I got Decked

Things continue to move forward. A little over a week ago the Fire Prevention department came out and inspected the sprinkler system. That passed with no issues. I was a little concerned that there might be a problem because I hardwired lights in the attic space. Apparently that makes it "usable" and they require sprinklers in any usable storage space. However, I didn't put a floor down so you really can't call it storage space if there is no place to store stuff. The dumb thing is I was required to have lights because there is equipment (fans) that may need to be "serviced" therefore you need switched lighting in there. Of course there is no floor to walk on making it rather difficult to get to the fans. But if I put a floor down then I might be able to store stuff..... Is this beginning to make sense to you? Good because it doesn't to me either!

Just after my last post we had several days of great weather. I figured that I ought to work on the outside as much as I can while the weather is good. So I spent a weekend on the roof, reaching over the side and staining all the trim and barge boards. Those tie-off I mounted on the roof sure came in handy. And after all that weird bending over so did my Chiropractor.

I also spent a bunch of time hooking up the radiant manifolds in the basement and on the second floor. For the basement I used 1" copper while the upstairs I used 1" PEX (copper would have cost too much).

A couple of weeks ago I was doing my daily scan of Craig's List when I came across a add for decking. Replying to the add I found out it was the Habitat for Humanity Re-Store in Olympia. A company donated a full truckload of Timber Tech composition decking to them. I made a quick run down to check it out and liked what I saw. A week later I was back with the trailer in tow. Unfortunately they had stacked a bunch of stuff in front of the material I wanted. They were a little short handed that day so I spent about an hour helping them move all of it. I then spent another hour + loading the trailer up by myself. What did all my hard work get me (besides another visit to the chiropractor)? Well, he discounted the decking for me from $1.50/ft to $1.00/ft. This stuff sells new for over $3.50/ft. So I now have all my decking for less that $1500. It is a little scuffed but I figure its gonna get that way a the first party so what the heck.

Of course now that I have it I had to put some down so I could see how it looks. I had been siding the dining room deck area so it was ready for some decking anyway. I think its looking pretty good. Now I have someplace to enjoy a beer after a hard day working (just in time for winter of course).