Sunshine and Sawdust

After a moderate summer, I'm back working and having a blast. I thought I'd share some of my recent sawdust and show you a little of what I've been up to.

This is one of the two spec homes I have been working on. They are within shouting distance of one another, and are being built by the same corporation. The whole arrangement is very clean and very convenient.

The footing forms, waiting for concrete. The shrouded apparatus on the right is my cement mixer; (apparently, a finish carpenter with a cement mixer is a bit of an anomaly.)

Preliminary framing. When you're setting a hundred joist hangers, it's nice to have one of these.

I missed getting any pictures of the completed raw frame. Here is the decking going down. I run the ends wild over the seams...

...and then cut them off later for a nice, clean line.

Most of the decking down.

All of the decking down.

The view to the north. Oakhurst lies beyond the ridge.

Each post is notched and then bolted to the beam with 1/2" x 8" hex bolts.

Preparing to install the skirt boards. The skirt boards wrap the edge of the decking and help create that wonderful "finished" look.

The wild ends cut and the skirt boards applied.

Last Thursday, installing the railing. This was my first all-composite railing. In the past I have always used redwood.

The other side, around the prow.

All that remains is to install the railing cap, install a few remaining post caps, and finish screwing off the decking. I hope you enjoyed seeing the project, because this is the closest I get to "decking the halls."