New Face for the Deck

This Spring was a wet one! The wet season lasted clear through June! One day in June, the ground became so saturated that our septic system couldn't drain fast enough to keep up with our usage. We noticed signs of our septic tank regurgitating when we ran the washing machine. That's NOT a good thing. But luckily, we caught it before it did any damage. This situation called for an immediate flushing of the tank. (to the tune of $330.) We had covered our tank with a deck, and so in order to flush it, we had to pull up the deck. As we worked, we recognized that parts of the girders had sunk a bit, creating valleys on top where water collected and created damage. So we decided to pull up all of the boards, fix the girders, and re-build the deck in a different fashion--diagonal. Why not? Half of it was already up anyway. Might as well fix the swells and valleys while we had them off.

This corner used to be a 90 degree angle. It came to where the grass ends. We measured the decking boards and figured where they could reach at an angle from the corner near the house. Then marked, measured and cut the girder boards we took off the South end and nailed them in their new position. The sinking girders were jacked and given a more permanent support. I had to run to the hardware store and pick up a bag of post mix and two brackets to hold the girders. Then we mixed some cement and poured it in the new post holes we dug and stuck the brackets in them to dry.
This was a family project. We all helped... except for Big Brother, who was playing in the mud with his friend...
Honestly, they were acting pretty silly, so we were glad their attention was diverted elsewhere. Everyone else took turns pulling out screws, hauling the boards to the saw, measuring, cutting, hauling boards to the deck, fitting the tongue in the groove, screwing the boards down to the girders.

It was a hot day, so we had many water breaks, and sometimes even sat down on the job.
When we got to the corner, Rad-Dad figured out how to build a drain that could let any standing water off the deck and prevent further warping. He just whipped that succor together in no time! We are so proud of him. He has a gift for fixing things.
I spent most of the time at the miter saw. There were many tricky angles and measurements, so a "skilled" and "educated" person had to take on that job. (I only made a couple mistakes.) We came out even in the end. We had just enough long boards for the job and now have just a dozen short boards we intend to build benches with--sometime. I think the deck turned out really nice. Shortly after we finished and cleaned up, it rained. The deck withstood the water test and proved level. Mission accomplished.

I think it looks nicer on an angle like that. Don't you?