Walnut threshold

The photo shows the 8/4 walnut stock that I used to make the threshold for the patio door. The piece on the right is the actual part that I fabricated from the larger stock on the left.

It's a fairly hard wood but not difficult to work at all. Not super hard like the exotics from Brazil or Africa. And it's domestic which I believe is a better way to go. Cost $70.

Walnut is a common wood for gun stocks. This is american walnut as opposed to black walnut which is denser and more expensive. It's more coveted as well.

The table saw was the only tool I needed to make the piece. It took about half a day to get everything ripped down and shaped. It is basically an L shaped piece.

Threshold profile

I used a mixture of 30% sparr urethane and 70% Teak oil to finish the piece. It came out very nice and so far is repelling the water very nicely. Nice vid here. Thanks Izzy!

There was an inch and quarter gap between the deck and the door sill that needed to be filled in. I found some pavers that fit perfectly in the space but I didn't have enough to do the job and I couldn't find any more of them anywhere. I was at The Stone Center looking for the pavers when the guy said he had a solid piece the right thickness.

Walnut threshold and sandstone sill

There was lots of sandstone that was the right thickness but none were long enough. I needed about 64" x 5" to fill the gap. I ended up getting about a 30" long piece that was 18" wide for $20. I had to buy a diamond blade for the circular saw to rip the stone down to 5" pieces.

I had not sawn stone before and it wasn't too difficult with the new blade. I wet the stone down every minute or two. The job went better than I anticipated. The weakest part is the joints where I used some colored mortar to join the pieces. I've never laid a brick in my life so I didn't have the slightest idea how to make the joint. It's alright though, maybe not perfect.

Solar powered lights

New door

The soffit is replaced the fascia is up, everything is caulked and painted now.

We also added an exterior flood light and an outlet that is solar powered as well.

Old window

It's good to be utilizing the door now. It's very convenient and beats walking through the garage to get to the deck. At night the glass allows the light from inside to illuminate the deck and so it helps out with the outside lighting as well.  It's very quiet as well. The music can be fairly loud inside and you do not hear anything thru the door whatsoever.

I'm very happy with it.

Deck Second Half

After finally getting the stump down to a workable height we got to work on the second half of the deck. On the left you can see the framing. You can also still see the stump, just much lower.

Here is what it looks like now. We had to raise the upper level to clear the height of the stump so the deck has two levels by necessity.

Aggie helped a little.

Deckmate vs Grip Rite

The two screws on the right are Lowe's and Home Depot's version. The Grip Rite screws on the top are from Lowes and the Deckmate screws are from Home Depot.

There was a noticeable difference between the two.

The Deckmate screws were much better than the Grip Rite.

The Grip Rite screws seemed to have too much paint in some of the heads and the bits didn't seat correctly.

Never had any issues with the Deckmates.

Deck update

Jul 13

One year ago

 Deck framing in progress

 Decking laid

Another view

Last Year

Stairs in place

2013

We began adding the handrail to the deck this weekend. On the left are the uprights going in.






Proto handrail

A shot from the kitchen window showing the top rail and some of the cabling installed.

Staining the deck










Deck now stained with Ipe handrail and all cabling in place.

Deck

Stairs and landing completed, next the handrail

Deck Progress

About a month ago.

Today.

Deck Progression

 Ledger board installed on Saturday.

 Beams constructed and mounted on the posts.

 Joists going in.

View from above.

Deck

Today, we began construction of the deck. The design phase has been ongoing for about the last month.

We located the piers and dug half of them today. As you can see the soil is basically 100% red clay. I don't know if this is natural or if it was hauled in years ago when the subdivision was built. I suspect it is natural though. Native species don't seem to have any trouble thriving in it. As you can see in the pic there is a basil plant that is doing fine