The entire South face of my house is 2 stories of decking. The upper
deck is supported by numerous cantilevered 2x12s. 20 years on and there
is alot of rot and some termite damage that I need to repair. (The
builder did not paint the ends of and of the wood, nor did he paint the
tops and bottoms of the doors..if only I knew then what I know now!). I
had rebuilt the bottom deck with Trex several years ago.

So, I am replacing the rotten railing, decking, etc. (about 20% is bad)
and there are some 2x12 supports that are damaged. Where the rot was at
the top edge I had cut out the rot and patched it with a fresh piece of
lumber cut to fit and screwed in.

There are some with the rot on the bottom edge and on the ends. How
should I "make it right" after excising the bad wood?

TIA,

Joe

Joe S wrote:
The entire South face of my house is 2 stories of decking. The upper
deck is supported by numerous cantilevered 2x12s. 20 years on and there
is alot of rot and some termite damage that I need to repair. (The
builder did not paint the ends of and of the wood, nor did he paint the
tops and bottoms of the doors..if only I knew then what I know now!). I
had rebuilt the bottom deck with Trex several years ago.

So, I am replacing the rotten railing, decking, etc. (about 20% is bad)
and there are some 2x12 supports that are damaged. Where the rot was at
the top edge I had cut out the rot and patched it with a fresh piece of
lumber cut to fit and screwed in.

There are some with the rot on the bottom edge and on the ends. How
should I "make it right" after excising the bad wood?

Now you're asking? Those pieces where you cut out the top edge and
screwed in another piece could be seriously weakened. From the sound
of it you've now given the water a nice place to sleep in an out of the
way place. Expect more rot.

Post some pictures on one of those free hosting sites and let's see
what we're up against.

R

I shall post some links to photos as soon as I can manage. Thanks.

I'm not sure what I wrote that would make you think that my work would
make anything more susceptible to infestation. I can guarantee is that
nothing I did weakened anything any more than it already was.

I replaced sponge wood with solid wood so that the deck screws would
have something to bite into, thoroughly painting all exposed surfaces.
I'm not saying I made the overall structure any stronger, but no worse,
for certain.

And I do expect more rot...at any spot at all on the deck. It's not
feasible to rip it all down and rebuild it, and the potential for rot
remains throughout the 80% that currently shows no signs of damage.

C'est la guerre....


Joe

RicodJour wrote:
Joe S wrote:

The entire South face of my house is 2 stories of decking. The upper
deck is supported by numerous cantilevered 2x12s. 20 years on and there
is alot of rot and some termite damage that I need to repair. (The
builder did not paint the ends of and of the wood, nor did he paint the
tops and bottoms of the doors..if only I knew then what I know now!). I
had rebuilt the bottom deck with Trex several years ago.

So, I am replacing the rotten railing, decking, etc. (about 20% is bad)
and there are some 2x12 supports that are damaged. Where the rot was at
the top edge I had cut out the rot and patched it with a fresh piece of
lumber cut to fit and screwed in.

There are some with the rot on the bottom edge and on the ends. How
should I "make it right" after excising the bad wood?


Now you're asking? Those pieces where you cut out the top edge and
screwed in another piece could be seriously weakened. From the sound
of it you've now given the water a nice place to sleep in an out of the
way place. Expect more rot.

Post some pictures on one of those free hosting sites and let's see
what we're up against.

R



Here are a couple of examples of the rot. The end of the 2x12's are
about 10 ft out from the house.

http://www.gone2maui.com/Rot1.jpg
http://www.gone2maui.com/Rot2.jpg

Here's a patched one from several years ago:
http://www.gone2maui.com/Patch1.jpg

Looking for advice on how to address rot1 and rot2 for both structural
purpose, and to make the repair unscary/easily explainable to a buyer
when the time comes.



Joe

Here are a couple of examples of the rot. The end of the 2x12's are
about 10 ft out from the house.

http://www.gone2maui.com/Rot1.jpg
http://www.gone2maui.com/Rot2.jpg

Here's a patched one from several years ago:
http://www.gone2maui.com/Patch1.jpg

Looking for advice on how to address rot1 and rot2 for both structural
purpose, and to make the repair unscary/easily explainable to a buyer
when the time comes.

Take the afflicted joists out, one at a time, with
a sledgehammer. Put in replacement joists, one
at a time, with a 5 pound mallet and a couple post
jacks.

I don't know whether you didn't understand the situation, or I don't
understand your advice, or you're just being unhelpful. I hope it's one
of the first two. If it is, could you please explain your advice
further in a little more detail as what you've written doesn't seem at
all feasible. To wit, I don't see the point of a sledgehammer or mallet
at any point in this operation.


Joe

On 7 Mar 2006 11:37:21 -0800, "Joe S" wrote:

I don't know whether you didn't understand the situation, or I don't
understand your advice, or you're just being unhelpful. I hope it's one
of the first two. If it is, could you please explain your advice
further in a little more detail as what you've written doesn't seem at
all feasible. To wit, I don't see the point of a sledgehammer or mallet
at any point in this operation.

You get the joist off the underside of the deck
by cutting through it at each end, just far enough in to clear
the end nails, if any, and then whacking sideways on it
with a BFR. (If the decking is screwed on, pull the screws
first. If it's nailed on, don't. If the nails are
spiral-shank, grind the heads off first.
Depending on whether the joists at either end or in
the middle are riding on a beam or just socketed into
joist hangers, you will probably also have to use a BFR to
hammer the new joist into place, which you do by sliding the
joist in flat, rolling it upright, and pounding near the upper
edge when it jams. Once it's upright, more pounding
allows you to shift it back and forth so it
lines up where the old one was, which means you can use
the old nail/screw holes.

Use dry lumber, and paint it before putting it in place.


*BFR = Big ****ing Rock.

Goedjn wrote:
On 7 Mar 2006 11:37:21 -0800, "Joe S" wrote:


I don't know whether you didn't understand the situation, or I don't
understand your advice, or you're just being unhelpful. I hope it's one
of the first two. If it is, could you please explain your advice
further in a little more detail as what you've written doesn't seem at
all feasible. To wit, I don't see the point of a sledgehammer or mallet
at any point in this operation.


You get the joist off the underside of the deck
by cutting through it at each end, just far enough in to clear
the end nails, if any, and then whacking sideways on it
with a BFR. (If the decking is screwed on, pull the screws
first. If it's nailed on, don't. If the nails are
spiral-shank, grind the heads off first.
Depending on whether the joists at either end or in
the middle are riding on a beam or just socketed into
joist hangers, you will probably also have to use a BFR to
hammer the new joist into place, which you do by sliding the
joist in flat, rolling it upright, and pounding near the upper
edge when it jams. Once it's upright, more pounding
allows you to shift it back and forth so it
lines up where the old one was, which means you can use
the old nail/screw holes.

Use dry lumber, and paint it before putting it in place.


*BFR = Big ****ing Rock.


Thank you for the additional detail.

The 2x12s shown are cantilevered, extending I-don't-know-how-far
internally between my 1st and second floor. I believe that undertaking
such an operation as you suggest would greatly alter the engineering of
the structure.


Joe