Garage-Top Deck

This is a rebuild of a deck atop a strangely built house from the 1970s.  The garage is an addition with and exceptionally low-slope roof -- on the order of 1" every 6'. 


This time I remembered to get "before" pictures.  The house was recently purchased and here are the problems:
1) The railing was exceptionally weak.
2) The stairs were wobbly.
3) The deck was old and rotting (std fir decking).
4) The roof was leaking a bit
5) The east wall of the addition was sided with vinyl, and leaked far too much around the window, causing the chip board wall to rot.

It doesn't show in this picture, but the railing posts were only 2x2s screwed into the end grains of the joists lying on top of the garage, which had begun to rot.

Lotsa weeds growing up out of the deck too.  Many of the boards came up quite easily with a crow bar due to rot of the underlying joists.

After stripping, we found the plywood sheathing to be in excellent shape, with just a bit of staining from previous leaks, but thoroughly sound.

Ready for roofing.

The main house siding was more of a paper product, than a chip board, but the east wall was only vinyl, which is impossible to seal around door and window openings.  And since all for the water on the deck rolls down the side wall, much of it ends up in the wall on the edges of the window. I also found a nice little infestation of insects beneath the vinyl.

Water damage and rot clear through the chip board sheathing and into the garage.

Cancer removed.

And replaced with exterior grade plywood of the proper thickness.

The siding was closest match I could find in size and thickness, but the texture didn't match exactly.
We got the siding and roofing on just in time for a nice 3-day rain that thoroughly tested the new surfaces.  No leaks.  Ready for decking.

The customer chose Silver Maple Trex decking instead of natural wood, mostly for the guaranteed longevity. And it was the right choice.  Looks nice.

Looking down the steps prior to installing the railings.  The customer had small children so a temporary gate was a reminding for the kids not to climb the stairs.

I couldn't think of any sturdier method to install the rails that by bolting a foot-long overlap through the side of the garage structure.  This railing will not weaken quickly.  The customer chose redwood stained slightly redder than natural. 
It's too small a detail to see in this picture, but there is a 1 1/4" drip edge just below the deck that throws the deck runoff away from the wall, instead of letting it all dribble down the surface of the wall.

Solid new stairs with a low railing for the kids.

Solid top stair landing supported by 4x6 posts.

The bit of color makes the house look nice too.

Solid stair railing.

It's almost like a big rooftop crib, or a birds nest, up in the shade of the trees.

With a gate for the youngest ("Charlie Bear").