How to finish of my deck?

[dan76n]

Hi all, I need some advice on how to finish off my deck.
I was thinking of cutting a few boards on angles but I dont know what would be the best way to do this.
The boards run square to the pool but the retaining wall isnt square with the pool.

[rod1949]

Yep, looks like you'll have to cut-in some tappering rips.

[dazzler]

So who forgot the tape :wink:

Pool man

Wall man

Paver man

:D

[Dr - 307]

Sorry dude,
Yep, tapering rips of decking board. Two ways to do this.

1 - The edge board butting up against the blocks can be full width and then rip a 'fill in piece' as your second last row.
2 - Rip fill in pieces to the fill the gap as you see it.

Seeing as you've perimeter boarded the rest you have no choice but to use option 1. It will be better hidden this way because the eye will pick up the board running parallel and even along the blocks and everything will look purpose built.

Can I come for a swim? Oh damn, too far to ride my bike :doh: .

Dr - 307.

[Dr - 307]

dan,

View the ripped board starting at bottom right of pic. It was an old 1900's house that has been rono'd 6 times. Nothing square.

67738

Cheers,
Dr - 307.

[UteMad]

Its a bummer when things run out on adeck that isn't so wide..
If you rip the board against the stone wall make sure you get a fixing in the spikey end or it'll curve up in the sun as its pretty narrow.. I a perfect world you'd full board the one against the stone and rip 2 or 3 on a slight taper so as to hide the run out and still leave what looks like full width boards.. In todays market of shoddy trades people i wouldn't be surprised to see another board put on top pushed up against the wall......

Put out another quote today only to be told they already had one who'd do it for our material cost... Its no wonder people get what they get..

If it wasn't so much at one end you could have had a bead run up out of the matching to hide it ...

If you can't cover all the joists against the wall spray the ends black so they don't stand out as much

cheers utemad

[dan76n]

Thanks Guys, I sort of figured I would have to rip a board.
Now my problem is how do I do this neatly with only basic tools, I have a circular saw, jig saw, mitre saw, hand saw and an electric planner. whats my best bet?
Is there anywhere that can do this for me?

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

Circular saw and a couple of sawhorses would be quickest. Maybe using the elec. plane for final fit.

You don't have a jigsaw? Sandstone blocks often have sudden little "jiggles" that a circ/hand saw won't handle well and a jigsaw is handy to cope these in after ripping the main taper. Either that or a bolster and mesh hammer to flatten the face of offending blocks...

[UteMad]

If you have a circular saw but can't cut really straight for a long run you can clamp a straight edge on top of the board to run the base plate against which will give you a cut like a table saw..
Mark where you want to cut then measure back the distance form the edge of the saws base plate to the saw blade ( generally around 40mm ) . Set your straight edge back this amount from your mark making sure the straight edge is clamped if possible to the piece you wish to retain this way its protected by the straight edge if you run off..
Tips
make sure the straight edge is straight
make sure the board your cutting is straight
clamp the straight edge and the piece your cutting to a saw stool or bench so the whole lot doesn't move once you start cutting

Finally aris the edge with either plane or sandpaper so it has the same edge treatment as the other boards

Hope this helps

cheers utemad:2tsup:

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

If you want to cut a straight edge, you will need to flatten the odd block face with hammer/bolster to even out the gapping.

It's my preferred method as it results in cleaner lines, but takes more elbow grease. :shrug: