Dogtrot at Hightop

[Sassy]

I like your mom's quilt, too!  Wow, that will be a nice deck!

[Redoverfarm]

Back on track the last couple of days.  My friend the block layer got the OK from his doctor to resume his regular activities but in moderation.  So we have been working 1/2 days and got all the piers laid for the rear deck.  The shortest pier was 3 courses and the highest was 5 courses.  I had 4 piers that were somewhat unusual in that they had approximately 40 degree turn working our way around the board and batten room from each side.  Here are a couple of pictures and with the sketch of May 6th post maybe you can get the gist of what I am trying to accomplish.  It is amazing what a good block layer can accomplish.

End (north side)



East Side



West Side



Angle Piers (two per side)



The piers will be filled solid with concrete.  The fireplace is next on the agenda which will be raised to 5 courses then filled with #57 stone, formed and then a 3" concrete cap will be poured to allow the building of the firebox and hearth.

[Redoverfarm]

Beat the rain again today. Yes it did rain which is an everyday occurrence this time of the year but it held off until I was finishing the last pier.   Yesterday I picked up another ton of sand, Portland and hopefully enough blocks to finish.  So I jumped in this morning and filled all the block piers with concrete.  I am sort of glad that his project is drawing to an end.  Portland jumped $3 a bag and Type S mortar jumped $2 a bag from when I first started.  Doesn't sound like much but considering that I have bought dozen upon dozens of bags it soon adds up.

On the lighter side the birds have flown the coop so to speak.  But mother is right on the ball and has laid another 3 eggs in the nest for a second go round. What energy.

[glenn kangiser]

That's going to be a cool deck, John.

[poppy]

Nice deck project there, John. 

The description of the fireplace base sounds like it's for a massive fireplace.  Allow me to put in a serious plug for the Rumford design.  It will give you a wide angle of radiant heat.

I would think that the Rumford fireplace would be about perfect for an outside setting.  One doesn't really need any thermal mass in that setting.

[Redoverfarm]

Ready to start laying the fireplace Monday.  The fireplace foundation has been laid, backfilled w/#57 stone, rebar grid with # 7 bar, dry stacked support wall and a concrete cap poured from which the fireplace will be built.  The cap is a stepped pour.  The side closest to the cabin is higher than the firebox. This was done so that the stone tile ( same as the hearth in the cabin) will be laid level with the wooden deck and will abupt the firebrick of the firebox minus 1/4".  The 1/4" is to take into consideration that the slope of the deck runs toward the fireplace and any water hopefully will not run into the firebox.    I did manage to parge the piers because I figured it would be much easier rather than waiting until the deck was built. Oh yeah I filled around the piers and cleaned up some just so I could move around without stumbling. Also took my high-tech batter boards down all except the ones I had attached tothe trees. 

[ScottA]

Looks like you're making good progress. I need to wrap my piers with stone this summer. 

[Redoverfarm]

Looks like you're making good progress. I need to wrap my piers with stone this summer. 

Yes finally I am Scott. The pier work with stone is just busy work for me.  I usually will wait until I have the bigger projects stoned and use the scrap and leftovers for the piers.  You can actually use "flat" stone for them allowing the front stone to overhang the sides and cover the cut edges.  Corner stones are really not worth the money in that type of application.  Now if the weather (rain) will just cooperate for a few days.

[Redoverfarm]

It's been sometime since I have posted a update.  Real hectic last month.  As the saying "I have been busier than a set of jumper cables at a redneck wedding" seems to fit.  I did get the fireplace laid , cap poured and parged.  I have two gate piers to lay up and I should  be finished with the block work.  . 



My best friend that has a cabin past mine was diagnosed with what they think is pancreatic cancer.  So I have been mowing his grass and watching his place.  You might remember a post last year where I showed a picture of his fireplace flue that I parged and stonedfor him. Had to make a trip to the southern part of the state (drove past the mine that had all the minerswere killed at not long go) to pick up about 600 sq ft of cedar siding that he had ordered to cover his shop.

Also had to make a trip to my sisters newly acquired house (again in the southern part of the state) and helped her husband to gut and remodel a 1200 sq ft home, rebuilding a bathroom floor.

Then last week my father 85 years old two weeks ago fell at my sisters and dislocated and fractured his shoulder.

To top everything else off my John Deer riding mower up and quit so I had to take it to the dealer and have the coil replace.  $360    My friend who has laid my block offered me his to use which I gladly accepted because the thought of push moving 2 acres wasn't something that I wanted to do or had the time to do right now. 

