Sometimes the notches are buenas (I couldn't resist)

After getting boards down on the big expanses of deck, there’s a frustratingly slow process of filling in the edges, around the rails and bench supports.  I mentioned that this time I was clever(ish) and planned ahead for where I would set the rail posts on the driveway side, placing a 4” wide deck board down temporarily as a place holder 4’ out from the corner of the house, and 8’ out (the corner piece is an odd angle and sides on top of the deck boards, and does not have the tangs sticking out below). 

But the other places, where the supports interrupt the deck boards, there’s a bit of fine carpentry demanded.  Here’s one of the boards already notched, and ready to put in place.  Yes that is an almost empty container of #8 x 3" Coppergard deck screws, which started out holding 800 pieces.  And there's another full one waiting.

And here is the board actually in place.  Sometimes the marking and cutting and chiseling work perfectly, and sometimes they don’t; that tool in the foreground, a Surform, becomes my best friend, as it allows for removing material quickly and accurately without having to go back to the saw station.

This shows the process for the next board that will match the previous one (and yes, you do have to look ahead when setting deck boards, to ensure that you don’t end up with a gap that you can realistically cut a piece to fill: you can’t notch so deeply that there’s not enough continuous board to be able to pick up the piece of wood!).  Here I have cut the notches following my guide marks, and made additional cuts between the marks about every inch or so.  Then I tap out the little blocks with handy chisel (yes, I usually use a mallet, but this chisel has a nice metal head and it’s sort of a beater anyway, so sue me).  A few passes with the Surform to clean up the notches…

...and Voilà.  Pretty cool.  I was accurate enough with my locations and depths that I can put the half-inch plywood spacer-strips in and screw it down!  Yes that is a gnarly know there, but it adds character (like wrinkles).

Tomorrow, corner pieces and maybe some benches!