Building the Backyard Deck

Project: Victorian Restoration, Episode 9, Part 1



New pavers are laid down in the driveway outside the barn. Brian Kallmeyer and Nick Pastore (from Unilock) explain how to properly install the stone. Out back, Bob gives Charlie Tomaszewski a hand building a brand new mahogany deck. Upstairs in the main house, veneer plaster is being applied in the bedrooms. Finally, new barn-style doors are installed in the converted dairy storage building.
Part 1: Building the Backyard Deck
Bob is in the backyard of the Victorian restoration project house, where general contractor Charlie Tomaszewski is finishing up the picture framing for the mahogany deck. The mahogany will be left unfinished, allowing it to weather and take on a beautiful silvery sheen.

Charlie is working with mahogany in an assortment of lengths. He prefers to space his joints at least 32 inches apart, staggering them by at least two bays. He uses 16-penny spikes as spacers between the boards, as well as between the butt ends of the boards and the picture frame.

To avoid putting dimples into the mahogany, Charlie doesn't hammer the nails all the way in. Instead, he leaves them just on the surface, then uses a nail set to drive them home.
Part 2: Working With Unilock Tumbled Concrete Pavers
Part 3: Patching With Plaster
Part 4: Replacing the Barn Door
Located just five miles from downtown Boston, Bob's scouts discovered a Victorian-era house in a neighborhood of family homes on tree-lined streets that was past due for a full-scale renovation.

The home's new owners, a work-at-home family, have set goals to modernize the home's floor plan, update the building's mechanical and electrical systems, and add home office and work spaces for two busy professionals.

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