In this video episode of The Handyguys Podcast we showcase some of the features of a freestanding Ipe deck such as lighting, hidden fasteners, Ipe plugs and aluminum balusters.

Some of the things show in this video are

• Ipe Deck completed construction
• Use of beam and joist flashing
• Use of low voltage lighting with concealed wire
• Using a boulder for a landing
• Use of hidden Ipe fasteners
• Use of Ipe Plugs

On this audio podcast the Handyguys discuss Brian’s free-standing deck and Paul’s Vole problems.

How to Build Freestanding Decks

A freestanding deck will have an additional beam near the house and no ledger board. Free-standing was chosen here due to only a small area next to the deck with no cantilever.

There are several advantages to building a deck freestanding, not attached to your house, and few disadvantages. In the podcast we discuss a few points to consider when deciding to build freestanding or not.

Potential for deck failure

The most common point of failure of a deck is the connection to your house. Building a freestanding deck eliminates this potential problem connection.

Deck water damage

When building a deck attached to your house a board, called a ledger board, is attached to the the house to hold up one side of the deck. This board needs to be flashed properly to prevent water from entering the house

House structure

A ledger board cant be attached to some types of house construction. You shouldn’t attach a ledger board to a section of house that is not supported by foundation (called a cantilever). This includes bay windows, bump-outs, fireplace or chimney chases. Deck ledger boards shouldn’t be attached to some types of building materials like stucco, SIPs, i-joists or veneers without special considerations. Sometimes you just want you deck somewhere away from your house, such as next to an above ground pool or spa.

Deck Fasteners When Building a Freestanding Deck

Some types of fasteners, nails, lags, bolts, hardware, hangars, etc will react poorly with some types of pressure treated lumber. The hardware can fail in just a few years. When building freestanding you are not relying on hardware to hold up one end of the deck.

Access

Some codes may require the ledger to be bolted through the house’s rim joist. Sometimes its not possible to gain access to this area due to a finished basement or tight crawl space.

Deck Costs

The cost of building a freestanding may be a wash, or only slightly more expensive. A freestanding deck will require additional footings, an additional beam and additional bracing. When attaching to the house you will need the ledger board, joist hangers and flashing materials. In Handyguy Brian’s case four additional footers and posts were needed and one additional beam.

Deck Codes

When building any deck you should check with your code enforcement officials to determine if a freestanding deck is allowed. Most jurisdictions it is allowed but you should check first.

Deck Performance

“doesn’t it wiggle?” Handyguy Brian’s freestanding deck is still under construction. The framing inspection passed, the deck boards are going down and the cross bracing is installed. There is virtually zero movement of the deck which is about 16′x27′. When the deck boards are installed it will be even more solid.

Check out Brian’s completed freestanding Deck here:

Voles

Paul had a pesky lawn problem this winter. When the snow cover thawed one winter day, Paul noticed that he had a maze of tunnels all over his yard. It look like he had a mole problem. Or was it a vole? Listen to the podcast for details.

In this audio episode of The Handyguys Podcast, Paul continues his discussion about his leaky hot water heater and Brian reveals what material he chose for his deck project.

Temperature and Pressure T&P valves and Expansion tanks

Water Heater, T&P Valve, Expansion Tank

Water heaters all have Temperature and Pressure (T&P) valves, many also have expansion tanks. When a T&P valve leaks, there is a good chance that the expansion tank has failed. Paul presents a simple method for checking your expansion tank to prevent future water leakage. Your expansion tank may not need to be replaced, just recharged. Paul tells us how he recharged his in the podcast.

Ipe Decking

Ipe decking ready to be installed

Brian discusses why he chose Ipe for his deck material, including costs and installation considerations. Ipe is a premium, natural, renewable deck material that is harvested mostly in Brazil and other tropical regions of South America. If you decide to go with Ipe make sure it is responsibly harvested (FSC Certified). Ipe can last, by some reports, 40 years without treatment and 100 years with some maintenance. It is fire resistant, rot resistant, termite resistant and mold resistant! Listen to the podcast for discussion about why Brian chose it.

Check out podcast for further details.

