WoodDance Studio » deck http://wooddance.com Residential remodeling in New Canaan, CT Sat, 02 Jan 2010 04:34:35 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 deck in new canaan http://wooddance.com/2008/07/18/deck-in-new-canaan/ http://wooddance.com/2008/07/18/deck-in-new-canaan/#comments Sat, 19 Jul 2008 01:38:02 +0000 admin http://wooddance.com/?p=37 0716081428.jpg I’m replacing a deck this week. The existing deck has seen it’s share of repairs over the years, half of the remains are clear Redwood. (California!) It needs rebuilding before the house goes on the market.

Challenges always accompany even the most simple and satisfying jobs. Temperatures have been in the 90′s with a blazing sunshine. I’m just about as tan as I’ll get. So dark that in comparison my feet look like snow. That reminds me to mention that I love working in Merrell Chameleon II Gore-Tex® XCR® shoes. These are some heavy duty kicks and I’ve worn them all 4 seasons for years now. It’s dang hot out there but it really makes me feel alive and I reasoned never to complain about the heat. Some challenges aren’t as annoying as others.

My second challenge is one of mental adaptation.
0716081208.jpg

It’s COD for the dumpster. I get a call, the dumpster is delivered but there is no check there. Five minutes away I meet the driver, who I tell; The check is under the dumpster, on top of a bundle of balusters.
I laid 1/2″ plywood on the driveway to protect it. In the middle of the sheets I dropped a bundle of balusters and left the check in a ziplock on top. The driver just backed in, saw the sheets and dropped it.
He squished my balusters~!

home depot balusters

Building a deck is the kind of job I love. I’m completely solo on this project so seeing the progress at the end of each day is very satisfying. I enjoy being outside, working with my hands and the materials and overcoming simple challenges, like dealing with unexpected rot!

]]> http://wooddance.com/2008/07/18/deck-in-new-canaan/feed/ 0 Large deck in Stratford, CT http://wooddance.com/2008/05/21/deck-in-stratford/ http://wooddance.com/2008/05/21/deck-in-stratford/#comments Wed, 21 May 2008 22:54:46 +0000 admin http://wooddance.com/?p=34 I’m building a 16′ X 25′ deck with a screened porch in Stratford, Ct.

Working with a friend to complete this project, it’s coming along nicely.

After demolition of the old deck and passing the footing inspection we got started with the framing. Here are some pictures:
Day 1, Setting the ledger, building beams and setting the posts beneath.
Day 2, Framing the floor joists and adding Simpson strong-ties
Day 3, Installing some decking, finishing framing, Friday clean-up.
Day 4, Finish flooring
Day 5, Build stairs, rim joist, bolt and cut-off beams

Day 6, Ledger for roof, post and beam, template rafter – rain
Day 7, Rafters – 1/2 day – 95°
Day 8, Frame walls and install handrail posts – 99° (roofed)

]]> http://wooddance.com/2008/05/21/deck-in-stratford/feed/ 0 My return to the deck at Springbough http://wooddance.com/2005/04/08/my-return-to-the-deck-at-springbough/ http://wooddance.com/2005/04/08/my-return-to-the-deck-at-springbough/#comments Fri, 08 Apr 2005 14:37:16 +0000 admin http://wooddance.com/2005/04/08/my-return-to-the-deck-at-springbough/ Well, my first repair and alteration to the deck on this Frank Lloyd Wright home lasted a few years and then…
A new owner and a new way of thinking, or is it an old way of thinking? Either way I was hired to demolish my work and restore the original design. Thank Goodness!
This renovation was straight-forward: Have new Mahogany lumber milled for siding and hand-rails, strip my previous work off the cantilever and rebuild it as intended. Since the fiberglass deck surface was in good shape and the framing had been addressed years earlier this time Mahogany was the only material that needed replacement.
The second photo shows me kicking the railings apart. Demolishing work that I have previously spent time and care to construct is nothing new to me. This renovation was just and the result was satisfying.
Now the deck on Frank Lloyd Wright’s Springbough has been restored to the original design and hopefully will last for many many years to come.

]]> http://wooddance.com/2005/04/08/my-return-to-the-deck-at-springbough/feed/ 1 My first Frank Lloyd Wright renovation, rebuilding a rotten deck. http://wooddance.com/2000/12/30/my-first-frank-lloyd-wright-renovation-rebuilding-a-rotten-deck/ http://wooddance.com/2000/12/30/my-first-frank-lloyd-wright-renovation-rebuilding-a-rotten-deck/#comments Sun, 31 Dec 2000 04:50:21 +0000 admin http://wooddance.com/2000/12/30/my-first-frank-lloyd-wright-renovation-rebuilding-a-rotten-deck/ In late 2000, I was hired to renovate a dilapidated deck on a friend’s Frank Lloyd Wright original house here in Connecticut. “Springbough” is no ordinary house and at first sight I knew my work here was going to be both challenging and gratifying.
Presented here is a backdated post to the time when the work was completed by WoodDance Studio. This is a long story as the deck was again remodeled in 2006, but I don’t want to give away the story just yet so read now about my first job on a Frank Lloyd Wright and the beginning of a six year relationship with a very interesting home.

Each Frank Lloyd Wright home was custom designed for it’s owner and given their name. This one is the Frank S. Sanders house, situated on rolling rock-covered hills, here in Stamford, Connecticut. Built in 1952 the Sanders house sits atop on a brick foundation rising from a large rock base and features a large cantilevered balcony and deck.

The first gallery photos show the condition I found this beautiful but damaged home when I arrived there in July of 2000. I snapped pictures of the entire house, it’s features, interior spaces and landscape and then spent some time with the client to discern her desire for the deck space. The homeowner at the time did not want me to ‘fix’ the damage and ‘restore’ the deck. She wanted me to change it. It was my job to come up with a different design that would allow her to view the forested property while seated on the deck and to built an enclosed screened-in area on that portion of the famous cantilevered deck!

We came up with a design which stole elements from the interior and cut up the old deck. I found a weakened structure; rusted steel beams and a flitch plate that was no longer attached to the now completely rotted 2″ x 12″ framing.

Some temporary supports then steel work and reframing and the deck was ready to be rebuilt. After extensive research on sail cloth flooring, which is canvas cloth pressed into lead-based paint, we agreed on a fiberglass floor.
I hired a boat builder to fiberglass the new deck. Accommodations were made for an ultra smooth and sound subfloor and the glass was applied. Custom made mahogany siding and rails were manufactured in N.Y. state and shipped to the jobsite by late September 2000.

Changing the design of an FLW original is an absurd idea considering the appreciation and few lasting examples of such an inspirational Architect but we did it, for better or worse. The alterations in style were to accommodate a functionality (over form) for the client. In that sense it was in keeping with a designed-for-the-user aspect.

One change to the construction of this deck I affected positively was the milling of the mahogany siding for use on the inside faces of the deck walls. The original boards sat one on top of the other with no lap joint. They were butt joined and since each board steps up and sits in, each left an exposed shelf which collected water. Without anything to stop it, the water would run behind each board and down the inside, eventually destroying the infrastructure. I manufactured a ship-lap joint for those boards and they haven’t leaked since.

The new screened in porch, railings and beautifully colored mahogany siding lasted without signs of wear until 2006 when I was hired to demolish all of this work and rebuild the original deck!

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