Thread: Checking in

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At least for now I've got the last of the big outside projects on the new house finished up.

The gutters were hung a couple of weeks after the carport was finished and I got started on the deck. For some damn reason I decided I wanted to build my own deck (boy am I over that now )

z done by M Patterson, on Flickr



The deck is just under 30" tall so I didn't require a permit or inspections. I wanted something that would outlast me and Donna and as close to maintenance free as possible so this is what I came up with.

I used pressure treated lumber for the framing and the layout is pretty conventional.


deck 1 by M Patterson, on Flickr



I spent quite a bit of time figuring out what to do for the deck surface when I was planning this out last summer. I didn't want real wood because of the maintenance requirements. I found out that composites don't hold up all that well in the South West and the other down side is their tendency to retain heat. I looked at aluminum decking systems and they showed a lot of promise but they are pretty pricey especially when you added shipping (I couldn't any local dealers).

Reading about the aluminum decking did give me an idea however, so I decided to experiment a bit. I had some aluminum sheeting laying around so I set it out in the sun to see how hot it would get ....oh yeah it got pretty warm but when it was covered with a light colored bed liner it really it was actually just a bit cooler than dark painted wood......and it cooled considerable quicker than the wood did.


The results were promising enough I went ahead and picked up 3 sheets of 4' X 10' X 1/8" sheet aluminum. I've been using linerxtreeme bed liner for about 15 years now and have had good luck with it so I ordered enough to cover the aluminum panels. I chose light grey for color and it actually comes real close to matching the color of the house.


I used 3/4" plywood as a sub flooring under the aluminum and after priming the aluminum sprayed on the bed liner (without the "grit" added so that it would be a smooth surface). The deck flooring has been on a couple of weeks now and I am really pleased with it. Yeah it gets hot in direct sunlight but any decking material would.........besides in the summer in AZ you don't want to be outside if you can help it anyway. I cools off very quickly when the sun either goes behind the house (about 4PM) or it clouds up. Within 5 minutes of being out of direct sunlight it's cool enough to stand on in bare feet.


I was actually doing pretty good on the budget clear up till I started pricing the deck railing. I had actually originally planned on just running 3 rails around the deck for railing. After reading the codes, it turns out that as the deck in under 30" tall I actually don't need to have railings at all BUT if I did add a railing it has to meet code....... which requires balusters spaced no more than 4" apart. If I was further away from town or if the deck was on the back of the house I'd probably just do the 3 rails and take my chances. Unfortunately there is a fair amount of new construction down the road that runs in front of the house and with the construction comes county inspectors going to the job sites. I decided not to press my luck and went ahead and did the railing to code. Naturally after pricing the premade railing I elected to just buy the parts and build my own.


z railing by M Patterson, on Flickr


That left the stairs. As woods not my favorite material to work with and wanting something that will last I decided to build the stair framing out of steel. It's amazing how much steel gets eaten up on a project like this.

z stairs (2) by M Patterson, on Flickr



2 X lumber is inserted in the steps and topped with 1/8” aluminum diamond plate for the treads.

With the deck done I was able to move my 25 piece patio set over;

2 chairs
1 glider
2 tables
2 ash trays
18 beers


z patio set by M Patterson, on Flickr



24 piece

23 piece

22 piece

21 piece


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Looks fantastic, Mike! Very creative..

that looks really nice

That's a novel idea using aluminium as decking; I would never have thought of that.
And its come up very nicely too!
Good thinking; top marks that man!

bet you have to where sun glasses going up and down those stairs! I drove behind a guy with his tail gate down. He had covered his bed in shinny diamond plate. Even his tool box under the rear window, It was blinding in the bright summer light!

I’m pretty happy with it…….I’ve always liked sitting outside drinking my coffee just before sun-up and watching the world wake up. Evenings are kind of nice too.

It’s nice to have my shop office back. I bought the glider, rocking chair and 2 tables last year (the all red chair is an original from the 50s that I’ve had for years) and they’ve been taking up space in the shop since.

“……bet you have to where sun glasses going up and down those stairs!......”

