Demo Of A Screwed Down Deck.

Greg Di

I may be doing a reskin of a PT deck that's screwed down. I am familiar with the DeckWrecker and Gutster, but was wondering if there was a solution that would remove the boards and screws without destroying the joists or unscrewing every board.

Normally, I demo the whole deck, but in this case it's not necessary.

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buildenterprise

I just start with my 36" spartacus wrecking bar, the screws start snapping after you get the end of the board pried up. Any screws left in the joists after you pull the board will snap with the tap of the hammer. Sometimes it's easier than pulling up nailed decking.

DecksEtc

Once you get the first few boards up, if necessary, you could run your recipricating saw with a long, thin bi-metal blade and cut them off a boad at a time.

I know it sounds kind of slow but I would worry that if you pull them off to hard that you'll ruin the joists.

How big a deck is this anyway?

Bone Saw

last one I reskined that was screwed, I put 3 blades in my skill worm drive, set the depth, put on goggles and cut down every joist, working right to left so as not to go through cut decking, went ok,

Cole

x2 to this method, I have done it and with a helper it can go pretty fast.

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dkillianjr

I am probly missing something, but why three blades at once? More prying room? I must say, a couple blades at a time is a good idea for a quick homemade thin dado blade. Not quite sure if its osha approved though


Dave

dkillianjr

Greg, why not go around and unscrew all that you can first, before you start prying and cutting? But I guess it depends how bad of condition the screws are in, they might just break off easier then come out. I did a small deck a little while ago and was able to get almost every screw out. And they where phillips head!


Dave

redwood

I would at least try to remove the screws with a impact driver. You will know soon enough whether that method will be successful. It's probably faster then all the other methods as well.

When that doesn't work, we use the sawzall method.

Mark

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Mark
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cityboy2977

sawzall and a few wedges is what id do.

mickeyco

I don't do it that often, but I do what might be similar to Bone Saw, although I think he might have been cutting through the screws. I cut as close as possible to the joist on both sides with a circular saw, sawzall for the tight areas. You're left with little blocks on top of the joists when you're done cutting, take a sharp chisel to the end grain of the left over pieces, you're left with just the screws (some break), then cut off, grind off or unscrew the remaining screws, it goes real fast.

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neolitic

Yesss!
And the crap fits a wheel barrow
for hauling to the dumpster

However, I find it better to use
my partners chisel.
Then I don't have to worry about
nicks.

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Cole

You guys are forgetting about being a green contractor.

You are supposed to take boards off, so you can reuse them or give them to someone who will!
































HEHE!

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mickeyco

I wear a green sweat jacket when I do the work.


.

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neolitic

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Bone Saw

funny turn this thread has taken, cause I have spent some time pondering the labor intensity of deck demo/disposal, and just disposal in general, Every project since early 2007 has been a demo/dispose, and long stuff with nails and screws sticking out of it doesnt fit "efficiently" in anything, and isn't handled "efficiently". I have been toying with the idea for the next big demo/rebuild, to omit a dumpster and stage my debris till the end, then bring in a big rental chipper and run everything through it. In theory it just seems like it would be highly efficient in manpower, and dumpster cost, assuming the nails don't ruin the machine.

mickeyco

If you dump treated lumber properly out here you have to pay extra, same thing when I have mill work done on treated lumber, I pay an extra fee for "hazardous" waste disposal (there probably just dumping it in the regular trash).



.

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neolitic

I think it all goes to the incinerator here,
unless it's non-combustible.
Our guys seem to operate on the
"Don't ask, don't tell" policy.
It's construction debris-no masonry,
construction debris-masonry, or
construction debris-mixed.

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redwood

Speaking of Green.

What used to be 10 minutes at the dump is now 2 hours as things get sorted. It has made the dump in my dump trailer, no longer that useful.

Mark

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Los Gatos, CA
www.creative-redwood-designs.com

Greg Di

Thanks for the suggestions, guys.

I will probably unscrew whatever I can first, then sawzall.

What prompted the start of this thread was that I could have sworn I saw an ad or a website for some pretty expensive pry bar that worked with screws. Maybe I imagined it.

Bonesaw do you really stack blades on your circ saw? How many and how does it work? A sidewinder must really struggle.

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buildenterprise

Hey, they're welcome to the deck boards I remove, it'll save me the dump fee! I hate to see the deck they build with them though.....