly suitable area just off the deck patio, and it really called for something that wasn't a plant or a brick. Voila!... a water feature, with the splash of a waterfall that is amazingly efficient in helping to mask the background sounds of the neighborhood.

If you've kept up with the project thus far, here, here, here, and here, you know the story of the construction. This part wrapped up our efforts, and we could begin to enjoy the finished work.

The gallery will give you the inside story on the construction of the water feature; after the jump, we'll go over the details.

Gallery: Build Your Own Patio - Add a Pond

This is Part IV of the five part series (getting close to the end!) of a backyard transformation at the home belonging to my son and his wife. You may see the first three parts, here, here, and here. They covered the initial stages of design layout, prep, and paver installation.

Because the paver work was the biggest part of the project, we want to back up just a bit and look at the detail involved in the installation. It'll be helpful, especially if this is your first experience in laying pavers. Check out the gallery for some good information and we'll get started.

Gallery: Build Your Own Patio - Detail Work

As a DIYer, you likely feel comfortable tackling any number of projects. Depending on your experience, you may satisfy every conceivable code requirement in effect today (or not). This feature will touch on the most common construction violations.

Clearly, codes vary depending on your particular neck of the woods; as a bonus feature, they are constantly in flux, so sometimes it's difficult to know where you stand with the local building code folks. On the premise that it's better to do the right thing, especially concerning safety, here are some no-no's and some helpful hints. If you have a doubt as to what you are building is safe, check with someone who knows.

Look at the gallery to get a leg up and we'll get started. There is no particular order, rhyme, or reason to the situations depicted, aside from the fact that they might possibly give you fits and, certainly, delays in getting your final occupancy certificate. Forewarned is forearmed.

Gallery: Construction Chronicles: Common building code violations -- a primer.

This is Part III of a project wherein my son and his wife, and I, transformed a rather pedestrian backyard into a really enviable park-like setting. Take a look, if you will, at the first two phases of the work, here and here, and we'll continue with the project. This part covers the rough sidewalk construction, with the subsequent expansion of the deck patio, and the walkways radiating from it, to the upper patio at the fence and the gate at the side of the residence.

The gallery will provide you a good overview of this part of the job.

Gallery: Build Your Own Patio - Sidewalks

I recently offered up a DIY Life construction feature on building a rain barrel. I am very happy with mine; the (somewhat spotty) rainfall here in the north Georgia metro area, combined with my water saving techniques, puts ample water in the barrel to take care of my annual flowers and the newly installed plants in my yard.

When I built the barrel, I mentioned that I would temporarily use a hose for a discharge line but that, after some testing, I likely would make the change to hard pipe. My intent was to discard the hose laying on my deck and, more importantly, increase the discharge flow from the barrel. I am very pleased to report that my goals have been well satisfied. If you have a rain barrel, this upgrade just might be the thing for you.

Take a look at the gallery -- it'll be helpful.

Gallery: Construction Chronicles: Rain barrels redux -- hard piping the discharge line.

This is the second part of my five-part series on the transformation of a backyard into a very nice park-like atmosphere, consisting of paver walkways and patios, a water feature, and sod and plantings. The home belongs to my son and his wife (hereafter known as s/w). Take a look at Part I to see how we got started. Part I finished with the completion of the fence pad demolition.

Peruse the gallery, to see where we're going, and let's proceed.

Gallery: Build Your Own Patio - Laying the First Row

I really liked Anna Sattler's post on winterizing your lawn mower; I did most of what she recommended. I'd like to expand on her offering a bit, to show you what additional stuff I do with my mower to keep it in good shape for the summer's campaign.

After you've completed the work on your mower, look at Diane Rixon's tips on a program for keeping your turf healthy. You will likely have to make some modifications to accommodate the turf you have, but the info is good stuff.

Take a look at the gallery (also good stuff, if I do say so myself), and we'll hit the high points, with a bit of engineering thrown in for good measure.

Gallery: Lawn mower maintenance -- DIY and save a buck.

This is Part I of a five part series detailing the rehabilitation of a "plain Jane" back yard into a really nice landscape. My son and his wife live in a cool little town adjacent to West Palm Beach, Florida. Their home is somewhat akin to a "shotgun" style, with a similarly shaped back yard.

Over the course of a week, I helped my son with the latter stages of the plan that he and his wife had begun to implement shortly after they moved into their home. The back yard is now a very welcoming part of their home, complete with paver patios and walkways, a water feature, new sod and plantings, and provisions for the future expansion of irrigation and landscape lighting.

For all things neat about your yard, don't miss Diane Rixon's Avant Yard, here on DIY Life. Additionally, if you want to consider something other than pavers, take a minute and look at my feature on some of the options.

Check out the gallery for the process involved in the initial stages of the construction and, after the jump, we'll get into the fun stuff.

