Making progress, but not on the T-Bird...

Topic: Making progress, but not on the T-Bird... (Read 1312 times) previous topic - next topic

Making progress, but not on the T-Bird...

June 10, 2007, 08:37:49 PM

I actually had a busy weekend - sold the Volvo yesterday, and today I built my deck. I plan on buying a full size Ford or Chev 4WD truck for beating about in the woods, hunting, fishing and gathering firewood, and a small, fuel efficient, 5-speed car for traveling to the city and back (maybe even a Civic

). You guys complain at paying $3.20 a gallon for gas, but it costs close to four bucks a gallon here. Two trips a week to the city were costing me $60 in that gas pig Volvo. Something getting 35-40MPG will be a nice change.

Enough about the car thing though - this is about the deck. It's something I had planned on doing since I bought the house. It's 20X10. It's not finished yet (needs steps, railings, and the posts tied together at the tops in antition of a roof over it next year) but I think I got a pretty good start on it considering I didn't even start until noon today (it had rained all morning).

This old house has seen some changes - I've already shown the pics of the inside, but the outside has had some "mods" too:

When I bought it:

I added the garden-style patio doors last summer:

And now the deck is (partially) installed:

'Nuther view. The post closest to the camera is only temporarily installed as I didn't have enough deck blocks (the concrete pyramidy-things holding the posts in the pic above), and I ran out of deck boards because some of the ones I bought were not worth using. I've also got to trim the ends off the boards but my chalk line went missing:

Making progress, but not on the T-Bird...

Reply #1 – June 10, 2007, 08:45:24 PM

looks nice. where's the garage? :hick:

Making progress, but not on the T-Bird...

Reply #2 – June 10, 2007, 08:54:28 PM

I'm sure youre HEARTBROKEN over the Volvo

Nice deck, though! Lookin awesome.

Making progress, but not on the T-Bird...

Reply #3 – June 10, 2007, 09:20:41 PM

Quote

and I ran out of deck boards because some of the ones I bought were not worth using. I've also got to trim the ends off the boards but my chalk line went missing:

I've been buying green treat wood decking for my woodshed/storage and haven't got an accurate length 8' or 6' yet.

Making progress, but not on the T-Bird...

Reply #4 – June 10, 2007, 09:24:50 PM

Quote from: kingcars;153245

I'm sure youre HEARTBROKEN over the Volvo

I was just gettin ready to say that.
Glad to hear you got rid of it. now you dont have to worry about, i believe you called it a "Swedish shiznitbox" if i remember correctly!

Making progress, but not on the T-Bird...

Reply #5 – June 10, 2007, 09:30:00 PM

Quote from: 32VFoxBird;153242

looks nice. where's the garage? :hick:

That would be over there:

That pic was taken when I first bought the house, too. Siding it is my next priority - that particle board on it looks like hell, but it's actually on there as siding. Under it is 1" thick rough cut boards

Quote from: HAVI;153253

I've been buying green treat wood decking for my woodshed/storage and haven't got an accurate length 8' or 6' yet.

Yeah, I've not had much luck that way either. My biggest problem was that I bought 10' lengths, and when you put the joists on 16" centers it does not work out that a joist is at the end of the board. I had to cut about 8" off every one.

Quote from: kingcars;153245

I'm sure you're HEARTBROKEN over the Volvo

Nice deck, though! Lookin awesome.

Oh yes, I'll sure miss that car... It was so good to me

(actually, since the engine it hadn't given me any serious trouble, but that engine incident poisoned me on the car from day one, and the fuel economy hasn't done much to deserve my love)

Making progress, but not on the T-Bird...

Reply #6 – June 10, 2007, 11:42:30 PM

Bad back my ass

, but seriously, it looks great. Good work Carm, and good riddance to that Volvo.

Making progress, but not on the T-Bird...

Reply #7 – June 11, 2007, 12:04:32 AM

You had a Volvo?

Nice deck, That will sure come in handy for BBQ'in this summer. Building mine now and I'm Jealous of the uprights. Obviously your going to be covering it, I'm not going to be so lucky just yet anyway.

What's your plans for a cover?

Making progress, but not on the T-Bird...

Reply #8 – June 11, 2007, 09:26:29 AM

Quote from: DakotaEpic;153292

Bad back my ass , but seriously, it looks great. Good work Carm, and good riddance to that Volvo.

Lifting was never the problem with my back - positioning and endurance are. I can't look up for extended periods (which rules out working under a car on a lift) and can't spend extended periods on my feet (which rules out working 40 hours a week on cars period). Every once in a while I can do a good day's work (such as yesterday) but believe me, I pay for it afterward. Two percoset to kill the pain last night and I can barely move right now...

Quote from: Jim_Miller;153315

You had a Volvo?

Nice deck, That will sure come in handy for BBQ'in this summer. Building mine now and I'm Jealous of the uprights. Obviously your going to be covering it, I'm not going to be so lucky just yet anyway.

What's your plans for a cover?

Yes, I had a Volvo - a 2000 V70XC all wheel drive wagon. The day after I bought it the engine blew about 150 miles from home. It was Christmas day and I was on my way home from visiting family. While everyone else was stuffing themselves with turkey I was waiting on the side of the highway in an unheated car for a tow truck. The wait was several hours because the tow truck driver was enjoying his Christmas dinner. When he finally did show up it cost me $345 to get the car towed home. The aftermarket warranty did not cover towing, but it did cover the engine. Problem was it took nearly two months to find and install one. Meanwhile I'm driving my non-undercoated Thunderbird on salty roads for the first time ever, which resulted in the trashing of the left front fender. Like I said, I hadn't had much trouble other than that, but that poisoned me on the car almost from day one. It's hard to like a car that you've got a deep resentment for.

My plans for the roof over the deck involve making it look like this (ignore the shed dormer window drawn onto the roof - that will be another project down the road - also ignore the fact that there is no deck or railings and the wrong number of uprights - this was a concept drawing I did when I first bought the house):

Making progress, but not on the T-Bird...

Reply #9 – June 11, 2007, 11:11:20 AM

You've been a busy beaver dude. Nice additions, and nice work. It's amazing how much better the house looked even with just the new doors. and hey, whats all that white stuff in your yard.:D