Here is the finished product, and I'm very satisfied with the results. It feels sturdy to walk on.
I estimate I saved around $1,500 by doing the job myself, but I don't know because I never got an estimate.
There are other parts of the deck that need to be worked on, but they can wait until next year.
A few warts:
I did not end up with the planks looking as nicely as the original carpenter. I can live with a few irregularities.
Some of the screws which I removed broke off at the neck, and when I could I removed them then and there. But some were stubborn, so I left them in. Here I can see that a tiny bit of a screw was sticking out from one of the planks. Each time I moved the plank, I scraped the ones below it. Maybe I will try to sand down these drag marks some day.
I estimate I saved around $1,500 by doing the job myself, but I don't know because I never got an estimate.
There are other parts of the deck that need to be worked on, but they can wait until next year.
A few warts:
I did not end up with the planks looking as nicely as the original carpenter. I can live with a few irregularities.
Some of the screws which I removed broke off at the neck, and when I could I removed them then and there. But some were stubborn, so I left them in. Here I can see that a tiny bit of a screw was sticking out from one of the planks. Each time I moved the plank, I scraped the ones below it. Maybe I will try to sand down these drag marks some day.