While we were in Turner.
Since things didn’t work out in Cove and we had a few days before going to Eugene, we decided to find out what we could do to benefit our relatives in Turner. Being moochers isn’t in our book of things to do, so we asked. Jokingly, Jack said, “How about repairing our deck?” I thought about it that evening and the next morning I took a look at the deck to see what needed to be done.
In the Willamette Valley, things turn green pretty quickly and once they do, the mold, mildew and fungus starts to take over. The person who originally built the deck didn’t leave enough space between the boards in the deck and there was no way for the water to drain off once a few pine needles or dirt collected in the grooves. There were some obvious rotten supports and a lot of green and black mold. I knew Jack had a pressure washer, so I talked with Celinda about the possibility of staying a few days and rebuilding the deck. She thought it was a good idea and that evening, when we were all playing cards, we talked to them to see if it would be something that would work for them.
I would rebuild the deck and Celinda would do things around the house that would help Marcia so she could have more free time after work. They were up for the idea, so the next day we were on a new and different adventure from WWOOFing.
The first thing I did was pressure wash the entire deck, top to bottom and underneath. The next step was try to clean dirt and debris out of the spaces between the boards. I’d pressure washed the deck with bleach and mold remover, then tried to run a skil-type saw down the grooves to clean them out and widen the gap. There were lots of places where the saw blade wouldn’t fit and it was necessary to use a putty knife It took all day but allowed me to do a comprehensive evaluation of what really needed to be done.
My first thought was to use a saw blade that would cut the groove wider but if any boards needed to be replaced in the future, they would have to be custom cut. I measured the deck and, after calculating everything, I decided on a different plan. By removing all the deck boards, and then using one less board when I put them back on, the gap between the boards would be sufficient to allow most of the dirt and debris to be removed easily. Also, when all the boards were off, it would be easier to replace any of the vertical and horizontal supports. Any deck boards that needed replacement would be done when the deck was put back together. The first day was clean and evaluate, the next would be take the deck apart and see what was needed to make it right, plus better and longer lasting than it had been.
Removing the old deck boards wasn’t easy. It was necessary to drive the nail puller under the head of every nail. Sometimes when I pulled on the nail puller, to get the nail head up enough to get the claw hammer under it, the board would collapse like a sponge. At other times, the head of the nail would snap off. None of the nails came out easily, and the person who had built the deck used nails that were longer than necessary and many more than were needed. A lot of people believe the more nails you use, the stronger it will be. In reality, it’s often the opposite. Where the nails are is usually where the wood first begins to rot or breakdown. Too many nails accelerates the process.
I thought I’d be able to hammer up on the bottom of the board to raise the nails up enough so I could get the hammer claws under it, but the boards were so rotten most of them just collapsed. I got my upper body workout hammering on the nail puller, then pulling on it and the claw hammer. The hardest part was sitting with my legs out in front of me and scooting around on my butt to change locations. That type of position is really hard on my back. By the end of the day’s work, I was three rows of nails short of half way. The next day I thought I would be able to finish pulling the nails allowing me to remove the boards and assess the damage to the underlying supports.
I didn’t get as far I I thought and day two was a repeat of day one. On day three I began pulling the boards up, throwing them down and then stacking them so they could be cut and used for firewood. Day three appeared to be the big work day because most of the boards had been removed, but day one and two were much more physically demanding. On day three we went to Lowe’s and Home Depot to get wood, paint and other supplies. It was a long day that ended with unloading the pickup at five minutes until ten. Day four was like day three and ended at the same time after getting more wood, cement piers to isolate the supports from the dirt and wet of the ground, and taking the paint back to get the right color, which was supposed to be redwood but was yellow.
I began replacing the rotten horizontal supports that the deck boards would be screwed to, painting the 4x8s and placing the cement piers where the new supports would go. The description is deceiving because it took all day, with me being worn out by 5:00. Jack had picked up more wood on his way home from work and we unloaded it. There was a lot wood, and that was only half of what we’d need. After the pickup was unloaded, I took a shower and a much needed nap. The next day, if it didn’t rain too hard, I planned to paint at the new deck boards to seal them, put the new 4x8s and 4×4 supports up, level the deck and hopefully start screwing the new deck boards down. We’d planned to be on our way to Eugene on Tuesday. It rained off and on and our plans changed again to Wednesday or even later. We wanted to spend a few days in Eugene visiting with our kids and we also want to go to Oakridge and Westfir, Oregon to look at property.
The deck was a lot of work both physically and mentally but I got a lot of information and an education that can be of use in the future. I like that kind of job where I have to think about what needs to be done, the best way to accomplish it and be able to do it without wasting any time or money. That’s my kind of work, all I need is to be told what needs to be done or what the end objective is and let me figure out how to do it. Don’t tell me what needs to be done and then tell me how to do it, especially when the person telling me couldn’t do it and has no idea how to go about it. That was the problem in Cove. The woman had no idea how to do what she wanted to have done but she insisted in telling me how to do it. The deck is looking good, I just wish we had more time so I wouldn’t feel like I was in a time crunch. I wanted to keep working on my every other day runs, but didn’t have time.
Monday, Labor Day was day six of the deck rebuilding job. Things were beginning to look like what I’d envisioned them to be when the job started. Jack and I got the last of the 4×8 support beams in place with Celinda and Marcia’s help. The 4x8s were too much weight and you had to be in too many places at once for two people. Half the vertical support 4x4s were in place on the cement piers and all the ties and cleats were installed. We had six more vertical 4x4s and the deck boards to do before it was finished. Jack painted most of the wood while I did most of the cut, hammer and screw part. Jack and Maria’s son Tim, his wife Trisha and their three boys came over and painted while Jack and I finished putting the ties, support beams and finish cleats on. It looked really nice when it was done, plus it was be strong and will last a long time.
We wanted to be on our way and left the finish painting, and a lot of the deck screws that had to be screwed in, up to Jack and Marcia and left for Eugene a few days later than first planned, but with good feelings about what we had accomplished and that we’d helped others who had extended their hospitality to us.
From Turner, we stop one last time in Eugene and then were on our way back to New Mexico. The summer had been fun and we learned a lot. For us, the main drawbacks were the lack of privacy and being constantly on the move, here a few days, there a few days, and it would have been more enjoyable if we’d stayed longer in some places and not gone to others. Would we do it again? This summer we plan to try it from a motorhome. That way we’ll have our own space and privacy. We didn’t see anyone else WWOOFing from an RV, so it might be a first.
Other adventures, besides WWOOFing, are in store for the summer ahead. Come travel with us. Check through this website or go to www.newliferoadmap.com where links to articles and slide shows will be posted. A link to the slide show of building the deck will be posted soon on www.newliferoadmap.com. Select Larry’s slide shows from the sidebar menu and then follow directions on the landing page.
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