When I was building them I was afraid that might be the case. I did a truck bed and my open motorcycle trailer in aluminum diamond plate and when it’s new it can be blinding if the sun hits it right. Fortunately the sun is at an angle this time of year where it’s not a problem. My experience with it is when it’s out in the elements it tends to oxide pretty quickly so I don’t think there is going to be an issue with it.



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Followed a guy with a polished stainless steel cap on the tailgate of a late '50 Cameo pickup. When the sun hit just right it was like a plasma cutter to the eyes! I followed him into the Sonic Drive-in and complemented him on his truck and mentioned the bright reflection from the tailgate cap and he was stunned, "Hmm, hadn't thought of that but may keep people from tailgating me..."

Wow that looks fantastic Mike and nice outside the box thinking. I shared your idea with some co-workers the other day!

O.K. Mike now that the house is done, how about the shop and car coral?

“…….O.K. Mike now that the house is done, how about the shop and car coral?......”


Oh but it’s never done. I’ve been building some furniture the last couple of months. Let me say up front I HATE working with wood, but I can do a passable job.

We wanted a larger end table to go between the 2 chairs in the living room with enough room for Donna and I to share. Of course we couldn’t find anything we liked so into town to buy another pile of boards. I ended up building this which matches the entertainment center I built. It’s wide enough for us both of us to store our laptops on the bottom shelf and a drawer on each side for remotes and misc junk.


End Table by M Patterson, on Flickr


Any kind of storage in the new house is at a premium so I also decided to build a blanket chest to go at the foot of the bed I built a few years back. I wanted it to fit in with the rest of the bedroom furniture which had been passed down thru the family so I kept the design pretty simple.


1 Chest by M Patterson, on Flickr



2 chest by M Patterson, on Flickr


Of course just building the chest wasn’t aggravating enough so I decided to abuse myself a bit more and ended up lining it with cedar.


3 Chest by M Patterson, on Flickr


I’ve got to admit though the cedar smell when you open it up is pretty pleasant and reminds me of growing up when cedar (hope chests) and cedar lined drawers were a lot more common.




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Looks pretty passable to me! Nice job!

Very nice work on it all! That deck looks so nice but those stairs are great! That chest is very nice. I can smell that fresh cut cedar now!

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".......I can smell that fresh cut cedar now!......"

So can I. The area in the shop where I did the cutting and fitting still smells like a cedar chest.


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What's really nice about cedar is years later when the smell goes away you can lightly sand it and its back again. we just did 2 of our closets after 24 years smells just like it did then

The move into the new house has been moved up.

Most of our stuff is now in and hopefully the last of it will be done by the end of next weekend.

The big change in plans is being done mostly because of my granddaughter. She’s normally a B+ student but is really struggling with the on-line learning…..it’s currently 100% on line now but at the end of fall break (the 19th) they will be going to 2 day a week in class which will still probably be an struggle for her. When they move over she’ll be in a different district and they are already going 5 days a week. The youngest grandson is doing great with the on line stuff and he will continue that for the rest of the school year. Cade is doing Cade…he’s got in class 2 days a week and that will be picking up to 5 days on the 19th. Hopefully he’ll be able to scrape enough credits to get his diploma this spring.

My daughter already has a renter lined up for her house so she’ll be able to keep up with the mortgage payments on that.

Anyway I had to figure out what to do with the car junk I collected over the years (not enough room in the new house). I did some re-arranging out in the shop and it all ended up around the desk in the shop office.


office by M Patterson, on Flickr


I even went ahead and framed up the bag of dash plaques to display them.

Dash Plaques by M Patterson, on Flickr


One of my favorites is the ticket cup. Every ticket, warning, fix-it order etc from the time I got my learners permit is in there (and it is REALLY full). This is the “Cade do as I say not as I did” conversation piece. Oh well as they say bad decisions make good stories.


ticket cup by M Patterson, on Flickr

The new house will not be a completely “automotive free zone”. This arrived in the mail today. My Sister runs a quilting business from her house and made this for me out of all those Car Show and Bike Run T-shirts that had been taking up space in the closet. She had been working on it off and on for the last year or so and I’m really pleased with it.

quilt by M Patterson, on Flickr


Well back to packing up stuff for storage.


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