Deck Redo

The deck is a good feature, and well-made. I’d like to update the surface materials. I’ve already given the composite deck boards a coat of paint, which helped the fade-to-pink problem, but because the boards are installed too close together, the paint has now sealed off the little drainage there had been. This deck needs new (not pink) boards, placed with wider gaps, and I’d like to do an invisible screw system since i’m tired of my snow shovel catching on popped-out nail heads.

Here’s the original deck, with brick landing that has since been removed, too-close bards that have faded, cracked and warped.

Updated look, with couch, plush dog bed, umbrella, and tropical rug.

Colors

I’m still noodling around what color decking I want. The natural pine siding is golden brown that fades to a pale tan/grey. I’ll be ordering a few samples so I can hold them against the siding and see how it looks in person.

Here is the siding, followed by some options off the Trex website:

Fasteners and Patterns

Most boards will need to be grooved, for the hidden spacer/fastener installation that will give me a surface without nails and screws poking through it. I’m also going to want to install picture-frame edging, so I don’t have to look at the cut ends of the boards… I’ll need just enough non-grooved boards to make that look good, and then the gadget that routers a groove in one side of the square board.

Grooved-edge boards install with the Hidden Fastening System beneath the deck surface, leaving a tidy finish free of screw holes.

Rails

So, while i’m ripping off the top of the deck, I might as well also get rid of the ivory colored vinyl rails. They stick out like a sore thumb, and require annual pressure washing to keep from turning green. I much prefer the powder-coated black aluminum I chose for my fence. But instead of continuing the heavy vertical lines of the house and fence, I’m looking at doing horizontal cable lines, meant to offer safety and easy maintenance without blocking the view.

Image from DeckAndRailSupply.com

Image from CableRailingDirect.com

Image from CableBullet.com

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There are some

Cable Tangle

Before the days of wifi came the days of cable splitters. My house had coaxial cable running everywhere. I pay for premium internet service to support my work-at-home needs (and my HD streaming habit), and it’s frustrating to have crummy signal. Luckily, I have a dog-walking neighbor who works for Comcast. He told me to suggest egress (signal leakage) and noise as possible reasons for my signal degradation.

As it turns out, the line from the telephone pole had probably been chewed by squirrels, and had water inside the casing. Once inside, the line fed to a splitter, then to another splitter, then stretched to an amplifier in the workshop area, then doubled back on itself before reaching - you guessed it - a third splitter.

Wound up with all that was a nest of telephone wire. Like, for someone (not me) who maintains a land line. Instead of feeding to a neatly-installed junction box in the wall, these wires were fed through holes drilled in the floor… this made it especially easy to rip them out.