Why, yes, he is disassembling the deck. And thereby hangs a tale …
So after several days of interesting progress on the deck, the workers were absent for three or four days. I was going to call today if they weren’t here, but … well, here they are.
They’re pouring the piers to support the deck, which is nice, but …
Okay, it turns out that the city inspector came out before they coudl pour the concrete, to certify that the holes were deep enough (36″, with rebar). While here, the inspector noticed that the interior joists were Douglas fir. “But we require that they be non-porous, treated wood.”
Except, of course, that the fir joists were noted clearly in the blueprints, which the city had accepted without redlining. And, in fact, the codes the city uses don’t require it, either.
Tough noogies, the inspector noted.
The final compromise was that they have to put a tar-vinyl tape on the top surface of the joists (just visible in the picture). Which redoing all the top surface planks.
*sigh*
For what it’s worth, I’d seen that, and been a little worried about it myself. So I’m not entirely sorry to see it happen. But it’s kind of annoying the way it happened …
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It’s really frustrating to watch a contractor do something you know (or suspect) isn’t right. There’s a little Hank Hill in each of us.
Heh. Yeah. The desire to have it done right wars with the impulse to not want to delay things any …