The DIY thread - DIYourself

Patrick

Overthinking the draft from the basement already
Staff member
Been planning to build a new deck for 2 years. Finally have the time and help but I'm hearing that lumber is hard to get. My concrete guy says not only that but the price of lumber has almost doubled. Anyone else hearing this or can confirm? :(

confirmed.
You'll be able to find the lumber over time - use a lumber yard, and have it delivered. Worth the premium.

What are you using for the decking?
 

iman29

Well-Known Member
Been planning to build a new deck for 2 years. Finally have the time and help but I'm hearing that lumber is hard to get. My concrete guy says not only that but the price of lumber has almost doubled. Anyone else hearing this or can confirm? :(
yes it seems due to the pandemic since last year demand is sky high and supply is minimal- especially pressure treated. Last summer I could barely find one piece to repair my deck I ended up getting a freebie piece from someone on here.
 

a.s.

Mr. Chainring
confirmed.
You'll be able to find the lumber over time - use a lumber yard, and have it delivered. Worth the premium.

What are you using for the decking?
Most likely pressure treated yellow pine but open to suggestions. Budget is somewhat tight. Me and my BIL are doing the work ourselves so there's room to spend on building material.
 

Patrick

Overthinking the draft from the basement already
Staff member
Most likely pressure treated yellow pine but open to suggestions. Budget is somewhat tight. Me and my BIL are doing the work ourselves so there's room to spend on building material.

the composite decking is available - i like the look of blind fasteners. very clean.
gotta watch which one is used, some require 12" joist spacing, and no cantilever. (they need a trim board on the edges anyway.)
it costs more - depending on the size of the deck, it might not be horrible.
if not using blind fasteners, predrill with a countersink bit made for the fastener.
Good project.
 

a.s.

Mr. Chainring
the composite decking is available - i like the look of blind fasteners. very clean.
gotta watch which one is used, some require 12" joist spacing, and no cantilever. (they need a trim board on the edges anyway.)
it costs more - depending on the size of the deck, it might not be horrible.
if not using blind fasteners, predrill with a countersink bit made for the fastener.
Good project.
Thank you for the info. I’m checking material availability and price. Hopefully I can get this project going soon.
 

Over the Bars

Well-Known Member
Been planning to build a new deck for 2 years. Finally have the time and help but I'm hearing that lumber is hard to get. My concrete guy says not only that but the price of lumber has almost doubled. Anyone else hearing this or can confirm? :(
Lumber prices are deffinitly very high right now
 

MadisonDan

Well-Known Member
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Been planning to build a new deck for 2 years. Finally have the time and help but I'm hearing that lumber is hard to get. My concrete guy says not only that but the price of lumber has almost doubled. Anyone else hearing this or can confirm? :(
Wood's available, but yeah, prices are double +.
 

mattybfat

The Opinion Police
Team MTBNJ Halter's
So of course yesterday the project to replace fence posts turned into the usual DIY fiasco. And the whole time I was also aggravated that I had to spend the time on a nice day missing out on riding.

The main struggle was to dig the holes I had to carve out the dirt by hand and then use the sledgehammer to drive the remnants of the steel post holder further into the ground cause there’s no way to dig it up. Repeated this like 100 times. And since the soil is basically clay concrete I had to use the steel bar to chip away at it.
Could barely feel my hands when I was done digging they ached so bad. Getting too old for this shit.

View attachment 155572

Got the holes sorted out and read through the package to use the expandable foam
Stuff. Says it’s good to go after 2-3 minutes. Poured in the one hole and After 10 minutes I checked it and the post had at least 1-2” of play in it. And the foam looked like it was done expanding. Left it another 10 minutes still the same.

Barely took much effort to yank the pole right out FML.
View attachment 155573View attachment 155574

After several minutes of cursing I scoffed down a PBJ sandwich and went to Lowe’s to get 4 bags of sakrete fast setting stuff. At least I could return the 2 bags of that foam shit and get my money back but still wasted 14bucks on the one that failed.

Reset the post and set the new one and poured everything in like I originally wanted to.

I only had to buy the 1 post and the sakrete since I still had one 4x4x8 leftover from when it used to surround the mulch pit from
The old swing set.

At least the hard part is done now just need to backfill the holes, hang the 3 fence panels and trim the posts.
View attachment 155575View attachment 155576


Some pro tips
When doing fencing attach panel to set post line up panel dig new post hole. Set post in ground attach panel level fill hole with dry concrete pack level and attach next panel.

Concrete will harden over time.
This is how you see entire fence done in a day.
 

ekuhn

Well-Known Member
Lumber through the roof. Vinyl products through the roof. Raw metal through the roof.

I have vendors quoting stuff with 24hr quote expiration. Not 30 days, not 15 days.

One vendor bid a job needing 2x12's - had pricing of $1.75LF in his bid 9 months ago. Now its $4.40LF.
 

Zaskar

Well-Known Member
Lumber through the roof. Vinyl products through the roof. Raw metal through the roof.

I have vendors quoting stuff with 24hr quote expiration. Not 30 days, not 15 days.

One vendor bid a job needing 2x12's - had pricing of $1.75LF in his bid 9 months ago. Now its $4.40LF.
It's like seafood pricing now.
 

iman29

Well-Known Member
Some pro tips
When doing fencing attach panel to set post line up panel dig new post hole. Set post in ground attach panel level fill hole with dry concrete pack level and attach next panel.

Concrete will harden over time.
This is how you see entire fence done in a day.
yeah thats way beyond my DIY skill set. I just needed to replace those two posts with the added challenge of the broken off 36" metal spikes in the way. I used the skinny 8 foot piece of scrap wood at the bottom to measure on center off each existing post. Plus i was working alone so I don't know that I could drag then fence panel with the post attached into the proper position. I measured the distances and re-measured like 10 times.

the real moment of truth will be after work today when I go to hang the fence panels and see how they line up. stay tuned...
 

iman29

Well-Known Member
So glad everything lined up. Glad that shit is done.

7FEE1765-DE91-4542-8C09-C1B37EA3F2B7.jpegC35A4392-DA27-41E2-ADEF-A011A125A4B2.jpeg


Will Trim the posts eventually but I wanted to close up the yard again. Miss Shelby is missing out on her yard running time. Too bad it’s gonna rain the next 2 days.
 

Santapez

Well-Known Member
Team MTBNJ Halter's
If you’re not in a rush, and don’t have to worry about pets, I’ve read good things about termites to break down stumps.
Drill a few holes, pour in the stuff and in like 2 months you can basically rake it up.


Also just happened to see a neighbor taking up his mailbox, and it looked like he had buried a 5 gallon bucket as a concrete form. Not sure if that’s helpful, but theres something you know now.
 

djm

Well-Known Member
(Not) Looking forward to replacing my 20x25 deck in a few weeks. It's 20yr old wood, on grade, full of splinters and spider crickets. I need to decide on composite vs PVC or even pavers possibly. Any experience here? I figure it will cost a few G's regardless of what I go with.
 

Patrick

Overthinking the draft from the basement already
Staff member
(Not) Looking forward to replacing my 20x25 deck in a few weeks. It's 20yr old wood, on grade, full of splinters and spider crickets. I need to decide on composite vs PVC or even pavers possibly. Any experience here? I figure it will cost a few G's regardless of what I go with.

composite is the wtg. Mentioned i like timbertech with the slot for blind fasteners.
it is available, and 16' lengths if that helps (it could hurt)

pavers are cheap - i'm having a small hardscape area installed (hi-tech!) this spring. really happy with the price.
 
Top Bottom