Gulf Island Building.

cocobolo

Before supper, I got started on putting the boards for the infill in place for the stairs up to the MBR.

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cocobolo

I was keeping my beady little eye on the sky, and when this guy started getting close, I decided that discretion was the better part of valor and cleaned everything up and brought the tools inside.

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cocobolo

Right after I got in, I put a thinned coat of varnish on to the new handrail.

Several years ago, I bought 30 goat hair brushes. Until today, they have proved worthless for every finish we have tried.

I thought I might try one with the handrail and let me tell you, it works a treat! The brushes are so soft, and the hair is so fine, that only now have I realised that it needs to be a very thin product that you are applying.

This is only the second coat - thinned at that - and look how nicely it is coming up!

The pic was taken sans flash, 6/10 of a second and hand held! I can't believe it is so clear. Next time I'll use the tripod and remote shutter.

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cocobolo

Happy 4th of July to all my American friends on the chatroom!!! ENJOY!!

cocobolo

Just a small curiosity item...I checked the humidity before I went over to town today, and when I got back, plus again a few minutes ago.

Pretty small variation - only between 63% and 65%. The fact that we are right on the water may keep this reasonably stable.

cocobolo

Last night around 10 pm I sanded and coated the rail again. This morning at 10 am a repeat performance.

I picked up some decent Norton 220 & 320 sandpaper yesterday, far better than brand X. One small piece (1/6 of a sheet) does the whole rail.

I know it's discouraging to see that lovely finish disappear every time you sand between coats, but trust me on this one, it's well worth doing.

This is what Norton 220 looks like with a light hand sanding.

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cocobolo

The deck outside the master bedroom has been awaiting the installation of the posts etc.

The varnish has now dried - 8 coats - and the posts are ready to go - at least those that have been made up. Still have another smaller batch to make.

Here's the first three on the front side of the deck.

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cocobolo

...and just in case Shu tries to convince you that these posts are bent, don't let him kid you. It's just an optical conclusion!

The install procedure goes something like this.

First I go up a ladder and mark off where the center of each of the truss joists coincides with the edge of the deck. This is marked off the width of a post on the front fascia using a level.

Then a yellow cedar spacer is held between the post and the fascia, a center punch is pushed into the drilled holes in the post and hit with a hammer.

Now this is where the person who designed a carpenters' body missed the boat. We should have been born with at least three arms.

Next the punch marks are drilled out, and the post and spacer are held in place again and the top hole is once again marked with the punch.

This hole is drilled to suit the size of lag screw being used, in this case a 3/8" by 4" lag. So about a 9/32" hole is drilled into the end of the truss joist.

The post is now bolted on and plumbed. The bottom hole is punched and drilled and the lower lag installed.

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cocobolo

After all the posts are on, I think it will take about 90 lineal feet of yellow cedar to do the rail. I have that on hand in the form of some architectural grade stock.

The red cedar I will need 300 lineal feet plus, and I'm not sure how much of that I have available.

Several years ago, I did set aside some excellent long red cedar 2 x 4's for this purpose. I have not yet cut it up into strips, but that might be a good project for tomorrow, along with the thicknessing thereof.

I am hoping to be able to find sufficient cedar to make this upper railing extra wide.

jlhaslip

Did you use a fisheye lens to create the delusion of curved posts?

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cocobolo

Nope. Did you see Shu's post? He was ribbing me about the curved posts and called them bent.

They are, in fact, curved.

Just gluing up the last posts now...getting there.

The reason I curved the posts was twofold. I made some similar posts for another deck, and I don't like to do the same thing twice on different houses. Plus, the curves kinda match everything else around here.

Whatever you do, don't go telling everyone that I can't build in a straight line...

cocobolo

I think I have enough posts made up now, two are still in the clamping jigs.

Going to conduct a search through all my many piles of wood here to track down enough red cedar for that railing. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Coat number seven of varnish going on the stair rail in another hour, then I will have to work outside until the surface reaches the point where it is tack free. That's taking about 3 hours with the dryer and thinner added. Lots to do out there.

Very windy this morning, but doesn't look like any rain.

gma2rjc

Those posts look really nice cocobolo.

How wide and how thick are the individual strips? Will you have to give them a coat of varathane every year or two?

cocobolo

Thanks...

The pieces actually vary somewhat. Most of the posts were made up at different times. As I would find some wood suitable for a post, I would glue one up. I only had one jig initially, now there are two.

The yellow cedar is usually around 3/8" by 1 1/2", thinner on the two end posts. The red is about 1/2" - give or take. These last ones I'm gluing up are more consistent.

It won't be Varathane, but varnish...and yes...they will get one coat every year as long as I'm here. In fact, tomorrow I will be doing another coat on the railing on that round deck out the front. If you keep up with the one-coat-a-year rule, the varnish should last many a year.

We missed the varnish coat around the big windows in the master bedroom last year, and it shows. You need to be vigilant with this stuff.

cocobolo

I decided that the screen behind the tub should be stained. Wish I had done that before I nailed all the cedar strips on...it was real fun getting the stain into the narrow gaps in front.

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