carpentry, repairs and historic house research in Ipswich, MA
The owners of this house asked me to design something that would make the small back porch more attractive and help hide the propane tank on the left. I installed a combination of matching composite vinyl railings and and picket fence gates from Weatherables. The railings, stair kits and gates come in components with several height and width options, and can be cut to fit the application before assembly.
I build to the DCA-6 Prescriptive Residential Deck Construction Guidelines. This deck has Fiberon Paramount PVC decking, Tiger Claw TC-G Hidden deck fasteners, Royal S4S PVC trimboards and treated railings with black aluminum balusters.
The owners asked me to design and build a new doorway, deck and stairs that would give them access to the rear yard.
For this 18th Century house in Ipswich I built a set of stairs from the deck to the rear patio. Design and construction meet or exceed the International Building Code and the DCA-6 Prescriptive Deck Construction Guidelines.
I replaced a 20-year-old deck that had collapsed under the weight of snow due to faulty construction. The frame had been nailed over the siding without flashing, causing damage to the house as well.
A large deck, 3 season porch, and new portico addition on this house in Topsfield; a deck in Richmond, MA shaped like a grand piano; a white cedar deck in Vermont's Northwest Kingdom; a raised deck and walkway around an above-ground swimming pool in Williamstown.
I used Tiger Claw Hidden Deck Fasteners TC-4 Exotic Hardwoods. With the supplied application tool, you pound the sharp teeth of the fasteners into the side of the deck board, then screws the fastener into the joist.
I picked up some freshly cut locust boards and ran them through my planer, still green and wet, and screwed them to the treated frame, using bar clamps to take out curves. When dry, locust is so hard that it is difficult to work with; my hope was that the boards would stay straight if secured to the frame, and it was an experiment that proved successful.
I built new top and bottom railings in my shop and then installed ¾" x 30" round black balusters attached to internal hidden baluster connectors in the railings, spaced 4 ¾" on center. After all the units were complete, I installed them at the client's location.
Gordon Harris 