We added a “room” to our garden this summer – a low deck with a fire pit. Actually, Steve added it, at a pace that led me to call him the slowest carpenter in the world (fortunately he has an excellent sense of humor). I thought this would be a simple project – a couple of 4 x 4s, some recycled redwood on top, and presto. And had I, the kamikaze carpenter, taken this on, that’s probably what we would have ended up with. Instead, we have an extremely well built deck that’s square, absolutely level, no matter what angle you check, and feels completely solid, even when you jump on it. AND aside from the joists, it was made entirely out of lumber left over from the house or reclaimed from the store under the shed. NEXT: a very elegant fire pit.
Step one: gather materials
Step two: place cement blocks, attach posts, attach back rim joist
Step three: hang joists
Step four: attach all joists, carve out half circle for fire pit, hang front rim joists, gather decking
Step five: cut little grooves into front rim joist so you can bend it around the fire pit. This idea came from our dear friend Victor, The World's Most Reliable Handyman (TWMRH).
Unfortunately it did not work. It broke.
Step six: consider your options
Step seven: place decking and tack with screws (my contribution was to start thinking about window placement). Decide not to worry about a rim joist for the fire pit since the fire pit will block it anyway.
Step eight: screw down decking. This, I helped with - it goes MUCH faster with dueling drills!
Nice work! I never get past “consider your options”…