Dock and bridge build
#16
Proprietor of Fiver's Inn and Hospitality Center
#17
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Thread Starter
I find the Tane ( I’m gonna call it that since it’s a pain to type) down by the lumber end cap. I see that it’s packed appropriately- 8 roles to a box, four at bottom, four at top, with a wax paper sheet in between the layers. I grab six, 6”x75’ rolls, leaving two on top of the bottom four, still with the wax paper separating them.
When at the register, the young chick grabs the two and stacks one on top of the other on the check out counter. I yell “NOOOOOoooooo...”, but too late. She says “ whaaattt??” I say, “ those two rolls are useless to me now. Take them apart!”
I ended up having to help her, and when it finally came apart there was a gooey string of tane in between the roles, all over the checkout counter. She said” I’ll call someone to bring up two more roles, and discount all 6 for your troubles”.
I tell her that’ll work. I watch her give instruction to the Home Depot associate to grab two more roles. She give all the pertinent info, but doesn’t tell the guy it’s the 6” wide roles. That Tane comes in two widths, 6” and 9”.
So here comes this punk kid, with four roles, 2 of the 9” and 2 of the 6”, and guess how he’s carrying them......all four roles stacked on top of each other.
He then says “ here ya go”. I say “ useless to me. I don’t want those”. He asks(with attitude)”why not!?” I say “ pull them apart, go ahead, and you’ll see. There’s a reason they don’t stack them one on top of another”
He gives ME, the customer, smack, by snipping” that’s how they came, if you noticed!” And I said “no, sir, they came stacked with wax paper separating them. Go ahead, take them apart, lol”
He proceeded to slam the four stuck roles on the counter, hoping to break them apart, in front of the cashier chick. He failed, and I looked at him and said” I’ll need two more of the 6”, separated, please”
Punk kid was peeed off, lol
#18
Registered User
Thread Starter
Son finished off the final framing this evening, wrapped everything up by slapping a few heavy gage splice plates on the splice joints of the main beams, and ran some lags thru the main beams and into the 4x12 intermediate beams.
That bridge does not creak or budge. Solid. Built to last his grandkids kids one day. Nothing was nailed together. Only lag bolts, screws, nuts and bolts. Every joist is supported by a heavy gage Simpson Z -Max hanger. All pressure treated, with cut ends soaked in copper green.
Tomorrow, the framing of the dock starts. I have the use of his help till July 5th. My goal is to have the dock framed up, and both the dock and bridge bitchethane’d out. Then I have a great friend coming from the Bay Area to help me deck it out.
That bridge does not creak or budge. Solid. Built to last his grandkids kids one day. Nothing was nailed together. Only lag bolts, screws, nuts and bolts. Every joist is supported by a heavy gage Simpson Z -Max hanger. All pressure treated, with cut ends soaked in copper green.
Tomorrow, the framing of the dock starts. I have the use of his help till July 5th. My goal is to have the dock framed up, and both the dock and bridge bitchethane’d out. Then I have a great friend coming from the Bay Area to help me deck it out.
#19
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Thread Starter
Thank you, Mad Hat and Oliver. It’s been on my bucket list for awhile now. Nice to see it truly happening. It’s tough watching someone else do the work. My son and I have bashed heads during the build, as he gets mad at me if I have to bend over to pick up, say a can of spray paint. He truly is concerned about my trashed body, lol. He keeps yelling at me and saying, “just tell me what to do!!!”
#20
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Dock build started today. Stopped after the front cross beam got anchored in, as it got too hot. This evening we will set the fourth beam at bank side, and my son will add two concrete footings in between the two 4x12’s heading out to the pond, to meet span requirements.
#21
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Finally, at end of day all the heavy work that my son has endured is done. The last of the 4x12 beams and cement footings are in, main beams all strongly anchored together, all fasteners shot coated with paint. Tomorrow all that left is the 2x12 joists at 16”” on center, and the dock is completed. Not bad, at about 20 hours from start to finished frame.
Ahh, yes, the power of youth. Oh, had to get my favorite female shepherd in there, Leila. That girl is a hunter, and has gotten her fair share of rodents, moles, gophers, and if lucky enough, the tree squirrel. Great dog.
Ahh, yes, the power of youth. Oh, had to get my favorite female shepherd in there, Leila. That girl is a hunter, and has gotten her fair share of rodents, moles, gophers, and if lucky enough, the tree squirrel. Great dog.
#22
Registered User
Thread Starter
Dang! Was short 7 Simpson joist hanger brackets, or we would have gotten it done. Will pick those up tomorrow, and probably have an hour left as the woods are already precut and marked.
