Sunday, September 22, 2013

More deck work

Once we had a frame for the deck the next step was to dig some holes for the footings for the posts.  The plan calls for 8 post - 6 for the lower decks and 2 that will support the deck off the Master Bedroom.  We could dig the holes with shovels but since we have to:
1) dig where the landscape rock is
2) expect to encounter tree roots in a couple of places
3) dig holes that are 12" in diameter, 42" deep and 18" for the last 6 inches

We decided to rent a post hole digger.  We opted for the "one man" towable machine.  Those of you who saw my facebook post know it was quite a challenge for Mark and I to control the monster and that it was 100 degrees when we did it.

All was peachy as we got started.  Doesn't he look excited to be having his picture taken?

We towed the machine to our house knowing that we couldn't get it through the gate to the back yard.  The fence opening is 38" while the wheel base is 42".  That's was only a minor inconvenience since we have a couple of places in the fence that were smashed by falling trees.  All we have to do is push it down the hill, slow down, turn it between two trees, go over the fallen fence but keep the momentum up to make it up the slight upward grade in the back yard.  Oh it was no problem.  Now that we are completely covered in sweat the real work begins.  

Always one to face a challenge head on, Mark decides we should start at the short end of the deck where the tree and landscape rocks are in the way and the ground slopes downhill slightly.  As we start on the first hole I'm not really sure how this machine works.  We position it where the hole needs to go and Mark says "pull the cord to start it".  It starts like a lawn mower.  I give it a yank and clearly I am "too weak" to do it.  Mark walks to my end, pulls the cord and it roars to life.  Mark goes back to the drill end and pushes it down.  The auger clanks against the rocks, moves to the left and clearly we are off target.  We stop it, re-adjust it and need to start it again.  It will clearly be a very, very long day if Mark has to walk to my end to start it every time so I decide I can do it.  I give it a pull with two hands this time and we're up and running!  Mark pushes down again, it goes a little further and we bind up on something.... tree roots.  Guess this handy dandy machine is great with digging dirt but tree roots not so much.  Stop.  Get the ax.  Chop at the roots. Hit the rocks. Chop some more.  Pick out disconnected hunks of root.  OK looks like we got past it.  Start the machine.  Push it down.  We make more progress.  Up and down it goes.  Then it stops.  Dang.  More tree root.  Where's the ax?  I don't know I can't see through the sweat pouring off my face.  Needless to say the first hole felt like it took 6 hours to dig.  I thought we would never get it deep enough.  But we did and it was the hardest one. The rest will be easy.
Doesn't look like much but it is 3 and a half feet deep
A couple of the other ones had some big rocks in them and of course the digger doesn't just chop them up.  It goes off course so we have to stop and clear the rock with a shovel.  All this so we can put the posts for the deck on some cement deep in the ground.

Two more holes seen from on top of the deck framing
We got all 8 holes dug, were hot, sweaty and exhausted.  All we had to do was put the post hole digger back on the jeep and return it to A to Z Rental.  Remember that route I wrote of at the beginning of this post....."all we have to do is push it DOWNHILL....." Now all we have to do is reverse that path which ended with push it UPHILL.  I took one look at the fence that we had to go over and thought we'd never make it.  But Mark "never say can't" Sinderson had other ideas.  He said "if we just put a board over there, get a run at it, go over the fence and push hard we can do it." So we did.  And then we had to turn the machine and heave it up the last hill all the while slipping in the leaves, dirt and branches that have been accumulating in the "woods" for years.  Without very good footing it was a b*tch getting up the hill but we were determined to do it.  We pulled and pulled and pulled until Mark could stretch a little to grab onto the neighbors fence and we could pull it that last little bit up the hill then it was smooth sailing across the yard to the jeep. I am pretty sure it would have been much easier to just tear down the gate!

We waited a few days for the inspector to come look at our handiwork before we could fill them with cement.  Once we got the OK we headed to Home Depot to get bags of cement and back to A to Z to rent a cement mixer.  I think we should be getting a "frequent renter" discount at A to Z but no such thing exists.  They do have free coffee though!

We calculated that we would need 50 bags of cement to fill all 8 holes.  The Honda can hold 20 and the  Jeep 15 so bought 35 bags.  The plan was for me to go back to get the other 15 while Mark and my brother, Tim, got started.  We loaded them up and off we went.  Once at the house, I drove the Honda up on the yard to get as close to the back yard as possible.  I started moving bags - each one 60 pounds.  I discovered that if I half ran I didn't have to hold them as long so I went as fast as possible.  If anyone was watching I am sure they would have wondered if I was part of a relay race!  Mark was in the house somewhere but I don't remember what he was doing. I am sure it was important. So I unloaded the Honda and made a pile by myself:
20 - 60 pund bags
And then I unloaded the Jeep:
35 - 60 pound bags
If someone had told me when I got up that morning that I would haul 35- 60 pound bags, I would not have believed them.  Tim arrived with the cement mixer so I took his truck and headed back to Home Depot to get 15 more bags.  It was slick this time.  I didn't move a bag.  Three HD employees used a fork lift to pick up the pallet, move it to the bed of the truck, unload 15 bags and then put the pallet back.  I still had to move them from the truck to the back yard but that was way better than loading and unloading them. As soon as I finished moving them, the boys figured out we would really need 60 bags so back to HD one more time.  Since I was running back and forth I didn't get any pictures of them pouring the cement.  Several holes were filled by this time - 5 I think so only 3 to go.  I got more cement, Tim had to leave to take his boys to a birthday party.  Art stopped over and ended up helping with the last 2 holes IN THE RAIN.  What a mess.  The empty bags were all over the yard, getting wet.  We scrambled to find things - wheel barrows, garbage cans, recycle bins - to cover the freshly poured cement.  And we cleaned up in the rain!  

That was last weekend.  This week we spent a couple of days putting in the posts and now are ready for decking. 

Ready for Decking
But first, we will throw down plywood so we can walk on the surface to put windows in.


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