The new panels for the catch basin are finally complete.
There are four sections, matching the four panels of the original deck.
Original Deck
The new panels are made from synthetic wood, and the frames are Lowe's "ground contact treated" wood. They should last a lot longer than the original deck did. They are also wider, extending over the channel covered by planks in the original deck. This would have meant that the panels would be much heavier than the original panels, probably too heavy for me to lift. So for each section except the one on the end away from the house, I built two panels of half the length of the originals. Each pair of half-size panels would replace one original panel. I could not do this for the end panel, because the discharge pipe has to pass through the frame in the middle of the panel, where transverse joists for the half-size frames would need to be.
Frames for Original Deck
So the end panel is a single full size panel. I have to think of it as unmovable.
Frame for New End Panel
I have confirmed that I can lift the half size panels without much strain. And the deck seems quite stable even though the panels are just sitting on the catch basin and not attached to it.
While the deck panels are complete, I still have a lot of details to work out. What will I use to hold back the dirt when a panel is removed? How will I support the grate? (It is currently sitting on untreated 2 by 4's just to show how it will look.) How will I fill in the space around the grate? I need to do all of this in such a way that the material will not need to be replaced in a few years.
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