I finally got caught up from being gone on vacation and can again focus my attention on the stairs to the upper deck. When I got back from vacation I went to check on the stairs to see what affect two weeks of drying had on shrinkage. What I saw shocked me, but also provided me with some more experience. My brother mentioned to me what some builders do, which is not what the home building books say. In all the books I have read the authors say to leave about one eighth of an inch between boards. My brother tells me the builders lay them as tight as they can if the lumber is treated. If it is cedar then leave the small gap. While I was on vacation my small gap grew, in some cases, to one half inch, which is not in code. I was also very careful in making sure everything fit real well. Now there are cracks everywhere, which doesn't make me feel real good. But that is life and you live with it, but being a perfectionist I still like quality work.
The lumber for the railings sat in my garage while I was gone and nicely dried out. There should be not shrinkage problem with the work I am doing now. The pieces are slowly going together, giving a nice appearance to the stairs.
Another view.
Today is 8/25 and it hit 101 degrees in the shade. It was a long hot day in the sun where I was working, but when you do it every day you get used to it. Just don't run out of water and over heat.
No comments:
Post a Comment