Two years ago we had our old wooden deck replaced with composite decking. We have two levels of deck and the lower section is about 12 x 15 feet. For some reason, I never posted about it. Anyway, the contractor used the existing framing to save on the costs. Unfortunately, the framing wasn’t what it should have been so the decking sagged under the weight of our wooden picnic table and grill that we use on that lower section. Not a lot but enough to be concerned about.

I had been thinking of how to fix the sagginess since last summer. So last week, I decided I would beef up the framing on the lower deck before it got too hot out.

I removed the decking in one afternoon. Then I added joist hangers and new 2 x 6 lumber in between the existing joists so the support would be every 12 inches instead of every 24 inches.

The part that took the longest was putting the decking back on. There are special (and of course pricy) brackets that fit into the grooves on the sides of the decking boards so no screws or nails are visible on the top. It’s really neat and clean-looking. The issue was getting the brackets (I added more) and the grooves to line up so the boards would just slide in.

By the time I got to the last board, I discovered that it was too wide. Not getting the boards snugged up as tightly as the original installation was the problem. A fraction of an inch over the span of 30 boards added up. I managed to rip the last board down and get it in place.

I had some uneven stones as a kind of step off the one side but will find* someone (who knows what they are doing) to redo that area with some leftover pavers from another project to make a transition from the grass to the deck.

All in all, this took twice as long to do as I originally planned thought. Plus I was still recovering from that nasty virus. More clean-up is needed but the heavy labor part for me is done…for now.

*I don’t know what it’s like in your neck of the woods but trying to find someone, anyone around here to do work is next to impossible. I know most of the projects/jobs aren’t huge but does no one need money or to work anymore?