The newest generation of synthetc decking looks much more like real wood and has a much longer warranty.

Synthetic Decking Material and a Fiberon Warranty

The Handyguys begin the show by talking about whats new in Synthetic decking. Composites versus PVC. While composite decking appear to be maintenance free, some manufactured decks become marred with mold, staining and deterioration. There are many newer synthetic decking materials that now have long warranties. One such synthetic decking material, with a 10 year warranty, is Fiberon.

Making the decision to choose a synthetic deck versus a real wood deck can be daunting. What is your budget? What look do you want? Can you be careful about not staining the deck with a dropped hamburger or plate of buttered corn?

Listener Question On New Electrical Outlets

We answered a question from  James  regarding adding outlets to front and back porch and attic.

James wrote us Hi guys, love the podcast. I’ve listened to every one so far.

Quick question for you: We got our house last august, a 3 story, brick Victorian that will be 100 years old next year. It’s in surprisingly good shape, the home inspector thought so, and we agreed with him. Our only problem was the electrical system. They still had some active knob and tube wiring in the home and the insurance company refused to insure it until it was updated. The owners agreed to update it to a 100 amp service, we asked about upgrading it to 200 and we would split the difference, but the electrician wanted $2000 extra so we went with the 100 amp.

Anyway to make a long story short (I know, TOO LATE!) There are 3 places where there’s little or no electricity. 2 of the places are on the front and back porches. There are outlets inside the house where I’d want to place outlets on the outside, and from what I understand from reading online, you just (after turning off the electricity) take the outlet out on the inside, drill a hole to the outside, run the wiring, splice it in, mount the box? Sound about right? What size hole would you recommend? Any other thoughts would be welcome.

Third location is in the attic, there’s a light fixture, basically a bulb hanging from a wire, but no outlets. I wouldn’t be running anything heavy duty up there, beside the light, maybe a fan, radio, and/or my son’s slot car track. I was thinking of mounting a junction box onto the wires to the light fixture and then running some surface mount boxes, one on each end of the attic. Any thoughts on this?

I don’t want to end up on one of your “DIY costly mistakes” episodes, so any help and advice you could give would be greatly appreciated.

Keep up the great work guys!

We discuss Jame’s issue during the show. The one issue James didn’t mention is how much load is on the circuits he wants to extend. If there are not too many outlets on the circuits in question, he can extend the outlets inside the house to he porch as he suggests. A GFCI will be required outside. James could use a surface mount box or a recessed box.

James – Determine if a licensed electrician is required to do the work in your and follow all local codes and permit processes.

For the attic, same issue of not overloading the circuit applies. If you have enough juice, you can certainly add some outlets. However, without more detail about the space (finished or not finished?), it would be difficult for me to provide more explanation. You may need to run wires in conduit if it is exposed to contact/abuse. You may run it by a local electrician to make sure everything is up to snuff.

If James can get a new circuit, wire, back to his new panel then it would be ideal. Same for the porch outlets. Adding a new circuit will ensure you are not overloading anything.

Speaking of GFCIs.

What do you do when retrofitting an older house and the boxes too shallow to fit a GFCI? Well, you could change the box to a bigger one. This can be a challenge when you are trying to avoid damage to plaster, tile or wallpaper. They sell box extenders at the home center. Those box extenders are designed for when you add tile. They are not meant to be seen.

Handyguy Paul found an interesting solution. Extended wall plates. These plates gove you the extra room you need and have a finished look. You can get the in our Amazon Affiliate store.

The Handyguys addressed some methods for adding a GFCI outlet where there is only a shallow electrical box.

This unique, high quality, floor was installed by Handyguy Brian. Listen to the podcast for details.

The Handyguys tackle hard wood flooring.

