For example, the old deck, shown in this photo shortly after demolition started, shows the heat pumps on the far right, and the deck within arms’ reach:

Old deck, from pool to garage.

In the new deck, we dedicated one gate to each heat pump; in the following view, each gate opens right-to-left and into the deck, such that the person servicing the units can easily walk toward the garage, located at the upper-right in the following photo:

New deck, from pool to garage.

The previous photo also shows a 100 square-foot landing area on the bottom deck section. The set of stairs visible to the near side opens into the backyard area; at the far end, another set of stairs leads to the patio, under the deck extension shown at the top-left in the photo above.

This next photo shows the stairway access from just outside the kitchen area, down to the pool area:

Stairway from kitchen to pool area.

At the far South end of the deck, another stairway leads from the living room area to the pool:

Two stairs to pool area.

A nice detail in the next photo, also shown in the photo above, is the enclosed back side of the stairway from the kitchen to pool-side. It was important to do this, as this “finishes” the stairs, as viewed from the patio area:

Enclosed back of stairs.

Earlier I mentioned the access gates to the heat pumps. The following photo shows the gates, one in front of each heat pump – from the deck, each gate opens toward the deck, left-to-right, leaving the deck unobstructed to run to the driveway to retrieve needed tools:

Gates in new section, in front of heat pumps.

I made the gates, using mortise & tenon joinery created on the Leigh FMT jig. To minimize the risk of water damaging the end grain, I designed the rails to extend the entire width of the gates, and used drawboring to maximize the life of the gates outdoors:

Detail of gate latch, and drawboring on mortise & tenon.

For smooth operation of the gates I selected the largest heavy-duty hinges I could find at the home building store:

Huge hinges on gates.

The actual deck build phase ended yesterday. All that remains is the installation of lattice on the North side of the deck, to minimize the build-up of leaves under the more inaccessible portions of the deck. The lattice will be installed over ½-inch “rabbit hutch” wire mesh, to further reduce leaves.

As we have started using the deck, we have found that access to all areas of the pool and to the rest of the backyard is key to enjoyment of the surrounding pool and yard area.

— Al Navas

As I write this it is Monday, September 6 (the Labor Day holiday in the U.S., for my readers in the rest of the world); it is also the two-month mark since starting the “refurbish” of the old deck. If you follow the blog, you have read several articles about the findings early on; the deck truly needed a complete rebuild. And if you have just started reading the blog, you can catch up quickly, as this article and a few short ones in the next few days will give you complete details of what has transpired.

As work started, we learned that total replacement was needed; the damage to the structural members and much of the flooring was extreme.

Today I can summarize the deck condition in the following two photos. First, looking toward the Northwest, and showing a bit of the stairway at the extreme South end:

Looking toward the Northwest.

The following photo shows deck with a little detail of the extension just outside the kitchen and over the patio just outside the Family Room; in the upper level, making the turn, and heading straight West, is the wrap-around deck that goes toward the garage, and ends just past the mud room door; and a lower, stepped deck, starting in a huge landing at the pool area, and ending just outside the garage:

Looking West.

In the next two or three articles I will describe each part of this 1,600-square foot (approximate area) deck in detail. As we prepared for this work, I read on the Internet as much as I could, in the two weeks leading to awarding the contract. I will discuss details of the work, and will also publish photos, hoping that our deck replacement will help someone else who is right now also considering doing the same thing.

Dave and Bill have done an outstanding job. I will be glad to provide a written recommendation, if anyone in the region is interested in using their services.

A couple of teasers (the last two photos in the following gallery):

— Al Navas

The little chapel used to be a plain, ordinary room in the Rectory; but two parishioners led the renovation project and created a wonderful place of worship, with the help of volunteer parishioners, who are also carpenters. The walls were modified somewhat by the carpenters; and the leaders, artists in their own right, “antiqued” the room and also created a wonderful window illusion, where Fr. T placed an old crucifix:

The altar in place at the chapel.

The tabernacle door is a very old door that Fr. T rescued from another church. As part of the project, we built a box to hold the door.

I included the corner shot above, to allow visual comparison with the computer rendition I created using eCabinet Systems software:

Final design - dimensions were obtained from this model.

A photo of the altar in the sanctuary — the small table on the right will be used to hold the cruets used during mass, and a missal in the center shelf:

Front view of altar in the chapel.

Due to difficulty getting proper exposure, I had to get a close-up to show the detail of the characters placed on the raised panels — Chi-Rho in the center panel, Alpha (the Beginning) in the left panel, and Omega (the End) in the right panel. The following photo also shows a little more detail of the gradines (the long, short boxes on either side of the tabernacle), the altar stone inlaid in the mensa (altar top), and the door detail of the tabernacle:

Detail of top portion of altar.

I carved the characters in the shop (maybe “shaped” is a more appropriate word?):

Symbols as work-in-progress.

The characters were finished in a lighter color than the altar base, to provide contrast; depending on how the brain perceives the characters, sometimes they appear as low-relief carvings, and other times they appear as onlays, which they are:

Symbols, with finish applied -- attached to panels.

I snapped the following while in the shop, as a work-in-progress (the wood is lyptus):

Altar base cabinet in progress.

As I have received requests for the dimensions, I include the following measured sketches for anyone wishing to use them to build their own altar (extracted from the eCabinets software):

Dimensions obtained from the computer model - front view.

The side view dimensions:

Dimensions, side view.

