When I tear entire wood decks down I usually cut the decking parallel to the joists, in between every joist bay. Then I take down each joist with the decking pieces still attached. Works pretty slick.
But, when I'm just removing the decking and leaving the structure I don't have a usual method. I tend to use whatever method seems to work best for the situation.
Right now I've got a ground level deck where I need to remove just the decking. It is made of rounded over 2x3s set on 45 degrees to the framing, and it is all screwed down. The screws are so old they either snap or strip when you try to remove them. The boards don't pop off easily. Sometimes the screws come out, sometimes they don't. Most often, they don't. If I just go about ripping and tearing, chunks of the 2x10s below come away with the decking.
So, what I've done so far is to cut the decking with my circular saw parallel to the joists down each side of the joists all the way across. This creates a lot of short pieces of decking to gather up (not that big of a deal), but it also leaves all the small chunks with the screws attached to the top of the joists.
I was hoping to take a sawsall and just quickly run across the tops of the joists and be done with it. Unfortunately, it doesn't cut very well. Maybe I've got bad blades, but they seem to have a tough time getting through all of those screws.
What is the best blade for this purpose?
My other option (time consuming) is to bust up the blocks from the sides, splitting them apart, and then snapping all the screw heads off.
Any other suggestions?
But, when I'm just removing the decking and leaving the structure I don't have a usual method. I tend to use whatever method seems to work best for the situation.
Right now I've got a ground level deck where I need to remove just the decking. It is made of rounded over 2x3s set on 45 degrees to the framing, and it is all screwed down. The screws are so old they either snap or strip when you try to remove them. The boards don't pop off easily. Sometimes the screws come out, sometimes they don't. Most often, they don't. If I just go about ripping and tearing, chunks of the 2x10s below come away with the decking.
So, what I've done so far is to cut the decking with my circular saw parallel to the joists down each side of the joists all the way across. This creates a lot of short pieces of decking to gather up (not that big of a deal), but it also leaves all the small chunks with the screws attached to the top of the joists.
I was hoping to take a sawsall and just quickly run across the tops of the joists and be done with it. Unfortunately, it doesn't cut very well. Maybe I've got bad blades, but they seem to have a tough time getting through all of those screws.
What is the best blade for this purpose?
My other option (time consuming) is to bust up the blocks from the sides, splitting them apart, and then snapping all the screw heads off.
Any other suggestions?
