How to Clean Stainless Steel Pots and Pans

Hey guys , my name is Bart .

In this video .

I'm gonna show you guys exactly how I built this low level deck and cover it with composite decking .

We're gonna talk about how to lay it out .

So your deck is actually square , the framing of the structure and the decking material , how to install it .

But first , let me show you why we're building this deck because it came from a need .

Not a one .

You guys all understand in a second .

Oh , again , four .

Hey , you see this .

Why do you always have to poop right outside the door ?

You know what I'm gonna do ?

I'm gonna build a deck all through here .

He doesn't care .

Anyways , we're gonna build a deck right in front of the door .

So he has to find a new pooping spot .

Welcome to the Kmart Project .

This is all your fault .

Are you gonna clean this up ?

Right .

So this is the back of our suburban home .

Nothing special about it .

Just a rectangular building , but we're going to be given it a huge transformation by adding a large composite deck that's gonna give us years of maintenance , free enjoyment in the backyard .

The plan is to have it framed with traditional pressure treated lumber and deck , it with composite decking from tracks to start the prep work .

I want to make sure that no weeds actually grow through the deck .

So I use the grass killer to spray the lawn area where the deck is going to be .

Next .

I needed a layout of the mentions for the deck and somehow I lost the footage of the actual layout .

So I'm gonna be breaking down the process on a smaller scale for you guys .

But this is exactly the same thing that I did .

So I know I want my deck to be 18 by 24 ft and to help make sure it's square and to mark the location of my post , I made a couple of bat boards and all this is is just a couple of pieces of scrap wood that you screw together into a U shape and then later pound it into the ground and you're gonna need eight of these batting boards to help with the layout .

So after you get them all put together , you hammer them into the ground around where the deck is going to be two on each corner , making an L shape , then you can tie four pieces of string to the batons that are facing each other .

And what this does is it allows you to move the string from side to side to make sure that your deck is square .

And to check for a square of a rectangle or a square , you measure from corner to corner across the rectangle and again , on opposite corners .

If your measurements are exactly the same , you're good , you're square .

If not , you can just adjust the string left or right until you get the same exact measurement from corner to corner .

Then using the string as a reference , I spray painted the location of the corners for the deck and all my post locations .

Next came the exhausting task of digging all the post holes .

And to help with that , I rented a gas .

This is one of those tools that if you're building a large deck like I am , it is absolutely indispensable .

We live right outside of Chicago so our windows can be pretty cold and our required hole depth is 42 inches deep .

So hand digging , all these holes would be backbreaking .

Now , before starting a project like this , I would definitely call Julie and check all your local codes .

Also contacting your local building department may save you lots of headaches and structural mistakes before you start .

Next , I needed to pour the concrete from my frost footings .

A frost footing is a chunk of concrete , no less than six inches thick that your post sits on inside the hole .

It also needs to sit below the frost line .

So my actual whole depth was 48 inches I'm using about a third of a bag per post and then I just add some water and mix it directly in the hold , stop it .

I know what you guys are thinking .

Not cool .

That sounds good .

Ok , I'm done with the frost footings .

It's 10 o'clock at night , but at least tomorrow I'm gonna be able to start framing , put my post in and build in the deck .

Oh , glory days for my posts .

I'm using 10 ft treated four by four posts that I couldn't have .

This way .

I don't have to worry about calculating the height right now and it leaves me with plenty of posts to work .

And once my deck is completely framed , I can trim them to the height of the deck .

You guys will see a little bit later .

What I mean ?

Next , I set my posts in the holes , using the string from the batting boards as a reference .

Make sure they are plumped with a post level back , fill them with dirt and pack them down really well .

With the back end of a post utility bar , I'll have a link to it and all the tools and materials I used on this built in the description below .