Cutting Out Post Holes In Finished Deck

Greg Di

We lay our decking then mark out for posts. Drill four 1/2" holes in the corners and then jigsaw so we can drop the 4x4 through and bolt to the rim.

I'm wondering if there is a faster way to cut 4x4 holes in a deck surface than the way we have been doing them. I thought about a router and template, however I cannot see a router with a big bit wanting to plunge through dense composite without doing it in many multiple light passes. This would be slower than my current method...I think.

Cutting the holes seems to take way too long on some decks. I have to cut 14 tomorrow and am looking to try something new.

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mickeyco

Good question, I can't think of a faster method, I don't think it would be a good application for a router. Could use a 3.5" hole saw and clean up the corners with the jig saw, although I don't think it would be that efficient. Could plunge with a circular saw (would eliminate the need to drill) and clean up with a jig saw, again I don't think it would be to efficient, maybe with a small blade circular saw.


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redwood

Where's that 3 9/16" square chisel when you need it"

Your way is our way, other then I'm not sure that we always drill out all four corners.

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mickeyco

That's the first thing I thought of, a huge mortise chisel bit.

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DavidC

Not sure about the efficiency angle, but we do the circular saw plunge and finish with the saber saw or sawzall. I get a cleaner looking topside that way. My saber saw cuts may wander a bit. You have to be careful not to plunge to deeply and cut outside the line.

Good Luck
Dave

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jeffaah

hmmmm.....I install and block all my post before decking. I never thought of that method as being slow.

Your current method seems efficient. The only thing I can think of would be to use a circ. saw with the smallest blade possible. This would allow the saw to remove more material on the plunge before hitting your layout marks. You'd still have to switch to a jigssaw to finish up so I don't know if this method would be more efficient then your current method.

This is the smallest circ saw I own.....http://www.dkhardware.com/product-15...cular-saw.html

Greg Di

Yeah, I know!

I actually thought about using a 4" hole saw and cleaning up the corners, but it's still slow. I'll stick with the status quo.

Jeffah...I used to set the posts first, but it's WAY faster to run the decking first then go back and cut out for the posts. It allows you to make cleaner edge cuts because the posts aren't in and you don't have to constantly stop to notch boards once you have the layin' mojo going.

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curapa

interesting,.. I always do the posts first. Do you go ahead and add blocking surrounding the post before you run your decking?

Im just not seeing the time savings to cut out the hole after the decking is down. I know the decking goes way faster with no posts in the way but either way, the notches have to be cut and the posts have to be set. It would seem to even itself out to me.

I like to fasten my posts on all four sides and I could see where decking in the way would halter that on a low deck.

Am I missing something?

redwood

I actually do it 3 different ways.

I'll mount the posts that are parallel or perpendicular to the run of decking, prior to decking.

Posts that are at a angle to the decking, I box out for the post and then scribe and cut the decking as I come over those boxes. The posts then go in through the decking.

We never use composite railings out here for some reason, so many times we bolt outside the 2x12 fascia and use our threaded rod technique to lock the posts in. No notching period.

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DecksEtc

I use the 4 holes/jigsaw method Greg. I too wish there was a faster/easier way but I haven't come up with one.

I used to do the posts first but, like you, found that it is much faster setting them after. I find that it makes for a much cleaner cut around the posts making for a nicer looking finished product.

trav007

What about a 4 inch angle grinder with a carbide tooth blade? Seems like you could plunge cut with it and only have a very small amount to clean up with the saber saw.

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mdshunk

I wonder if that e-cut blade in the Fein Multimaster wouldn't do a good job at that?

WarnerConstInc.

I'm thinkin that it sounds like a good reason to go out and get the Festool 1400 plunge router. Not sure if it would work out, but that baby has 1400 watts of power. It does seem like a good excuse to buy something new. I always jig saw it too, but you got me thinking.

Greg Di

No dice. They don't cut very quickly in dense synthetic decking materials. I'll use mine in a pinch to make weird cuts here and there, but it's slow going.

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Greg Di

One slip and it's a multi-thousand dollar mistake to rip out deck board and replace them. Good concept, but too risky for me at 11,000 RPMs!

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mickeyco

Maybe a plate joiner, but those are some expensive blades.

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Greg Di

I don't think it's a wash time-wise. It's faster to run all the decking and then cut the holes.

The posts must be laid out in either case.
Not stopping to notch during decking saves a lot of time and prevents mistakes and maximizes economy of movement. Cutting the holes out after is faster by far, but it's monotonous. With most synthetic railing systems, there is a huge room for inaccuracy because of the post sleeve and trim ring.

We don't as rule, block every post unless there is framing reason to do it. Instead we've switched to liberally applying PL to each post prior to bolting. It's incredibly strong once dry. We can eliminate a lot of cutting and nailing of blocking with the PL. We add 3" screws to the box beam into the joist ends to keep the posts from torquing out the box beam.

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Driftwood

You're making it hard on Your self ! 47 years as a carpenter and have always done all posts 1st. I get to shim if necessary. I'm not AD OR BC !
I'm BP = Before plywood. Wind braces,thrust blocks, 3 boards , max on a joist.

BuiltByMAC

Posts get sleeves n' skirts? cuts can be ugly. Drill one hole in the corner, use a jigsaw blade w/ low tpi, cut out hole, sharp chisel, three hits, clean up three corners.
Change out jigsaw blades when it starts sloggin' through the cuts...

Or... if you're drilling holes in each corner, how about using a sawzall? Bigger blade, more aggressive (faster) cuts, still gonna be ugly as hell but skirts and sleeves hide all. (I've never actually done this - but I install posts first so I'm just tossing out ideas for others to try!!)

Driftwood, I have no idea what you're talking about! Sorry, man, terminology flew right past me...

Mac

Chris G

4 holes? What's wrong with 2 in opposing corners? Using a cordless jigsaw is handy too.

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