The Handyguys would like to thank A to Z Exotic Hardwoods for sponsoring this episode. They specialize in procuring the worlds most beautiful woods. With a virtually unlimited palette of colors and figures in native American as well as imported species, they can use the warmth and radiance of real woods to customize your interior projects

Steve asked:

Hey Handyguys… awesome shows.  I am planning to replace my carpets on the first floor of my house with hard wood flooring.  However, when I began to research hard wood flooring I learned that there are many kinds of “hard wood” flooring.  There are laminate floors, pre-finished floors, pre-engineered hardwoods and traditional solid hardwood planks.  And then there are laminate floors that use “fake” wood.  Please let me know what kind of wood flooring I should use on the first floor of my house including the kitchen.

There are many choices in wood flooring especially since resellers are marketing wood from all over the world.

Your floors should be flat, clean and stable before installing hardwood. Listen to the podcast for an overview of the install process.

Let’s define your choices:

Laminate flooring.  Several companies make laminate flooring that is uses particle board (or similar) as a base and then a top layer that is not necessarily wood.  It is made to look like wood.  This flooring is generally put down in sections that are glued or snapped together.

Brian does not like this flooring for reasons that may surprise you. Listen to the podcast to find out why.

Engineered flooring.  This flooring typically uses a plywood base with a layer of real wood on the top.  This wood has some benefits for installation and stability and can have a tough finish.  It can be pricey though.

Traditional Hard wood flooring.  This is typically 3/4″ thick.  You have lots of choices from around the globe.  The installation will require a nailer and you have a choice between non-finished and pre-finished.

So what kind of floor should the handyguy purchase and install? And how do you install it?  Listen to the podcast for our recommendations.

The Handyguys would like to thank A to Z Exotic Hardwoods for sponsoring this episode. The images below are just a few of their customers floors. Click on the banner to visit their site and contact them if you want hardwood floors. Click each image to see a larger view.

Paul Mackie from the Western Red Cedar Lumber Association is our guest on this episode

The Handyguys discuss deck materials with Paul Mackie who represents the Western Red Cedar Lumber Association.  Whether you are interested in Cedar or not, the Handyguys have a great discussion with Mr. Cedar about lumber selection for your new deck.

www.wrcla.org

It is a great time of year to start planning the new deck you hope to build.  There are some great deck planning sites to help you estimate costs and material  such as the design tool at www.wrcla.org.

If you are planning a new deck, you want to check out this podcast.  Mr. Cedar and the Handyguys discuss the basics of Deck materials with a focus on framing materials, ledger boards and various wood decking products.

Mr. Cedar runs down some of your general options for wood decking in order of cost:

• Treated Lumber
• Knotty western red cedar
• Exotic Hardwoods (such as Ipe)

The Handyguys put the second half of the interview on hold for next week. We wrap up by talking about different deck finishes ans stains.

Stains

Deck stains & sealers come in three varieties: transparent sealer, semi-transparent and solid color. The more color (pigment) the stain has the more UV protection it will provide. The less pigment the less UV protection but more of the natural wood will show. Some transparent products have UV inhibitors in the mix. They should provide longer protection.

Do not hesitate to mix things up. How about a deck with a transparent stain on the surface and a solid color railing? That could be an interesting look.

This is part 1 of our interview with Mr. Cedar. Part 2 is next week. You may also want to check out our show from last Spring on Deck care. We may continue to do more posts on decks as our own deck projects progress. Don’t forget to subscribe so you do not miss a show.

The Handyguys discuss decking materials and refinishing your deck.

The weather is starting to get warmer and many of us are thinking about getting outside again to use our decks. If you have a deck, it is time to think about cleaning and refinishing your deck for the summer season. If you don’t have a deck, then you may be thinking about building one. But what material should you use to build that deck?

Most decks are built with pressure treated wood. However there are many alternatives to this common decking material. One of the more popular new materials is composite decking which is sometimes made with recycled plastics and saw dust. The Handyguys discuss their opinions on several kinds of woods and composites, including cedar, red wood, ipe and tiger wood. So whether you are considering composites or Brazilian hard woods, you should check out this podcast.

The other issue that many of us face is refinishing that deck (unless you already have a composite deck). There are a few methods for cleaning and refinishing so check out episode 10 of the Handyguys podcast!

After listening the podcast, see Brian’s finished deck here:

Comments are always welcome. Also, feel free to contact The Handyguys with your DIY or Home Improvement questions.