The Garage (What did you work on today?)

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I've been away from the community for a while working on replacing my deck. I feel like I've missed out on a lot and it could be some time before I can get back here to catch up. I hope all of you are doing well. I'll be back soon, I hope.
Deck Project.jpg
 
I've been away from the community for a while working on replacing my deck. I feel like I've missed out on a lot and it could be some time before I can get back here to catch up. I hope all of you are doing well. I'll be back soon, I hope.
View attachment 17019
That’s a beautiful deck you have! As @THil08 would say-you’ve got some big deck energy! 😀
 
I've been away from the community for a while working on replacing my deck. I feel like I've missed out on a lot and it could be some time before I can get back here to catch up. I hope all of you are doing well. I'll be back soon, I hope.
View attachment 17019
What are you using for deck boards? Trex Composite, Wolf PVC, or another brand? Just don’t say wood.
 
I wish my deck was that low when I replaced a few rotten floor joists earlier this year. They really don't make pressure-treated wood like they used to, so I'm with @THil08 on this one. I'd also consider caps or tape to protect the tops of the floor joists.
Yup, use joist butyl tape or sealant. And do a plug system with wolf or trex hidden clip system.
 
Yep, you guys are right. First of all, the original deck was all pressure treated lumber which lasted 38 years (2x6's on 2x8 joists that were 24" on center). The original would not meet code today. Realizing the PT lumber is not what it used to be, my frame is 2x10 joists, 12" oc, each joist taped with butyl tape. The frame will be covered with EPDM roofing bladder which should keep everything below dry and the idea is the PT lumber will be protected from the weather. The decking will be 1" thick x 8" wide Timbertech Advanced PVC, so no worries about deck rot. I will be using the surface plugs to hide the screws. I hope to have vertical stainless steel cable railing. I realize a lot of what I am doing is overkill, but I don't intend to ever have to replace the deck again in my lifetime. Dealing with the heat and humidity lately is really bogging this old man down.
 
Yep, you guys are right. First of all, the original deck was all pressure treated lumber which lasted 38 years (2x6's on 2x8 joists that were 24" on center). The original would not meet code today. Realizing the PT lumber is not what it used to be, my frame is 2x10 joists, 12" oc, each joist taped with butyl tape. The frame will be covered with EPDM roofing bladder which should keep everything below dry and the idea is the PT lumber will be protected from the weather. The decking will be 1" thick x 8" wide Timbertech Advanced PVC, so no worries about deck rot. I will be using the surface plugs to hide the screws. I hope to have vertical stainless steel cable railing. I realize a lot of what I am doing is overkill, but I don't intend to ever have to replace the deck again in my lifetime. Dealing with the heat and humidity lately is really bogging this old man down.
Pace yourself and great choices. If you happen to be getting it inspected (assuming you are NOT) but if you are, make sure cables are tight-they nitpick that from my experience
 
Yep, you guys are right. First of all, the original deck was all pressure treated lumber which lasted 38 years (2x6's on 2x8 joists that were 24" on center). The original would not meet code today. Realizing the PT lumber is not what it used to be, my frame is 2x10 joists, 12" oc, each joist taped with butyl tape. The frame will be covered with EPDM roofing bladder which should keep everything below dry and the idea is the PT lumber will be protected from the weather. The decking will be 1" thick x 8" wide Timbertech Advanced PVC, so no worries about deck rot. I will be using the surface plugs to hide the screws. I hope to have vertical stainless steel cable railing. I realize a lot of what I am doing is overkill, but I don't intend to ever have to replace the deck again in my lifetime. Dealing with the heat and humidity lately is really bogging this old man down.

Good choice on the decking. I installed a good bit of it on various decks and porches when it was under the Azek name. Those little plugs are pretty awesome, but they hurt my OCD to just use them willy-nilly. Obviously, they need to be turned so the plug grain matches the decking grain, but I couldn't bring myself to use a fine-grain plug on a wide-grain board, so I sorted them to best match the decking. Take a break on the deck and hit it hard later this week with the slightly cooler weather.
 
Yep, you guys are right. First of all, the original deck was all pressure treated lumber which lasted 38 years (2x6's on 2x8 joists that were 24" on center). The original would not meet code today. Realizing the PT lumber is not what it used to be, my frame is 2x10 joists, 12" oc, each joist taped with butyl tape. The frame will be covered with EPDM roofing bladder which should keep everything below dry and the idea is the PT lumber will be protected from the weather. The decking will be 1" thick x 8" wide Timbertech Advanced PVC, so no worries about deck rot. I will be using the surface plugs to hide the screws. I hope to have vertical stainless steel cable railing. I realize a lot of what I am doing is overkill, but I don't intend to ever have to replace the deck again in my lifetime. Dealing with the heat and humidity lately is really bogging this old man down.
Timbertech is good. And will out last all of us and our scouts with proper cleaning.
 
Wait, you had to take the bumper off to clean the headlights?
Bumper had to come off to remove the headlights. The original protective UV clearcoat was gone up top, so headlight restoration kits would've just been a very short-term Band-Aid. I re-coated them so they look like new again and should be good for another 100k.
 
Bumper had to come off to remove the headlights. The original protective UV clearcoat was gone up top, so headlight restoration kits would've just been a very short-term Band-Aid. I re-coated them so they look like new again and should be good for another 100k.
Send a pic when you can and what product did you use. Always curious on this issue. Only had one car that I kept long enough to deal with the hazing and traded it in before I needed to recoat them.
 
Quick recap of the process I used:
Wet-sanded the lights to bare plastic to get through the remaining coating using P180 grit, then progressively moved to P2000 grit to remove any scratches from earlier grits.
Cleaned up the lights, wiped them with a tack cloth and sprayed them using SprayMax 2k Headlight Clearcoat
Wet-sanded again to remove any imperfections from my lack of a spray booth, this time up to 5000 grit, then polished and coated with Cerakote.

I didn't take pictures of the process this time, but I did when restored my FJ's headlights.
After initial wet-sanding:
20250420_165614.webp


After clearcoat:
20250420_175830.webp


After wet-sanding the clearcoat to 5000-grit (sorry for the crazy reflections, my garage lights are in a big snowflake pattern):
20250421_174027.webp


After polishing with Sonax and Meguiars, followed with Cerakote:
20250421_180524.webp
 
Quick recap of the process I used:
Wet-sanded the lights to bare plastic to get through the remaining coating using P180 grit, then progressively moved to P2000 grit to remove any scratches from earlier grits.
Cleaned up the lights, wiped them with a tack cloth and sprayed them using SprayMax 2k Headlight Clearcoat
Wet-sanded again to remove any imperfections from my lack of a spray booth, this time up to 5000 grit, then polished and coated with Cerakote.

I didn't take pictures of the process this time, but I did when restored my FJ's headlights.
After initial wet-sanding:
View attachment 17087

After clearcoat:
View attachment 17088

After wet-sanding the clearcoat to 5000-grit (sorry for the crazy reflections, my garage lights are in a big snowflake pattern):
View attachment 17089

After polishing with Sonax and Meguiars, followed with Cerakote:
View attachment 17090
Wow. That’s like night and day!