Progress Report

Dec. 19  The four deck sections are in place now, ready to stain.

Dec. 20 I have applied stain to the exposed wood.

For the record, I used Olympic Maximum Stain + Sealant in Canyon Brown.

Dec. 28  When the deck and adjoining patio are complete, the patio pavers will come up to the deck, covering the space to the right of the deck in the picture above.  The tops of the pavers should be even with the top of the deck, forming a smooth, level surface.  But the deck sections are movable, hinged on the left side.  When a deck section is raised, there will be a five inch drop from the patio to the concrete basin wall.  What will prevent the pavers and the dirt below them from sloughing off into the basin?  This has been one of the toughest design problems of the project.

I considered several alternatives, none of which seemed entirely satisfactory.  I finally decided to attach a stationary board to the top of the basin wall.  The basin wall extends about an inch and a half beyond the edge of the deck sections, just enough space for a 2x6 to sit between the deck sections and the patio.  (The actual dimensions of a 2x6 are 1.5 inches by 5.5 inches.)

The next question was how to attach the board to the basin.  Again I considered several alternatives, constrained by what material is available at Lowe's and Home Depot.  My first choice was aluminum angle stock, which would be easy to cut and drill, but strong enough to hold the board against the pressure of the dirt and pavers, and not subject to corrosion.

The problem with this solution is that with one side flat against the basin wall and the board, the other side would stick out and be in the way of the pavers.

The hardware stores have strips of perforated galvanized steel, one eighth of an inch thick, thin enough to be cuttable by hand with a hack saw but fairly strong.  This is appealing because the fastener would not interfere with the pavers.  And I would not have to drill holes for the screws.

I decided that this would be a better solution and actually started to use it.  I cut three strips eight inches long and attached one board to the basin, using heavy lag screws into the board and Tapcons into the concrete.  Unfortunately, the attached board felt flimsy.  The flat steel strip is strong, but does not provide much resistance to bending.  So, back to Plan A.

I cut and drilled seven strips of the aluminum angle stock and used them to fasten the boards to the basin, as shown below.  With the aluminum fasteners, the boards felt absolutely rigid.  I will just have to deal with the problem of the fasteners sticking out from the board and basin.  Maybe cut a slot into each paver that needs to fit against a fastener.

Meanwhile, on Dec. 23 I had a job interview with Geographical Solutions in Palm Harbor, and got a job offer from them the same day, which I immediately accepted.  I started the new job on December 30, which is going to seriously interfere with the catch basin project.

Progress Report

Since my last post I have finished attaching all of the deck sections to the basin with heavy hinges. In all cases the hinges work well.  The sections are easy to open and feel quite solid and stable.

Today I fastened the pump to the basin wall.  I attached two pieces of pressure treated 2x4 (scraps from the framing work) to the wall with tapcons.  Then I secured the pump's output pipe to the wood with PCV hangers and screws.  I should be able to remove the pump if necessary by backing out the screws from the wood.  (Something I would not want to do with the tapcons.)

I also glued some of the PVC joints in the output pipe.  I left the joints at each end unglued so that I can remove the pipe from the pump if necessary.  I will secure the end nearest the pump to the basin wall.

Hinges!

I decided to try attaching the deck sections to the basin with heavy hinges, permitting each section to be conveniently opened up.  Yesterday I attached the first section.

The hinges worked well.  Even though the deck section weighs about 80 pounds, and is difficult to pick up, it is easy to open.

Three more to go.  Drilling into concrete is a pain!

The Carpentry Work is Complete.

My little Prius, pressed into service as a pickup truck.  Friday, two days ago.  (Every guy should have a real pickup truck!)  13 eight foot long boards that will be the surface of the deck.

First of four sections in place.  Each section will be approximately three feet long and 40 inches wide, and will weigh about 80 pounds.

Last section started.

Attaching the center board of the final section.

Finishing up!

The final result.

Each of the four sections is independently removable.  Right now they are just sitting on the  basin.  I have not decided how, or if, I will attach them to the basin.

The next step is to stain the boards.  Then finish up the surrounding patio.

The Framing is Complete

The framing for the deck is complete.

This phase went surprisingly well.  Once you have used a power screwdriver you will never want to use a hammer and nails again.

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!

The Grate

Now it can be told.  The real purpose of this project was to provide a home for the grate, a gift from my daughter Terry.  

The grate weighs about 120 pounds.  Yesterday my son Michael helped me position it on the basin, so that I could check the fit and elevation match to the two patios.  Looks like it is going to work.  The patio on the right is about two inches higher than the top of the grate as currently positioned.  But I think I can reset the pavers on this patio to provide a gradual slope down to the level of the grate.  The top of the grate is about even with the patio behind it.

The top of the grate is only 5 inches above the basin wall.  To make the deck level with the grate I will have to make the deck only 5 inches high.  This means using 2x4's for the joists, rather than 2x6's as planned.  But I think this will be OK, because the joists will be very short compared to joists for a typical deck.

Using 2x4's for the joists will have the side effect of making the deck lighter and easier to raise for inspection and maintenance of the basin.