Our daughter was involved in the fund raising activities that funded this project. All parishioners involved in the fund raiser will be invited to attend a function in the near future, to view the new chapel in the Rectory. Already plans are in place for Brother A., currently living in the Rectory, to sew new cloths for the altar.

I thank Dan, my partner in this job, for his help in building this project in his shop. This was such a huge project, I would not have been able handle it alone in my shop.

I also thank Fr. T for placing his confidence in me to design the new altar, and for giving us the opportunity to make it a reality.

— Al Navas

The instructors for Woodworking in America 2010.

Sandy and I have been extremely fortunate to attend all conferences to date. We are planning to attend this one — I am looking forward to seeing all the action! I hope to be able to share some video highlights once again.

You can read all the articles I have written about previous conferences at this link.

— Al Navas

Disclosure: Leigh is one of my sponsors; I am never paid for promoting the use of their products. I sometimes receive tools, for evaluation purposes. I never receive or accept cash, or any other form of payment, from Leigh or any other of my sponsors, for the reviews I do.

I want to share the announcement, because it might save you a little cash — the price increase is effective September 1, 2010:

Super Jig 12″ Dovetail Jig: The 12 ” Super Jig list price will increase to $275 from $259

Super Jig 18″ Dovetail Jig: The 18″ Super Jig list price will increase to $375 from $359

Super FMT Mortise & Tenon Jig: The Super FMT Jig list price will increase to $499 from $449

FMT Pro Mortise & Tenon Jig: The FMT Pro Mortise & Tenon Jig list price will increase to $989 from $929

In the announcement, Leigh stated:

Fortunately, we have been able to hold our prices steady on 95% of our product line for the Fall 2010 season. However, the US and Canadian list price of the following four products will increase effective September 1, 2010.

If you have been on the fence about buying one of the jigs, now might be the time to do it. I have been a very happy user of several of the Leigh jigs for many years; they are an essential part of work in my shop.

Request: If you buy one of the jigs, take the time to learn its use. Have plenty scrap on hand, and learn the ins and outs — you will be glad to did. However, this might result in dreams about jig setup and use (not bad for critical projects).

— Al Navas

MERRIAM, Kansas (August 10, 2010) The Kansas City Woodworkers Guild, located in Merriam, Kansas and in its 26th year, is making available a course in practical woodworking for the home schooled student.

“We offer home schooled students, 14 years of age and above, a unique opportunity for a hands-on encounter with the application of practical woodworking”, said Clifford Bell, V.P. of the Guild. “Project planning, applied math & science, and problem-solving in the woodshop help the students in all their other classes.”

The 13 week course (three hours, one day a week) focuses on necessary skills, tools, and techniques to introduce the craft of woodworking and furniture making.  The course successfully meets the needs of multiple experience levels in a safe, well equipped, spacious, supportive, and congenial educational environment.  Students will take pride in their accomplishments and gain self esteem.

The classes will be taught by a Certified Industrial Technology Teacher, with 20 years of public school teaching experience. The class emphasis will always be on SAFETY!

This fundamental course stresses the historical development of tools & woodworking machinery, workshop safety, and woodworking skills. Students will gain knowledge in the safe use of hand and power tools, woodworking machines, project planning, problem solving, and applied math and science. Students will experience different types of wood and choose their best application. In this project-oriented course in woodworking, students will be assigned to plan and construct several small and medium sized projects.

The Kansas City Woodworkers’ Guild, with over 345 members, shares with the Kansas City Woodturners Club a 10,000 square foot shop and meeting facility in Merriam, Kansas. For more information about the Kansas City Woodworkers’ Guild visit their website at: www.kcwoodworkersguild.org (email: guild@kcwoodworkersguild.org) or the Home School page at www.kcwoodworkersguild.org/Education/School.htm .

Cliff Bell, Vice President
Kansas City Woodworkers Guild
www.kcwoodworkersguild.org
816-476-2851

The top five winners.

Click here to see the complete results.

— Al Navas

I mentioned in an earlier entry that I have been contributing to the deck build by spraying sealer on all the cedar boards prior to installation. A reader wanted to know if my finishing room is large enough to accommodate 20-foot long deck boards. The short answer is “No”. But I adjust, as the following photo shows:

Spraying the 20-foot long decking cedar boards.

This is my first time using a conversion spray gun on a compressor. Compared to my turbine-driven HVLP spraying system, the conversion gun generates so much overspray, that I wonder if some of the mist has found its way into the swimming pool, 50 yards away. I hope it has not happened! In fairness, however, and for the sake of speed, I have adjusted the air and fluid rates to optimize (read: minimize) the time required to apply the sealer to each decking board.

I will have more photos of the deck in the next week or so. Stay tuned!

— Al Navas

The symbols, to be used as onlays on raised panels.

After (carefully) cutting out the shapes on the scroll saw, and some sanding to remove the blade marks, I used the Proxxon mini-router to round over the edges:

The tools used in final shaping.

Then the serious sanding started. But the results were worth the time, as my client was pleased with the results. The size was perfect (Chi-Rho is 7 inches tall), and shaping, although very simple is pleasing.

Do these qualities come through in the images? I look forward to your comments.

— Al Navas

For this project I partnered with Dan, owner of one of the largest local cabinet shops. There was no way I could handle this one in my shop, especially application of the finish. Dimensions: 72 inches wide, 30 inches deep, and 40 inches tall. One small box will be located between the two shorter boxes now seen on the top. The question is: what is it?

I promise photos of the final item, in its proper location.

— Al Navas