Construction @ Manambe Lavaka

[MattyB]

^{[b]Making Progress}

Now were talkin'

[MattyB]

Almost done.

[Kim]

Looks great, Matt, very solid looking. Did you get the construction connection from gtlevine? Is the deck material that indestructible recycled faux wood stuff?

Plant a couple of palms below; when they are grown you can step onto the deck and into the canopy. (Still preserving your views, of course.)

[bgl]

Matt,

You're making great progress! Next time I'm in San Diego I'll definitely have to stop by and enjoy the view!

Bo-Göran

[MattyB]

Yeah Bo, we'd love to have you.

Kim, one of the companies Steve recommended refered me to Bret Shimkus GC 619-994-4573. He's been great at figuring out how to deal with all the little custom stuff that adding onto the exisiting structure entails. Also, he had experience with supporting houses on stilts before. He designed the whole idea with the 4" x 6"'s so we didn't have to use the angle supports. And yeah, it's Trex or Trek composite decking material onto all pressure treated lumber. Should last a long long time. We reused the old handrails to save money. I had them grit blasted and powder coated at R.W. Little Co. for about $800.

[bgl]

We used Trex for the smaller bridge across our little canyon here, but that was only a few years ago, so too soon to tell how it'll hold up. But, looks promising.

Incidentally, can't help but have visions of the members of the PRA team practicing bungee jumping off your upper deck...!

[MattyB]

I just remembered that you were in one of my dreams last night Bo. I can't remember why but you were staring someone down like you were gonna fight them....cause we all know how violent you are. Wierd!

[Walter John]

That's great Matty, looking good, I bet you are both thrilled.

[DoomsDave]

Wow, great deck!

Hmm. Let's do the hoppity-hop on the Suicide Terrace and see if it really is an improvement . . . . .

[_Keith]

Tear out the greenhouse, put in a swimming pool and it's be perfect.

[Tassie_Troy1971]

The new deck looks great Matt . Whats your next project ? a drip irrigation system for out back !!

[MattyB]

You've got it Tassie! I've got my valves in for two stations, and I just finished the hard part of trenching and burying the PVC lines under the road so I can drive over them. Gotta continue the pvc and then start adding in the flex hose and drip emitters. Exciting. I'm hoping to have 2 stations fully automated by this summer's heat: The Rainforest, and The Fruit Trees.

[paulgila]

where do you live again?

[MattyB]

It is finished...

I got the lower deck put back together. The Kentias make it look nice.

I repainted the paneling while the contractor had the scaffolding still up.

Here's a construction detail of how he decided to do the support posts. The old posts were rotted due to them sitting directly on the concrete footings. Water would pool here and wick up the grain of the wood. So he installed the posts 1" short of the footing, screwed a metal plate to the bottom of the wood to combat any moisture wicking, and dry packed a high PSI mortar underneath it to raise it up. Pretty nifty.

[MattyB]

East Elevation

remember before...

Here it is now.

[MattyB]

Now we can sit out on the deck and enjoy the view of the weeds.

That's it! You'll see it in person if you come to our BBQ this summer.

[freakypalmguy]

Very nice Matteo. Looks like it's ready for a parrrrrrtay.

[realarch]

Been there done that. Feels great to get it done and have it come out looking so nice. Good job.

Tim

[BS Man about Palms]

Hooray!

[MattyB]

yer next bill

[joe_OC]

Did someone say Party & BBQ?!!

[amazondk]

Nice project Mat. The view is great.

dk

[BS Man about Palms]

yer next bill

Just passed my insulation inspection today, Thank you.

[RainForestt Robert]

Congratulations! Like Bill, I to have house that just does not want to get done. I promised my daughter that this year it would be done. Cheeky 7 year old wanted to know which month! The view looks great Matty. Enjoy it.

Rob

[paulgila]

looks so much better with the scaffolding & wood pile gone!

[MattyB]

I told him he could dump it in your driveway dewd.

[amazondk]

Here's a construction detail of how he decided to do the support posts. The old posts were rotted due to them sitting directly on the concrete footings. Water would pool here and wick up the grain of the wood. So he installed the posts 1" short of the footing, screwed a metal plate to the bottom of the wood to combat any moisture wicking, and dry packed a high PSI mortar underneath it to raise it up. Pretty nifty.

[MattyB]

Wow! Thanks for the pic and explaination Don. So that Piquia goes directly in the concrete, no metal risers, ie Simpson/Strong Tie brackets? Must be some tough stuff to handle the moisture of the tropics effervescing through that concrete into the wood. I'd love to see more pics Don.

[amazondk]

Matt,

I will send you some pictures of the project as it gets further along by PM. The wood is so dense thet it does not absorb moisture easily. There is another species, angelim vermelho that we ship to Holland for use in the water works there. They line the canals with this wood, as well as make the canal gates and infrastructure with it. They have to replace it I believe every 20 years, but that does not mean that the wood is bad. They just do it as a precaution. You find fallen trees of the durable woods scattered around the forest that could have been there for maybe 50 years or more and still not rotted. Whereas soft wood species might disappear in a year or two. I have some posts that I had on a lot of mine supporting a water tank that I pulled up because I sold the place. These are of another durable speciesm tanimbuca. I actually cut them directly from a tree. They have worm holes in them from when the tree was alive. There were termites living in colonies on the posts in the holes, but they did not eat any of the wood and the posts where they went in the ground with no concrete were fine. I am going to use them in another project later. Hardwood decking material like ipe is not as resistant for ground contact. But, in a deck it will probably last from 50 to 75 years in your climate if not longer. I believe it will outlast the composit decks like you put in, Not, that the plastic will rot, but it proabably will not be as intact as the ipe in 50 years.

dk

[Walter John]

That is tremendous. Hope to see a pile of Livistonas planted this season. I wish my deck was higher, I can't see anything anymore, just blasted palm trees at every angle.

Matty, another cdee for the bbq ? I have a better guitar, voice is almost there (quit ciggies 2 years ago), new set of tunes, send me some lyrics this time.

[paulgila]

wal this time you gotta be there in person!!!

[MattyB]

yeah a WaLP