June 29, 2003: Work bee at the cottage
Renovating the deck and doing a major tidy-up
The original deck was built in 1968 and although it had been renovated in the 1980s, many of the cedar deck boards and some of the beams were getting pretty punky. The stairs were bouncy and with no railings: the general consensus was that something had to be done to make it safer and more functional.
Since we were in a deck-building mode at home, it seemed timely to tackle another one. More importantly, we had lots of decking boards left over from tearing up our old deck at home. Richard Ledbetter donated some joist and beam lumber and we arranged for a work bee. Although the day was punctuated by a dramatic thunderstorm and very heavy rain, by the time everyone left, the cottage was cleaner than it has been in years and had a new deck -- complete with wraparound seating and stairs with railings!
Here are a few images of the day's activities. If you click on a thumbnail, a new window will open with a larger version of the image.
A big thanks to all who helped!
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With the old (rotten) stairs off, Richard Vezeau assesses the beam.
2003:06:29 09:01:55
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Uh oh... this doesn't look good! But to our surprise, the rest is quite sound and we won't have to use all new posts and beams.
2003:06:29 09:20:16
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Eric and Richard got the old decking off in short order and found no bad joists.
2003:06:29 09:23:11
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Nigel Vezeau, Norbert Senf, Richard Vezeau and Eric discussing the next moves.
2003:06:29 11:32:57
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Meanwhile, inside, Sarah Marshall is part of the first major clean-up in years.
2003:06:29 11:33:42
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Just as we got the first board on, the menacing thunder turned into a serious storm and we all retreated inside... and the ensuing rain gave us an excellent opportunity to discover all the leaks in the roof!
2003:06:29 12:12:40
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But after the skies cleared a bit, it was back to the boards. Here, Richard and Val are nailing the last of the new boards before using the recovered 2x6s from our old deck at home.
2003:06:29 14:26:19
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Leila takes on the onerous task of cleaning up around the pots and pans.
2003:06:29 14:26:49
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Val nails while Richard prepares for the new stairs.
2003:06:29 14:27:28
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We brought up the generator and tools so things could be faster and neater. The new stairs are firmly anchored to the new triple 2x8 beam just below where Richard is cutting.
2003:06:29 14:27:39
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June 29, 2003: Work bee at the cottage to renovate the deck and give it a major tidy-up.Eric and Fred Ryan are attaching the bench brackets to make up the new wraparound seating.
2003:06:29 15:42:05
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As the 2x6 seat boards got screwed into the brackets, the whole deck became noticeably more solid. Here Eric screws in the seats from below while Richard Ledbetter prepares the anchors. (Note RL's great construction boots!)
2003:06:29 18:13:49
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By early evening it was almost done. Nigel, Sarah and Katharine relax for the first time on the new seating. Note the stair rail on the left!
2003:06:29 19:08:09
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The view from inside the cabin. We decided not to install a second back rail for now to keep it a bit more open.
2003:06:29 20:02:09
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By 8pm, everyone else had gone home and Katharine and I enjoyed a last bit of bright sun before heading off ourselves. All that needs to be done now is to screw in a few remaining stair treads. A great job by all!
2003:06:29 20:03:01
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