Deck Sagging and Rotting

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Here is the finished product, and I'm very satisfied with the results. It feels sturdy to walk on.

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I estimate I saved around $1,500 by doing the job myself, but I don't know because I never got an estimate.

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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.

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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.

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In the end I did decide to use the 6 inch wide Protecto Wrap on the 20 feet of new beam that I installed, plus the 25 feet of old original beam which had not rotted.

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The Protecto Wrap is curious stuff. If you are careless and touch the black side to another part of the black side, it will stick like cement. You have to cut that part away and throw it out. To other things, it will hold either strongly or lightly, or even not at all. To the wood it held moderately.

I decided that the biggest risk to the lizards would be that they might stick to it if they happened to walk on it. So I cut it and pressed it against the wood to minimize that risk. The white side of the wrap isn't sticky at all.

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Neal, I used nails as spacers to help line up the boards. I would not have thought to do that, but the plan you posted for making a jig employs that tactic.

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The peel and stick is good idea but a little expensive, right beside it at the store you could have bought a primer, brush on or spray. More often I would have just stapled it where it wrapped down the side.
That should give a lot more life to the beam, I like it.:)
 
Thanks Slow! I definitely feel very good about the deck! When I used to look out the window, I felt like I had no good options. But now, it's the complete opposite. I fixed what was wrong, and I know that I can deal with future problems myself. This website and everyone responding really helped me. I would not have been able to do it without the support of Neal and everyone else.
 
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