Decking!

     Last week while hubby was awaiting the sandman he came up with a real brainstorm!  Rather than carrying each 12' decking board down, scribing the needed cut, carrying it back to be cut and then carrying it back to be screwed in place (my idea), he thought to screw down a run of 12 footers, run a chalk line down the secured boards along the center 16 footers, saw them all, move the other halves of each board to its respective position on the other side of the center boards and Wallah!  We save a lot of time and energy.
     Well, this worked perfectly!  And by days end we were done and believe me it looked so great!
     Putting together the supporting structures for the demolished old dock was a piece of cake now that we were pro's.  This time we came in a little under 12 feet wide so laying the decking took little effort except where the center side posts were positioned.  We had decided to leave them above deck level by four feet and utilize them as posts for the railings. The challenge came when the deck board which alligned with them needed to be cut.  One option was to cut the board so it butted against each post. This would leave 4" short on the outside edge on each side of the post. It would have been easier and afterall it is only a dock but yours truly rarely chooses easy.  I decided that I wanted to cut out the centers of the deckboards at the ends and slide the board down over the posts!  This involved yet another power tool (Yes, in the garage), a coping saw or jigsaw depending on which school of carpentry you attended.  Hubby thought I had gotten too much sun but I went about measuring and drawing and he humored me and cut out my holes.  Of course it didn't quite fit the first time but with just a minor  expansion of one hole  it slid into place just as nice as you please.  He has to admit it was a good job and I ran for my camera and snapped a picture.
     We had talked about a gazebo type structure for this dock but as we toasted marshmallows that night we decided it would  really be an extravagance we really didn't need  since we had a perfectly good screened in porch thirty feet away! We talked about the need for waterproofing the whole thing and it was at this point that I suggested since we needed to pressure wash the older structures first, it might be just as easy to paint the railings and posts green, the spindles white and the decking a grey stain before waterproofing.  Is there a stain combined with waterproofing?  We do not know but if there is we will check it out at Lowe's.  Hubby agrees that it would look sharp but quite an undertaking.
     The next morning we pick up 2 gallons of primer sealer and more screws.  We really went through a lot of screws on this job!  I commence a-painting while he commences railing placement.  He is using the railing we took down from the old dock and amazingly it is fitting with only minor adjustments.  He is as much of a perfectionist as I am, but his language is much more colorful!  He is making a few attractive upgrades too but some existing structures with which he is trying to incorporate  are less than "plumb." That means straight up and down,  and boy are the not "plumb!"  I remind him it's just a dock, not our livingroom, and he reminds me of my little cut out slide over the posts thingy I insisted on.  I quietly go back to painting.  He less than quietly entertains me with colorful language .  By the end of the day he has completed the railing with a few spindles short and I have completed painting about  25% of the spindles.  He reminds me that I am only doing primer sealer coat so I am actually 12 % done.  He then tells me that as  soon as he finishes the carpentry work he will give me a hand and working together 5 hours a day we should finish it about two weeks!  That would be with painting the railings. I think we should stop talking to each other at the end of each day about what would look nice!
     But after dinner we go down to admire the days work and...He says,"Maybe we could run a connecting walkway between the two docks at the deep end. "And I say ,"Sure!  And then we could fence the whole thing in and make it a Koi Pond!"  We can still laugh.  This is a good sign.  But the he says,"You know, we could put a  fountain in there between these two docks.  We have that pond pump we still haven't used because you fixed the old one."  I have to admit this seems like a great idea and not too much work, just piling a few concrete blocks we have laying around with no particular use.  It would be relaxing to have a water feature down here.  Goodnight George....Goodnight Gracie!