All in all, from start to finish frame, about 25 hours into the dock. Not bad for a 21 year old, who had never done anything like this. His momma raised him well, lol!
To boot, his buddies were all up at South Lake Tahoe for a July 4th party which started yesterday on the 3rd. He called them up and cancelled, and told them he had promised to help his mom and dad out with this bridge and dock, and that amazed me.
All in all, from start to finish frame, about 25 hours into the dock. Not bad for a 21 year old, who had never done anything like this. His momma raised him well, lol!
To boot, his buddies were all up at South Lake Tahoe for a July 4th party which started yesterday on the 3rd. He called them up and cancelled, and told them he had promised to help his mom and dad out with this bridge and dock, and that amazed me.
#23
Registered User
The dock looks great and that sounds like a good kid!
Nice work mom!
Nice work mom!
#24
Registered User
Thread Starter
Thanks, Oliver. I knew of all people you’d appreciate it, with your background in carpentry. Hope you and the others heading to that Mopar show have a great time!! Make sure and post pics of it all!!
#25
Registered User
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All Done!
Next, comes the decking!
Next, comes the decking!
#26
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Thread Starter
Decking going down. We are doing a picture frame layout around the perimeter, then the decking slats will be laid down perpendicular witching the picture frame. Planned this out, vs just laying down slats, to avoid seeing the end cut offs.
This PVC decking is tricky to work with. If measured, cut, notched at the cool of the day, the manufacturers has gap recommendations that the installer must adhere to, or you’re gonna get serious buckling of the deck.
by the same token, if measured and cut during the warmest part of the day it has to be installed immediately, or else wait until the next day at the same temps as when it was cut the day previous to install. We made the mistake of getting one of these 20’ lengths ready, then set it aside to work on another piece. When we went to install it two hours later, the round cut outs from pole to pole were off in alignment. I was baffled like I made a mistake in my layout, then it dawned on me that the evening had gotten cooler, and the decking contracted. The layout and cut was done when it had expanded to its max capacity earlier in the afternoon.
Live and learn. Good thing I caught that.
This PVC decking is tricky to work with. If measured, cut, notched at the cool of the day, the manufacturers has gap recommendations that the installer must adhere to, or you’re gonna get serious buckling of the deck.
by the same token, if measured and cut during the warmest part of the day it has to be installed immediately, or else wait until the next day at the same temps as when it was cut the day previous to install. We made the mistake of getting one of these 20’ lengths ready, then set it aside to work on another piece. When we went to install it two hours later, the round cut outs from pole to pole were off in alignment. I was baffled like I made a mistake in my layout, then it dawned on me that the evening had gotten cooler, and the decking contracted. The layout and cut was done when it had expanded to its max capacity earlier in the afternoon.
Live and learn. Good thing I caught that.
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maybe368 (08-17-2018)
#27
Administrator
Looking good Augie...Mark
#28
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Thread Starter
Thanks, Mark.
#29
Registered User
I worked on my first deck using that PVC decking about 13 years or so ago. It was a massive 6000 Sq Ft deck with bump outs, level changes and all sorts of weird angles.
It took a while to figure out why the gaps grew from the boards we installed the previous morning to the boards we install later in the day. The next morning when it all settled into the same temp. it looked like butt. Every gap grew almost a 1/32. We actually had to pull up several boards and re group.
We learned to leave the boards covered in the shade and change the gap as the temp changed. It was some weirds stuff to deal with at first.
Looking great though Augie.
It took a while to figure out why the gaps grew from the boards we installed the previous morning to the boards we install later in the day. The next morning when it all settled into the same temp. it looked like butt. Every gap grew almost a 1/32. We actually had to pull up several boards and re group.
We learned to leave the boards covered in the shade and change the gap as the temp changed. It was some weirds stuff to deal with at first.
Looking great though Augie.
#30
Registered User
Thread Starter
Thanks, Oliver. My son and I start work each day on this thing at around 9:30am, and here by that time it’s in the mid 90’s. According to the deck install literature, after 95degrees it will not expand anymore till after 110 degrees, which it hardly ever gets to where I live.
So we measure, cut, notch, and install till around 1:00, where now the temps are at 98 degrees. We take a break and come back around 4:30, and temps are at mid 90’s, so we keep installing, and stop measuring around 6 pm. If we have pieces that were measured and cut at 4:30 but didn’t get installed, it’ll have to wait till the next day.
So we measure, cut, notch, and install till around 1:00, where now the temps are at 98 degrees. We take a break and come back around 4:30, and temps are at mid 90’s, so we keep installing, and stop measuring around 6 pm. If we have pieces that were measured and cut at 4:30 but didn’t get installed, it’ll have to wait till the next day.