So what am I doing now?  Believe it or not I decided it was time to take a break.  I am sitting at the beach at the Outer Banks of NC. Same place as last year.   No actually this was a planned family vacation by my wife.  Don't tell her but I would rather be building back in the mountains. I do have my pressure treated lumber ordered and they will deliver it as soon as I return.  The children have all theirs camps and music workshops out of the way so my son can help now.

Can't wait to get back.

[MountainDon]

Breaks are nice John. Enjoy!

Fireplace looks nice.

[ScottA]

That FP will be a hit in the fall. 

[Redoverfarm]

Yes Scott it will be a good place to sit, relax and watch the fall colors change in the fall. 

Started the wrap around deck this week.  Off to a slow start.  The lumber that I had ordered to be delivered 1st thing Wednesday morning didn't arrive until 3PM so not much accomplished.  I did however get the coil stock broke for water protection against the rim joist.  I followed that by adding a layer of ice guard and then bolted the ledger of the deck in place to about 50% of the attachment to the cabin.  I managed to get this much done on Thursday.  No work today.  I had to travel to my sisters again and help her out hanging and finishing drywall.  Hope to get started full speed again on Monday.

[ben2go]

Will you be hanging gutters to help divert water and snow melt?Are gutters even a good idea in high snow fall areas?

[Redoverfarm]

Ben the jury is still out on that one.  There was a lot of people last winter that lost gutters due to the large amount of snow we got.  Even those who had "snow birds" or guards had them ripped off the roof. 

[poppy]

John, I have been following your progress even though I have not weighed in much.  Looking good. 

I loved the redneck-jumper cable metaphor.  I may use that. 

[Redoverfarm]

After a long week I am finally starting to nail some deck boards in place.  Hooray.  Not so fast.  After installing about 120 sq ft my compressor quit.  Still running but will not get above 80PSI which is well short of the needed 90-120 PSI for the nail gun.  While it was running my son noticed a "pop" sound and it sounded a little different.  Shortly afterward he said "Dad I don't have any pressure".  With 700 more Sq Ft I'll try to find one to borrow.  I have a larger Coleman compressor but I am afraid that it draws more amps than I have to where I am drawing it from.  Might have to run it strickly off the generator and not through the house wiring.

Does anyone know what the allowable deck railing height would be.  Not that I am under any code restriction but trying to utilize the most of my 6X6 post I am coming up with a total heigth of 41" including the top cap.  

Surprising enough the rough framing was pretty darn close.  The only part that gave me fits was the 40 deg angle on one side and 47 deg on the other.  Nothing a sawzall and belt sander can't fix.  

I decided late in the project that I would include a ramp. The section is on the side pictured on the July 9th post which will run from the log structure to the point that it changes angles toward the fireplace.  Yes I am fairly healthy now but I know in time that may not be the case and I want to enjoy this cabin "even in my golden years".  So the ramp is 42" wide for a distance of 16' with a rise of 1" per foot with a 42" X 5' landing.

Maybe when I post again I can include some photographs to give you some idea of the layout.

[ScottA]

Hand rails are generaly 30-36" high. But I'm sure this varies by location.

[Redoverfarm]

Somehow Scott 36" was what was sticking in my mind but my son said " Dad that's too low to lean on"  I guess with the added heigth it would prevent someone from wanting to sit on them Huh.    I did notice that the pickets were 42" in length obiviously they would have to be cut down anyway.

[Don_P]

36" is residential, 42" is commercial height. Remember that the railing is a lever, the taller you make it the stronger it needs to be. It sounds like you're on the money with the ramp specs.

My little compressor gave up the other day after a long round of using the palm nailer on joist hangers. I told the homeowner to let it cool down and try it again later. There is no way his generator is going to pull my 5 horse. I got there the next morning and he wasn't there so I fired up the genny and tried it, it worked and I started the day. He showed up a little while later and said "I bought you a new compressor". I told him it seemed to be working fine and he didn't need to do that. I've become real reluctant over the years to loan tools, I've gotten back so many that were ruined. This is someone I would be happy to loan a tool to.

[Redoverfarm]

Well here is the deck up to date.  My son and I have been humping the last couple of days.  The generator would not run the 5HP compressor.  So a trip a little further up on the mountain revealed that my friend had one (pancake) that he wasn't using.  As of this evening we had all the deck boards installed that we had on hand.  I am the worlds worst when it comes to estimating material.  Ran short of 9 deck boards to finish the main deck.  The handicap ramp was an add-on so I knew it would take more than what I originally bought.  Anyway here are some pictures of the semi-finished deck excluding the handrails.