05/29/2023
CREATIVITY AND INGENUITY:
I doubt many full-time deck building companies would have taken on this project. They prefer to start fresh with new materials. But, in this case, the old, solid 2X6 composite boards were still strong and the client wanted to keep them. The problem was the structure beneath had started to collapse due to age and a few engineering errors. It was a lot of work pulling all the old rusty screws from the deck boards, but I recovered 80% of the boards, which ultimately saved the client hundreds in disposal cost of the heavy composite and replacement with thousands in new. While I had the deck apart, I took the extra time to install substructure that would allow for a more attractive layout, including diagonal runs from the stairs to the door, and support that would go around the beautiful cedar tree, while allowing for easy re-sizing as the tree grows. The 20% of composite boards that couldn't be reused were replaced with standard 2X6 pressure-treated wood in order to match the thickness of the old-style composite, (which, unlike thin modern composite, is sized like lumber). Once the wood dries, it'll be stained to match or accent the composite.
