Yeah, but somehow that feels like really being a tattle-tale. My mother told me at age 5 not to be a tattle-tale, a party-pooper, or a whiner, and it stuck. I'd rather pay for a whole new driveway. But that's just me.
It's OK. They may hear it through the grapevine that the cops were there giving tickets. A word to the wise...
Project moved to the front burner. Lowes website advertised mfg'd concrete brick with TRUE size 2.25" x 4" x 8". It was wrong. Surprise (not). So I came home today with 16 pavers 2.3" x 3.5" x 7". The height is the most important measurement. I just want to dig out the old chunks of bricks people stuck in this wall, and replace them. Wall is not supporting anything right now. Just covering the edge of a higher level of concrete floor. But I will either put some mortar in there to fill the crack above, or stick in some treated shims. The old chunks of brick are crumbling, and dust keeps piling up on the floor. The new brick is the perfect height. The width would be the same as the 2x4 above, and I think I can adjust for the length, but it won't look perfect. Can't start tomorrow. Another dentist appointment in mid day.
10/4/22 Tuesday Tooth implant finally finished! Process started just before Covid lockdown in March 2020. Some of the delay my fault, because I got side-tracked and lost interest. Dentist also used some kind of bonding method to repair a small chip in a front tooth. I've never had that done before. It looks great.
(10/5/22) Wednesday The old brick chunks and mortar on the wall were easy to remove. When the concrete floor was poured it wedged between some of the bricks and that stuff is very hard to chip out. Looks like some pavers are going to have to be split. My mother had a wide mason chisel. I see it all the time when I'm not looking for it. No idea where it is now. This is how it stands. Need to think some more before starting the new brick. Weather forecast says 7 days without rain. May not get a better chance to work on the deck, so I started on that instead. Sanded the top of the railings with a belt sander. The black color of the wood comes off to reveal new looking wood, but I don't have time or patience to make it consistent all over, so I'm going to stain it. I've never used stain before, because it fades unevenly. Bought 2 gallons of Cabot oil-base semi-transparent stain. Gambled on the color: Bark Mulch. The young girl at Lowes said, "Bark Mulch is the bomb!" (that means very good). Tried it on the railings. I love it. Thinking of doing the cabin with it now. I'm going to make this deck last at least 2 more years. That way I don't feel bad about letting the squirrels mess it up. Maybe I'll be tired of bird watching by then.
Update on deck: I'm only halfway through sanding the vertical posts under the railings—the top halves. That is back-breaking work. The bottom halves can be done sitting on the floor. Different muscles. Ideally the outsides should be done from a tall ladder, but that ain't gonna happen. So I have to reach around through. Dust in your face either way. Need a mask. New strategy: Lowering expectations. Work from the top down and put a coat of stain on whatever gets finished for the day. Otherwise, I may end up bed ridden the next morning until it starts raining again and nothing will get done. Must at least do the floor this fall. This doesn't even count the stairs.
I did two deck floors and then could no longer walk even on my good leg. BUT I found a stain on amazon that I LOVE. Never heard of it before. The company name is Storm. I got the transparent cedar stain and it is really oil based. Goes on like Budda. Soaks in and I bought some for the next staining. Even my hubby wanted to try it. took two days to get back on my legs again. The decks look wonderful. Cabot didn't seem to be oil based to me although it said it was. Whose stupid idea was it to invent decks?!
I've got my eye on some Trek decking to replace my wood deck. Before I moved in I had a garage built and a deck put on. The guy did a great job on the garage, but he did not observe the grain pattern when he put the decking down and a lot of the boards cupped and rotted. I used an opaque Cabot stain to minimize sun damage (it's directly southern-facing), but that only lasted a couple of years. I should have done Trex from the get-go.
Thanks for the tip. I never heard of Storm either. Looks like all different grades and costs. It can be ordered from Lowes. I notice 2 coats of this Cabot stain and it starts to look a little red. I didn't want anything close to red. Cedar can be red or yellow sometimes. It's hard to choose from little sample squares. Glad you are finished and back on your feet again. My turn will probably be tomorrow morning. Sanding from sitting down is even harder. I need to figure out how to sink the nails in the floor to sand it. They keep popping up. I'd take all the nails out and replace with screws if I could get them out without messing up the wood. They won't budge. Some say use a hollow punch to make a ring around them. I never used this deck at all for 38 years until I got interested in the birds. Now I love it. I can sit right out there among them.
If I'm still around 2-3 years from now I'll be replacing this deck. If you get yours done I'll be interested in how it works out.
Are you guys sanding the deck surface? If that is what you are doing, you can rent an oscillating floor sander (NOT the belt type). It won't get between the boards, but you probably aren't doing that anyway, right?
How do you think that will work with deck nails? I used one on a hardwood floor, but (as you know) it's affixed differently.
The only thing is you need to install extra joists to do Trex. -Standard decks are on 16" centers -Trex decks are on 12" centers Being plastic, Trex flexes more than wood does, so cannot support people across a 16" span. I think I mentioned that when I had my deck done, the guy put the joists on 12" centers in case I ever wanted to do the Trex upgrade. I think that for a 12' wide deck, only 2 extra joists were required when it was being built...retrofitting would be a whole 'nuther issue. You would probably just install another joist in between each existing one, meaning they would be on 8" centers. Regarding those nails that pop up...nearly everything I read says to yank them and replace with screws. But if you ever want to replace the deck boards, you're not always gonna be able to remove those screws...you're gonna have to pry the boards up (leaving the screw behind) and cut the screws flush using a cutting wheel on a drill. You can get a small pry bar to yank the screws, and use a scrap piece of wood to put underneath it to save the surface of the deck. If you want to try to secure the nails, I read one tip that said to use a drift to put on top of the nail head and drive it down so the nail head gets embedded deeper into the wood rather than just at the surface. I would think that once the stain is applied and forms in each nail well you made, they are not gonna break free. The issue then becomes whether you just drive down the ones that are currently an issue, or if you do the whole deck knowing all the nails will be embedded & sealed. That author used the pin out of an old hinge. I have a collection of drifts: You probably have some...they're basically pointless punches. You can buy nail setters, which are basically drifts with adjustable stop-collars so you don't set the nail too deep. That's not likely to be an issue when driving deck nails.
I don't think it will be much different with the nails I have used, but I mostly use screws, which present problems all their own. When removing messed up screws, I use a small hole saw to isolate the screw head, then I use a screw remover I bought form Sears when it was a good thing. Here is the new version of the same thing. I have an older set, but it works much better for me than the regular screw removal sets. Of course the board must be replaced or the hole patched or plugged when done.