Well day 4 was productive, just not on the deck.
About 1 week ago I was in the office in the shop and I heard a loud hissing. I went to find out what it was. The safety unload valve was dumping air from the air compressor tank. The compressor was running and it was not shutting off.
The safety valve was doing what it was suppose to do. Keep air compressor parts from flying all over the shop. Some how, some way the contacts welded shut on the shutoff switch. I moved the lever down to shut off the compressor and it didn’t shut off. I had to pull the plug.
I opened the drain plug and emptied the tank of air. I then unscrewed the air switch after unhooking all of the electric lines and the header-unloader air lines. It was tough to unscrew. It was installed before the motor was placed on the compressor. I finally got it off and looked to see what was the problem. Once I pried the switch contacts apart the switch worked fine (manually).
Today I took some fine Emory cloth and sanded the contacts. *I used a 6” extension pipe to get the switch up where I could reinstall it. I then found that the air line from the compressor to the tank was hitting the switch where I had placed it.
So off to Lowes to buy some 1/2” flexible copper pipe and some fittings to replace the main air pipe and a new line for the header-unloader valve. (Since I moved the switch the pipe was now longer that before, and in a different place. It took 3 trips to Lowes to get all of the correct replacement parts and then to get it installed.
The compressor was turned back on and pumps up fine. It was now 2 PM and the heat of the day was shinning on the deck. I opted to wait. I moved the wood into the workshop for the lamp posts and was ready to start that when I saw my dust collector. I planned to call Grizzly about it. I wanted to replace the top bag with a pleated cartridge with paddles.
So I called Grizzly, it turns out that the pleated cartridge is a direct fit on my dust collector. So $200.00 later it’s on back order until mid June. I guess this will be a Fathers Day Present.
My son Dan and I then went out and installed the missing planks on one side. I also did a rough cut on the curve so that I can make a jig that will follow the curve and put a pencil mark on the top for a cut line to really to be cut later.
So here it sits as of now.
I placed the next to last board in place to see how much space I have left. The left and right seem to be about equal.
So if I hadn’t messed up on my first measurement of the 2X6 ’s being 1/8” wide on each one, being 5 5/8 instead of 5 1/2, Over the 33 deck boards that is 3” in width that I hadn’t counted into my measurement. I would have had the correct amount of space on each side and been almost a full board on each side.
“Measure Twice and Screw once”.
No chocolate strawberries tonight, no coffee. I guess I need to make my own.
-- Karson retired in DE e-mail karson_morrison@bigfoot.com
10 comments so far
Scott Hildenbrand
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905 posts in 280 days
hardiness zone 6b
posted 222 days ago
Uhh… Pick up a 2×8 and be done with it? ;) Such a small overhang would be negligible and you wouldn’t have to trim so much.
Err.. Use a 2×10 since you’ve got 3” of extra space. You’ll need to rip it down once installed with a circular saw.
-- Planting Daylilies in Kentucky, zone 6b
Karson
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52 posts in 387 days
posted 222 days ago
Way to think outside of the box Scott. I’ll measure it. I dont’ know if they have a 2X8 in 16’ long. but maybe I casn put the seam at the end of the bench and it won’t be seen. The other side only needs an 8’ er.
Great comment.
-- Karson retired in DE e-mail karson_morrison@bigfoot.com
Scott Hildenbrand
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905 posts in 280 days
hardiness zone 6b
posted 222 days ago
Not sure if it’s outside the box, but having a 3” rip scabbed in isn’t structurally sound, I’d think. Be much better off with a wider board, even if you have to seam it in the middle over one of the joists.
Plus, you can always build a longer bench.. :) ;)
-- Planting Daylilies in Kentucky, zone 6b
MsDebbieP
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3811 posts in 509 days
hardiness zone 5b
posted 222 days ago
sounds like a brilliant idea that will save a lot of headaches!
too bad about the compressor :(
-- - Debbie, SW Ontario Canada (USDA Hardiness Zone: 5a)
roman
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637 posts in 329 days
posted 222 days ago
With a few exceptions…............I will never build another wood deck again (at least for my own)
Concrete is cheap, lasts forever and has ZERO maintenance and easily, effeciently heated to extend the seasons. Every spring, when I look at our big beautiful cedar wood decks…..I curse them.
If I had to build another deck, be PT lumber or cedar I would never again nail /screw it from the top down as this is not only unsightly, it is a place where water collects, has an entry into the timber and no place to drain. Wood rots the fastest when it goes through cycles or wet dry. By nailing/screwing from beneath the deck up into it, you cant see the nail/screw holes and water can drain out.
that said…............nice deck karson
-- Central northish Ontario
Scott Hildenbrand
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905 posts in 280 days
hardiness zone 6b
posted 222 days ago
“Concrete is cheap”—Not here it isn’t.. :p
-- Planting Daylilies in Kentucky, zone 6b
Karson
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52 posts in 387 days
posted 221 days ago
I thought or screwing from the bottom but I couldn’t find any 6” tall people that could hold my screw gun.
-- Karson retired in DE e-mail karson_morrison@bigfoot.com
Scott Hildenbrand
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905 posts in 280 days
hardiness zone 6b
posted 221 days ago
LOL.. Tiny people are hard to find for sure.
There are side fasteners however that are used such as the tiger claw or etc. They screw down to the joist and the board are hammered into them to secure everything.
-- Planting Daylilies in Kentucky, zone 6b
roman
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637 posts in 329 days
posted 221 days ago
Scott, around here concrete runs around 100 bucks a cubic meter, that works out to 9 slabs 3’ x 3’ x 4” thick which, I think works out to 81 square feet which is close enough to 3 sheets of plywood….rounding it off
a deck thats 10×10 for about 100 bucks + wire. take into account that it never needs painting, refinishing, and a whole lot of time to maintain it. It can be stamped and coloured to look like stone or tile, can be heated.
The previous owners of this house spent about 6 grand on the cedar…...no labour. They did a great job but places are already rotting. It gets pressure washed every two years, new finish…..$$$$$$.
I love wood,but never again on a deck
-- Central northish Ontario
MsDebbieP
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3811 posts in 509 days
hardiness zone 5b
posted 221 days ago
well now that I have two wood deck areas I have something new to think about!
Thanks GreenT
-- - Debbie, SW Ontario Canada (USDA Hardiness Zone: 5a)