No, not a typo…
I didn’t quite get around to the deck completion this week because of a bout of chest cold and asthma – not my idea of fun. And then, as I was creeping out of the crud, it was cold and rainy weather.
Since I know the boss around here, I told him – “Down time beats dead time…” Radical in thinking, conservative in action.
Framing the Railings
Once upon a time, this would have been a big deal. Nowadays? Uh…no.
You can make post holders that will provide a female socket for a 4×4 and you can do the install part in an hour, or so.
Today’s Firehouse Engineering Lesson
As you can see above, I have set the post holders in place and even if I didn’t need to have the stairs in the middle, engineering would demand it.
Here’s the secret sauce: Structures, whether you are talking fiberglass boats or deck railings, all depend on effective depth for their strength.
That’s why you never really want to put in a fence that doesn’t have two ends on it. The ends, especially if perpendicular, increase the “effective depth” of the fence so that is almost can’t fall over.
The same is true of fiberglass. As panels – unless you lay up many layers of glass – it will flex like a sunofagun. BUT if you put a curve in it (think of an old TV dish back in the 3-meter dish days, right? There’s your effective depth and a strong dish.
The concept applies to sheet metal, too. Which is one reason old-time cars have huge fenders – very strong and easier to hang off a frame. (With modern engineering, who knows where frames end and design elements take over, anymore, right?)
True’d and Screwed
This part isn’t particularly tough: If you were building to code (or have the misfortune of living in a jurisdiction which is more about permits than functionality) you might be held to through-bolting your post holders. But out here? 1-1/2 inch #14 wood screws of marine stainless work OK. Just donb’t over torque on an angle because stainless heads will break easier than you think. When on an angle with single point of contact.
An important detail is? If you are screwing the post holder into 2-by-6s for decking, make sure to both pre-drill and angle into the wood, especially on the ends. Otherwise you can split the ends and there goes your Fine Woodworking creds.
Here’s a Slick Painting Trick
When you run out of a weather window to pre-coat your vertical posts, you can make up a simple “paint collar” out of a piece of cardboard. Take one of those Amazon boxes, a big flat piece, and go to your miter saw.
Eyeball 3-3/4″ parallel cuts about 4 inches long. Return to the scene of work and with your pocket knife, cut the width to fit. Doesn’t even have to be especially tight fitting for outdoor work. Just enough to catch most of the big glops.
Since I was using a penetrating oil stain and brushmarks were the least of my issues, I stained all eight posts including clean-up in under 10 minutes. 4-inch chip brushes reduce coating time. We buy ’em in bulk on Amazon. Toss when done because I can’t buy labor, solvent, soap, and hot water to clean a brush for a buck-thirty each. Time is currency.
Why, people who love to mask and tape and paper? They’d still be taping up the third post by the time I was done and into the beer line.
I’ve said this before:
When you’re working for yourself on a job, be the meanest, hardest-driving SOB you can imagine. Going off in my head most of the time in the shop is “Why so slow? Can’t you find a better or faster way to do…” whatever?
That’s a partial answer to a long-standing reader question: “How do you get so much done?”
- Only watch TV when dead tired after a productive day.
- When you wake up, use the remote to turn off the TV.
Simple, is it not? Yet I hear tell there are people who turn the TV to a new show and then waste perfectly good sleeping time watching crap for average people – the kind with IQs of 100.
Wild Life Notes
“George – you have to come see this. You know those leftover ham scraps I put out for the feral cats? A cat and a huge bird are facing off over it…” Sure enough…
That feral cat (if you’re a slicker, the animal with fur, not feathers) is called “Marlin.”
Named him after the late Marlin Perkins who used to host Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom.” Marlin – the cat – has a similar wild mane and a small Wild Kingdom.
OK, back to recovery mode.
Write when I get better (though I can still read, ostensibly),
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