My 'simple' deck repair turned into a full rebuild after one wrong cut

I figured I could just replace three rotten boards on my back deck last Saturday. Grabbed my circular saw, set the depth wrong by a quarter inch, and sliced right through the main support joist. That one mistake meant I had to pull up the whole section, buy new pressure treated lumber, and spend the entire weekend on it. Ended up costing me an extra $300 and two days I didn't have. Honestly, sometimes a small fix is a trap that leads to a huge job. Anyone else have a tiny error blow up a whole project?

2 comments

2 Comments

schmidt.willow2d ago

Feel like the real trap was using a circular saw for deck board removal. That tool is for straight cuts in new lumber, not careful demo. A cat's paw and a hammer to pull the old nails first would have let you see the full joist. Then you could have used a sawzall to cut just the bad boards. Setting a saw blade depth is always a gamble over existing framing.

wren2172d ago

Forget the blade depth for a second... did you even check for nails or screws before you made that cut? Running a saw blade over a hidden fastener is a sure way to ruin your day and your tool.