Today was all about the fascia.
I started off the morning using the planer to shave down a couple of the joists where they meet the new rim joist. I want to make sure the connection is as level as possible for the picture frame boards that will be lying on top of them. While I did that work, Michelle put the finishing touches of paint on the post and beams. The low voltage lights we installed at the base of the post are going to look awesome!
The rest of the day was spent getting ready to install the fascia. The first step was to line up the boards in the pattern that we plan to use. See below for what we decided upon.
The top board, the one that is the widest and also the shortest in the photo isn't the actual board itself. The real one was already cut and out in the front yard and I was too lazy to go get it so I can take a photo.
The next step was to measure out how long each board needs to be. Because the fascia is covering the slope of the deck, each board is its own length. After we figured that out, I then used the chop saw to cut a 45° angle on one side of each board. This way whentwo boards meet in the corner they'll have a nice beveled look. Michelle treated the ends of the boards with the white base coat paint.
after that, I put together a sample bracket and support post that will be used to connect the fascia to the deck itself. This again involves some custom cutting because each support post needs to be a different length corresponding to where the dirts at. I test fit the metal brackets and realized that half of them needed to have an extra hole drilled in them. Once I took care of that, we spray painted the brackets again just to keep them from rusting. We also painted the support posts a camouflage dark brown so that once they're installed, they won't take away from the fascia itself.
Everything should be good to go for the final install tomorrow. I'm hoping by the end of the day tomorrow to have the facia completed and the final electrical work done.
The day after that, we will began to sort, sand, and stain our deck wood in preparation for final install.
