Chesterfield Twp. MI New cedar deck

Hello again,  Well it is a new year and winter is in full force here in Michigan. It has been high temps. average 10-15 degrees the last few days, not much fun.

We have been remodeling two bathrooms, so thank God for inside work !

 Anyway back to reviewing our summer projects from last year.

This cedar deck we built was on a new home, and is a very simple design to keep it within the customers budget.

Here is the design
A basic 12x16 square cedar deck

1. On the first day of construction We start by notching the 6x6 support posts to receive the 2x10 beams.  There will be two 1/2" thru carriage bolts connecting each post/beam connection. From there we set the joists on top of the beams, since it is a free standing deck we do not attach the ledger board to the house. This is because of the cantilevered bay, which according to the code a deck cannot attach to a cantilevered bay.

 Here we are working on the stairs, installing the two tiered stepped fascia, and the 4x4 rail posts.

 Some final pictures with the stairs and railings completed

 Our railings is a typical builders rail with 2x4 top and bottom rails, 3/4 round deckorators metal balusters. and a 5/4 deck board railing cap. This is our standard railing for wood decks. On this project everything is in cedar wood

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A new walk out cedar deck

Sorry for not keeping up with the blog, It has been about a month since we have last updated the blog. We have been busy on a large project for the last 3 weeks, and that is what we are going to review today.

This project is up in Port Huron MI.  It is in a very hilly area, around the Black River, kinda feels like being up north in Michigan. There is extreme grade changes under the deck, one side is about 30" off of grade, and the other side is about 9' off of grade. On both sides of the deck there is 30' - 40' drop off cliffs, so site access was a challenge.

Here is a before picture   

The design pictures

We demo'ed the old deck in about 4 hours, it was all cantilevered framing from the house joist. There was only one support post on the old deck, we had to add 21 posts with post hole footings.

With the extreme grade conditions, and some Ivy ground cover under the new deck space, Digging the post hole footings was not much fun.

 

After day two we had the footings done and it took the rest of the week to complete framing portion of the deck, which was around 800 sq ft.

In week two we started by installing  the deck boards(all screws), on the upper level.  There is three seperate areas where the decking is running on 45 degree angles and separated by center seam boards to avoid butt joints.

Once we installed the decking on both levels we cut in the picture frame border

 The opposite 45 degree angles with the center seam board.

Next we went onto installing the two tiered fascia and rail posts

Finally we installed the 2x4 builders railings with posts caps and deckorators classic balusters. We also pre-stained the 2x4 rails and 4x4 posts with Messmers UV Plus natural cedar.

Now we are into week 3 where we built the stairs, and completly stained the deck

A few final pictures from the roof

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A couple of cedar decks

Hello ....

 Here is a few pictures of a couple of cedar deck we have just finished

The first one is in Sterling Heights MI.   The homeowner removed the old deck and designed the new deck.

 Framing picture, notice the latter framing for the seam board and the picture frame border  

5/4 cedar decking, rail posts and fascia's installed 

Cedar planter box, built from tongue and groove 1x6, 1x4 trim and deck board top cap. The planter boxes are removable for watering and planting. 

Our standard cedar 2x4 builders rail. 4x4 cedar posts, 2x4 top and bottom rails, cedar post skirts, 3/4 round deckorators bronze balusters, 5/4 deck board top cap.

We usually have the homeowner pre-stain the 2x4 rails before we install the balusters so you don't have to cut in around all the balusters, (red stain color rails)

Finished pictures

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Cedar deck # 2

Balcony deck in Chesterfield Twp. MI

Just a few pictures of a simple square 14x16 cedar deck with 2' cut corners.

The design

Thank You

For read our blog

Shelby Township MI Cedar Deck

Hello again,

 Here is the latest project we have been working on. Basically building a new 26x21 cedar deck. There was a existing decking that was in bad shape, and that had some very large built in planters. So we took down the old deck and re-designed the new deck.

The house is a real interesting design being in a shape of an L with door walls on each side of the home. We tried to go with a unique deck design, incorporating some different angles into the design, which I really liked the 54 degree angle instead of the basic 45 degree cut corner.

    

Here we just finished the framing up and we are waiting for the open joist inspection, so we can start installing the decking.

Here the homeowner pre-stained the 2x4 rails with a Sherman Williams natural oil based stain. So he would not have to cut in around the balusters. This is a big benefit over treated pine because the treated is really wet it has to wait to be stained, where the cedar can be stained right away.

Here the 2x6 cedar decking has just been installed (screwed down)

The seam board, picture frame border course and railings are next.

Here we just installed the Cedar 2x4 builders rail, with a 2x6 deck board top cap rail, and 3/4 round deckorators balusters. Two tiered 1x8, 1x4 rough sawn fascia installed under the picture frame border.

 The last step was building the stairs, they are 4' wide with a 7.5 rise, and with the two tiered fascia detail.

A few more completed pictures

Thank You for reading!