Gallery: Build Your Own Patio - Setting Up

A while back, in another feature on concrete, pavers, and stone, I touched on staining and sealing concrete. I recently had another great opportunity to stain and seal a 1300 square foot floor and, because of the advances in technology, it was a lot easier than last time. (If you need to repair the concrete first, take a look at Diane Rixon's great article here.)

Take a peek at the gallery; it will give you a sense of just how easy the process is, and we'll continue.

Gallery: Staining and sealing concrete -- it's easy!

I live north of Atlanta, Georgia where it tends to get a bit hot and humid from June through September.

My home has a number of temperature-stabilizing facets to it, the best one being that I have high-efficiency windows with argon-filled, low-e, dual paned glazing. Right now, in fact, I have the windows partly open, and even with an outside temperature of about 88 degrees, it's a very comfortable 71 degrees inside.

But ... there's no airflow through my home office (lucky me, to be able to work from my home, however.) Although I have ceiling fans in four other locations, in- and outside of my home, I have been slow (lazy?) to put one in the office; that ended today. Let's take a reasonably detailed look at how to install a ceiling fan. (Kudos to Kelly Smith for his nice article on this same subject.)

Follow the sequence of the gallery to get a good idea of how simple it is to hang one of these babies.

Gallery: Ceiling fans -- how cool are they?

For the sake of this article, I will limit the scope of the work to a free-standing wall about 2' tall and 10' long. Bigger walls than that, or those cutting into a slope, really require something more than DIY experience, and you might want to get a price from a contractor.

First off, safety. On the possibility that you'll be building a wall somewhere in the vicinity of the power or gas lines, make sure you get your utilities marked. My experience is that the power and natural gas guys generally put their lines down fairly deep, but not so with the telephone, cable, and water folks. In any case, if you cut any of the utility lines, you will have, at the minimum, angry family members or neighbors on your hands. If you cut off service to your entire area, you will then be in BTT (big time trouble). Don't take a chance; it only takes a phone call. For this project, you will need hand and eye protection and maybe some knee pads, unless you have very young knees.

The layup of the stone is pretty much confined to two principal dimensions. You can install the stone horizontally (stacked) or with the long axis vertically (veneer). Look again at the gallery to get some sense of the appearance; veneer has the advantage (for the same square footage) of requiring requires less material and less labor.

Gallery: Mortared rock walls: a how-to

The materials:

• The rock, of course -- You should have some notion of the kind you want, but I recommend that you not actually buy it until you have either a very good idea of the scope of your project or the base of the wall already constructed. It's much easier to measure the base construction and then purchase the stone, so you don't have to sheepishly return to the rock yard and get six or seven additional square feet of material in order to finish the work -- not that I have ever had to do anything like that. Check with your stone supplier, but for stack stone material you can expect to pay about $250 a ton with coverage of approximately 35 square feet per ton. For veneer stone, you will pay approximately the same amount and get about double the square foot coverage. These prices reflect the stone available in the Atlanta, Georgia area and are not necessarily representative of your neck of the woods. The big determinants of the cost will be the freight from the quarry nearest you. Measure the project and add 10-12% extra; remember you will be chipping the rock away, so the waste is fairly significant. In any case, you will probably have to buy the rock by the pallet, so be prepared. Have it delivered; don't mess around hauling the stuff in 14 trips to your home. Don't forget to include the cap rock for the top of the wall.

• The cinder block sub-structure -- block comes in several dimensions, but a very popular size is 8" x 8" x 16". You'll need about 9 blocks for each 10 square feet of wall; get enough block for your work plus 10%, of course. Blocks generally cost about $2 each.

• Masonry cement -- Your vendor will have the necessary masonry supplies. You will be looking for Type N, generally used for above-grade projects; it will run $8-9 a bag. I like to mix the mortar, fine sand, and portland cement in a 1:2:1/4 ratio, by volume. (In some locations you can find a "mason's mix" of all the required ingredients.) Check with your vendor, but you can generally expect coverage of 30-40 block and 25-35 square feet of stone. You'll use this for laying up the block (unless you pour the cavities -- see below) and sticking the rock to the wall.

• Concrete for the footer-- the footer is the solid concrete base upon which you will erect the cinder block wall. Get enough bagged "sakrete" (pre-mixed cement, sand, and gravel) to build a foundation a foot wider and longer than your project and below the frost line of your area. You'll pay $3-7 a bag, depending on the size and type; coverage is noted on the bag.

• Reinforcing bar ("rebar") -- in combination with the poured cavities, to strengthen the wall. I recommend that you get enough rebar to put in every third block, with the bottom 12" of the bar in the footer and the length to be as tall as the wall. In addition to the rebar, especially for walls under 2' in height, you can fill all the cavities with concrete and you have, essentially, a poured concrete wall. The advantage here is that you don't have to mortar the blocks together (a big plus for a DIY project) so you save substantial labor time.

Gallery: Mortared rock walls: a how-to