Carpentry Work Has Begun

I have started working on the deck that will cover the basin.  

I am continuing to revise the plan, as I understand the problems better.  I have decided to make four separate removable sections, each approximately 3 feet square, rather than two 6 foot long sections.   

I'm starting out with virtually no knowledge of carpentry.  This book has been helpful, but I'm sure a real carpenter would find a lot of flaws in my work.  Fortunately, mistakes with wood are relatively easy to correct.

I have decided to use this checkerboard pattern from the book.  There will be only one row consisting of four squares with the decking boards in alternating directions.

One thing I learned from the book is not to just nail the boards together.  All of the joints will be done with metal fasteners, as shown here.  While the book shows nails being used with the fasteners, I am using screws.  Using an electric drill as a power screwdriver, this goes quickly.  I think the joints will be stronger than if I used nails.  And the screws are much easier to remove when I need to redo something.

Carpentry is a lot more fun than digging!