# Not Going There Again



## Nowthatumentionit (Aug 8, 2020)

Once again I found myself tearing apart the back stoop off our garage where too much water pounding down from the roof had taken its toll; my 2011 re-do didn’t last 10 years. Our fault for waiting too long to add guttering and water deflection, which we’ve since done. Regardless, it was time to head in a new direction…as in composite decking instead of PT lumber.








Started by treating the new stringers with a YouTube potion of motor oil and diesel fuel and wrapping the lower parts with window flashing. Then discovered, unlike its 1 1/2” thick pressured treated counterpart decking, which was sturdy at 24” on center, composite decking, which is only an inch thick, requires 16” on center or the steps will sag. Instead of bracing, I added a 4th and 5th stringer at 12” on center.








Finally I milled and pre-fabbed a stretch of zig-zag 3/4" PVC trim to cover the decking’s scalloped end grain and transition to some siding cut from 1/2” sheet PVC to cover the exposed, outer stringer.








A much cleaner look and talk about sturdy. Doesn’t budge. Now to dress up the support post and re-do the landscaping and stonework.


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## difalkner (Nov 27, 2011)

Nice and clean work on that - good job!


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## Nowthatumentionit (Aug 8, 2020)

*UPDATE: *Well, the post needed a lot more than plastic (PVC) surgery. Unprotected, even the old arsenic laced PT wood can take just so much abuse. Thank goodness looks can be deceiving. Dried it out in the sun, scraped off the rot, treated the wood with preservative, then slathered it with epoxy and, THEN, wrapped it in PVC wood. I was still left with about 80% of solid wood at the base, and I could barely drive a screw into the spots where it looked too far gone. That's the original cement paver still playing footer all these years later. If the post lasted this long with no protection (35 years), no telling out much longer it’ll last now. Time to landscape and call this a wrap ... no pun intended.


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## phaelax (Dec 24, 2018)

I'm currently building a new deck, like 24' wide, but had learned a few things from research in the process. As you said composite decking requires 16" OC, but if you ran the boards diagonally across the joists they'd have to be 12" OC. Just a little extra info to toss out there for anyone doing a deck in the future. I stuck with 2x6 lumber for my boards because it was still cheaper than composite, surprisingly. I needed over 300sqft.

Your end result looks nice. I'm surprised your house had no gutters, can't imagine what it's doing to your foundation.


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## Nowthatumentionit (Aug 8, 2020)

phaelax said:


> I'm currently building a new deck, like 24' wide, but had learned a few things from research in the process. As you said composite decking requires 16" OC, but if you ran the boards diagonally across the joists they'd have to be 12" OC. Just a little extra info to toss out there for anyone doing a deck in the future. I stuck with 2x6 lumber for my boards because it was still cheaper than composite, surprisingly. I needed over 300sqft.
> 
> Your end result looks nice. I'm surprised your house had no gutters, can't imagine what it's doing to your foundation.


Perfectamente. I wouldn't have even thought about that if you hadn't mentioned it. Thanks. EDIT: Forgot to say guttering went up 5 years ago.


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## Nowthatumentionit (Aug 8, 2020)

difalkner said:


> Nice and clean work on that - good job!


UPDATE: Landscaping in and those cotton-pic-kin' drainage issues in the rearview mirror once and for all, thank friggin' goodness. Since I'm a woodworker, not a landscaper, I left the job to the pros. My only contribution was to design the simple, minimalist look we wanted. I have to hand it to these guys; they made quick work of the chore, in and out in an hour and a half.


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