Deck Building Logistics

Danno6102

Ok, so I'm still pretty new to the deck building business & just trying to learn some ways to be more efficiency & not kill myself on some tasks. These questions may seem pretty basic, so bear with me.

How do you pour your footings if a concrete truck can't get to them? Do you mix them yourself with a small mixer? Do you huff wheel barrows full back & forth? I looked into renting a concrete pump, but can't seem to find anywhere that rents them. I've called half a dozen places & ones that even googled for "concrete pump rental". No dice!

Next, lumber. Do you buy all your lumber the same lengths or do you spec some 10', 12' & 16' for the project depending on what they will be used for?

Footings. Say you have some 20" & some 12" footings on the same deck. Do you bore all of those with the same auger, say a 24", & then just backfill or do you use different sized augers?

Sorry for the basic questions. Like I said, still new & try to learn from some of the best. Just don't beat me up too much!

Thanks,
Dan

Dan_Watson

Wheel barrow
length specific
all 12's, but I have never needed a 20"

genecarp

every situation is diff, usually its hard to justify the price of a pump for some deck footing, we wheel or mix ourself, depending on terrain,lumber order per job specific, 10s 12s 14s 16s whatever you need, auger size, one size, then hand work, dont of coarse dig deeper, then fill in, terra firma

__________________

neolitic

Danno,
I can only conclude that you aren't
trying very hard.
I just flipped open the Yellow Pages
(the real ones) and there are
six listings under "Concrete Pumping Serv".
At least three of them are on the eastside.
If you don't have them, you really need to get
the AT&T Indy phone books.

As to lumber...
you can't stretch a 12 if you need a 16,
and why ever would you pay for 16 if you only need 10 feet of it?

Personally, I like to leave the dirt around
footings the way the glaciers packed it
if it's at all possible.
Once again, why dig 24"Ø if you only need
12"Ø?
Going the other way, I will sometimes
"bell" the bottom of a 12"Ø to make a 16.

__________________
Put your location in your profile!
(Sorry....it seems there really are dumb questions)

dlcj

Here its not worth calling a truck AND a pump for a yard of mud. They charge more per yard for less than 5 yards and a pump will cost $150 just to come not counting pumping time. We have a small electric mixer we mix quickcrete with (not in the hole). You could rent one. Theres no such thing as a frost line here so we dont have to drill deep footings we just dig them 1'x1'x6" or 2'x2'x1' buy hand. You should probably just use the 12" drill. Order what you need for lumber. Get extra boards not extra length. You can take back uncut boards.

BuiltByMAC

Hey guy, you're not looking for a piece of equipment to rent, you're looking for a company that comes out and pumps the concrete for you. It's two companies if you go that route - a sand & gravel truck with the concrete on board and a pump truck that has a pumper and lengths of hose.
If you're not finding a pumping service in the phone book, call your local sand and gravel company. They oughta know of some pump companies in town - they work with them daily.

Spec out your deck on paper before you order materials. Try to plan your deck layouts to make the best use of existing deck board lengths. No sense in selling a 14' wide deck - you'll burn 2' off every 16' board. Unless you've got benches or planters to add to the job, that's $5-6 lost per board. Upgrade them to 16' or add perimeter boards to 12' decking...make the best use of the sizes available - you get my drift.

With the exception of the Mountaingate monsters, I hand dig most of my holes. I just dig them big enough for the BigFoot/Sonotube footing and backfill around it. I guess my answer would be, dig only enough for the size footing you're placing.

Mac

Danno6102

I was searching for pump rental, not service, that might have been the problem. Have you used one of them before or do you mix or wheel it?

As far as the lumber length, I guess I should have been more specific. Obviously if you only need all 12' joists you wouldn't order all 16'. I guess I was just wondering for ease of ordering & bundling from the yard. Easier to bundle & order if you say (20) 16' instead of (12) 16' (5) 12' & (3) 10'. I figure the excess can be used for blocking etc.

neolitic

You just have to figure your "break-even"
factor.
How long will it take to haul, mix, etc.
How difficult is it to access the site....
We have only had a very few where
pumping was the answer, but those
would have been monumental problems
without the pumper!
(At your age, you also have to consider
that whatever the time to hand mix...
it's all going into your pocket.)

Sure, if the cut-offs will go for blocking, etc.,
but I usually figure in extra joist to allow for
the fact that they will send some material that
is to crappy to use for structure but will still
make decent blocking.
I don't much worry about how the yard will
load and band it...
cause they never worry about loading it
upside down for me!
(No matter how I write my list, or what I say
when I order it, they will make sure that the
first piece I need is on the bottom and the
decking is on top.)

__________________
Put your location in your profile!
(Sorry....it seems there really are dumb questions)

BuiltByMAC

Oh, framing lumber...
Yeah, I sometimes order one or two lengths of pt lumber, regardless of actual layout. The ends can be used as blocking or shorty angles and getting all the same length increases (but doesn't guarantee) your chances of getting lumber that is the same height (pt lumber can vary by as much as 1/2" in height out here - planing the tops or shimming the bottoms takes up time, if I can avoid that, I do!) If you get all your lumber from the same rack, your chances are better.

Mac

Edit to add: Here we go again, Neo! Although you've got the quick fingers this morning! Enjoy the day, hopefully you've got good weather too -

rbsremodeling

there are bags of footer mix/quickset concrete you dump in the footers add water and they set up around the post.

Some times i use my bobcat if it can get through to the area fill the bobcat bucket with the cement and ride it around back. Call the concrete plant and ask them about a pump truck will know who pumps concrete in your area.

I try to by correct lumber size, anything after a 12' here is expensive.

we usually do 12" holes for 4x4 and 24 for 6x6 no one really uses 4x4 anyway though

__________________

neolitic

Yeah, sunny and high 50's
Partner is baby sitting the tile guy
on the job, so I get to spend a day
working on re-organizing and cleaning up
the garage/workshop/warehouse/dump
without starting up a heater!

__________________
Put your location in your profile!
(Sorry....it seems there really are dumb questions)

dlcj

I don't much worry about how the yard will
load and band it...
cause they never worry about loading it
upside down for me!
(No matter how I write my list, or what I say
when I order it, they will make sure that the
first piece I need is on the bottom and the
decking is on top.)[/QUOTE]

aint that the truth
I picked up some lumber for a small 10x14 deck today. I just got it on my truck and i was amazed when the jard help asked if i wanted the 5/4 boards loaded first. To bad i had to tell him i wanted the 14' 2x8s on first so the decking could hold them down in the 6' bed.