First, he digs the holes and inserts the forms. When a deck is above grade by more than a couple of feet, Guertin doesn’t pour the footings right away. The cutting jig takes the place of drawing a cut line around all four sides of the post while ensuring a perfect square cut. In order to get a square cut, Guertin has a jig that is similar to his post-holding jig and can be clamped to the post to guide the cut. But a regular circular saw doesn’t have quite enough capacity to cut through a 4x4 post in one pass. Like many deck builders, Guertin runs his 4x4 railing posts a little high when he installs them, then cuts them to height later, using a laser to establish a level line. Guertin uses a second clamp to hold the post tight to the framing while he’s bolting it into place. This allows Guertin to quickly register the post at the right height on the deck frame, rather than trying to eyeball it to a line while fastening it into place. Before installing a rail post, Guertin slides the jig over the post and clamps it in place so that it acts as a stop when he’s positioning the post. One of Guertin’s go-to jigs is his joist-hanger installation tool, which enables him to quickly nail hangers onto a ledger and beam (using a metal-connector nailer) and then drop the joists in place.Īnother helpful aid is a simple post-holding jig, which is basically a hollow box made with scrap plywood or 1-by material that fits around a 4x4 post. Specialty jigs made on site with leftover material can also be used to increase speed and accuracy. If your company installs a lot of PT or tropical-hardwood decking, you’ll need at least one of the various types of deck-board benders and straighteners. Pennsylvania builder Matt Breyer says that his company keeps several different types on hand, including a Demo-Dek ( ) and a Duckbill Deck Wrecker ( ), since each tool works slightly differently and better fits different jobsite conditions. If some deck demolition is involved, it makes sense to supplement your pry bars and digging irons with one (or more) of the various decking removal tools that are on the market. For tight spots, he recommends adding a simple palm nailer to your toolbox. For example, he points out that a metal-connector nailer significantly speeds up the framing process over nailing joist hangers by hand. To a standard assortment of saws, compressors, air tools, and hand tools, he has added an arsenal of specialty tools over the years. Guertin believes that having the right tools for the job is one of the keys to working efficiently. Guertin notes that he can usually get approval in a couple of hours with a set of emailed photos instead of waiting a day or several days for an inspector to come out to the jobsite. Once you’ve gained their trust, many inspectors will allow you to skip some on-site inspections-such as for footing holes, lateral load connectors, and framing details-if you email them good photos that verify the work has been completed. The decking goes in a separate pile, says Guertin.Īnother planning tip from Guertin is to develop a good working relationship with inspectors. If the deck is small and all the materials are delivered at once, he starts with the joist stock on the bottom of the pile, then the ledger stock, and then stacks the post and beam stock on top. He says he coordinates with his lumberyard to ensure that his materials aren’t randomly loaded and delivered-so that he has easy access to the lumber he needs in the sequence he needs it. Stage the Jobįor Mike Guertin, a remodeler and builder in East Greenwich, R.I., working efficiently means starting each job with a planned lumber drop. Last fall, PDB reached out to a number of deck builders to find out their various methods for working more efficiently. For other builders, it might mean closely tracking labor costs to optimize results. For some builders, that means streamlining the framing process, perhaps by standardizing deck sizes or even prefabricating deck packages off site. By figuring out ways to reduce material and labor costs without compromising quality, you can remain competitive. That’s where building efficiently comes in. While they might not understand when you tell them it will cost more to build a high-quality deck in time for their daughter’s wedding or the big company picnic later that summer, they probably will understand when you patiently break it down for them and explain that they have to pick two out of three. You know who I’m talking about: the ones who seemingly demand museum-quality work on a tight schedule, all at a discounted rate. That’s because it’s a great tool-applicable to virtually any line of business-for recognizing and dealing with unrealistic clients. If you’re not familiar with the Fast-Cheap-Good project triangle, you should be.
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