Happy July Fourth!

Happy Fourth of July!  The plan for today was to get the nine holes for the deck posts dug and go to my sisters for an afternoon party.  A friend from work, who has a tractor with an auger attachment, was going to come at 11 am to dig them for me.  We've got clay soil here with lots of rocks, so the mechanical advantage he can offer is huge!  Unfortunately, with the rain that we are getting today, we decided that it would be best to wait until Sunday to dig the holes.

Since the supplies showed up yesterday, I started prepping for the ledger by cutting away the siding, peeling back the house wrap, and installing ice and snow shield.  The shield will provide a barrier to keep water away from the wood in the house.  While it is not cheap ($70 for a 3'x50' roll), it will serve to preserve the houses woodwork.  We also started to install the ledger boards.  The post holes locations are also laid out and ready for digging.

This deck materials that we'll be using on this deck are:

 - TimberTech Earthwood Decking (Tropical Teak)

 - TimberTech CONCEALoc hidden fasteners

 - TimberTech Radiance Rail (White)

 - Azek Fascia Trim (White) 

I had built a 16' x 20' deck at our last home in NY using the same railing and fascia, but had used Ipe' for the decking material.  I had pre-drilled, countersunk the screws, and then plugged the holes to create a smooth hidden fastener surface.  The result was beautiful but very labor intensive.  The main reason I am not going with the IPE again is not the amount of work to it took to install it but the ongoing maintenance required.  Because IPE is so dense, it did not accept a sealant well and I found I had to reseal it each year for it to retain it's rich dark look.  I wanted something less labor intensive this time, which is why I went with the composite.