CBD's Lenio Custom Harwood Deck & Pergola Work Page

Lenio Custom Hardwood Back Patio Deck & Pergola Work Page

Updated 11 / 15 / 2011

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Here's another projects I've done that show the unique diversity and innovative ideas of what I can do to solve your needs and desires. Even if your needs are different than what is shown here, this shows how I'm able to help brainstorm solutions, design, and fabricate nearly anything you may need, but this is also good advice to have a local Contractor do if you are not within our area of the Great Northwest.

A small 14' X 27' hardwood deck w/cedar pergola

Mike and Meri Lenio are former copper gutter clients from back in 2008 and we had remained friends after that. They arranged for us to return 3 years later to rebuild their back deck with something a little nicer and larger that was not painted wood. You can click on each of these photos to see them much larger. I had personally designed each detail with the client's input:

$16,821.06 for parts and 6 weeks labor

They had their fence replaced by another Contractor, and spent weeks treating it themselves with brushes, so they were now ready for a low maintenance back patio. I suggested we build them an ipe hardwood deck with a lower step around it off to the back yard. They also decided they wanted a fancy pergola over the new patio as well. We treated everything with a 50/50 mix of tung oil and Thompson's Weather Seal, in stead of just thinning the tung oil with mineral spirits. This should give them better UV protection, so it will not gray so fast and retain this nice warm wood look.

First step: getting their shed moved back 12'

There was a Tuff-shed in their back yard right next to the house when they first moved in. It was not in the way, but would make the new deck feel cramped. It had also sunk a few inches lower on the right side by the door. I suggested it would be best to let us make a better foundation and move it away from the house to help open up their back yard a bit for the new patio they wanted us to build.

In stead of just 8 smaller blocks that were used before; we laid out 43 larger blocks and over a hundred bricks in between for support. Then added 45' of treated 2x6 lumber to help spread out the weight evenly. That part ran $1,500 plus the fee for the crane operator of $350. It took several days to prep this area before we were ready for the crane to move it. Once it was ready it took less than an hour to get it moved.

Building the new deck foundation:

I dismantled their old back deck and made a temporary perch next to their back door 2' X 5' w/the old steps moved closer while we worked on the 10 concrete footings. This gave the clients a better idea of what a smaller perch would be like w/steps closer to the house. We mixed 3 bags of premium concrete mix for each of the 10 holes and added a dozen old bricks as solid filler below ground level along with the pier blocks.

We then used these 5 pressure treated 4x6 beams for the substructure covered with this lighter gray aluminum to keep them shielded from the elements, even though we also had treated them with another chemical sealer. Then there is the 250+ feet of 2x6 boards to form the floor joists over that, which were also treated with that sealer.

After that was done we added another 250+ feet of 2x2 boards attached with screws to the top side of each 2x6 floor joist, so we had something to screw the floor board down from underneath, so there would be no exposed fasteners.

We used some 2x4 boards to make the supports for the lower steps that will surround the main patio. We then covered all this with more 6" wide aluminum cap metal.

This deck foundation took about 2 weeks to complete and cost $4,682.30.

Building the cedar pergola:

First there was the 12' pressure treated 4x4 poles as the main post support w/ copper caps over them. I bolted the main cross beams to these poles with 8" long 1/2" carriage bolts. We temporarily tacked on some cross braces to help stabilize these poles while we got on top to assemble the lattice work.

It was built to be 12' X 16' wide and 12' tall for a headroom of just over 10'. I also discussed with the client about adding some angle cut 2x6 cedar boards over the 4x4 poles to make it look better and add some strength.

These 13 2x6 cedar boards had 26 ends to custom cut in a decorative shape the client wanted, which you'll see in these photos. I rounded off the edges with a router, and sanded them smooth. Then I treated all sides of each board with 2 coats of tung oil before installation.

We made 18 U shaped brackets with 32oz copper 8" long to hold the 9 cross beams that are parallel to the house. Those 9 cross beams were secured with 36 stainless steel screws and 72 copper nails.

Now for the Ipe hardwood decking:

It was a challenge to transport, but we managed to find a supply of some good FSC 1x6 ipe boards in 20' and 22' lengths to make this patio as nice as possible with fewer partial boards. We were able to arrange these so about 80% of the decking were continuous boards.

It was very tricky to attach these floor boards from underneath with such low clearance. We had to use special angle drills to pre-drill the screw holes and to set the 600+ stainless steel screws with impact drivers. We did well to get 100 ln' of this deck floor boards fastened down in a day, out of the 809 board feet in all.

I was able to attach the first 2 cover boards with long deck screws from behind. Then I used Gorilla glue to attach the other pair and wrapped these poles with rope over night while the glue set, as you'll see in this right photo below. The railing for the steps are 1.25" type L copper pipe that we sanded down. I had to set my drill press to 31.5 degrees to drill the 44 holes in the cedar 2x4s to receive the ends of each pipe. A total of 55 feet of pipe in all. The hand railing is a very expensive ipe that is specially rounded off.

The rain water still beaded up really well, but it got a bit too wet and cold when we were treating the ipe with tung oil and it seemed to get a bit cloudy and waxy looking, so we had to spend a few days scraping off all the boards and reapplying that tung oil once the weather cleared up.

Final shots and Client comments:

From: "Meri and Mike" <mmlenio@comcast.n*t>
Subject: Thank You!
Date: Tue, 25 Oct 2011

Hi David,
Thank you for our new deck, pergola, steps and patio. Based on our 100% positive experience working with you in the past, we had every confidence that you would use your exceptional talent and artistry to create something beautiful as well as functional. Even with our confidence and high expectations, we remain blown away by the end result. It is more beautiful than we had ever imagined. In addition, thank you so much for convincing us to move our shed. It really improved the aesthetics of our yard as well as the overall deck size and layout. One of our favorite things about working with you is that you care enough to take the time to think about the optimal approach.

We sincerely appreciate the long hours, thought, creativity, and artistry that you put into this project. It is a reflection of your superior work ethic and attention to detail. Thank you for the many extra courtesies; your kindness and thoughtfulness are greatly appreciated. You are truly an inspiration.

Please let Chris and Benjamin know that we appreciate all of their hard work and long hours. We’re sure they are still recovering from moving all of the gravel and bricks. They are nice additions to your team. It was fun to hear all of the laughter coming out of our back yard.

We remain ever grateful to you for all for all of the work you have done on our home. We look forward to enjoying the deck for years to come. Attached, please find a few pictures we thought you might like. Best Regards,

Meri and Mike

Helpful Roofing Information
For some valuable advice with regards to roofing and rain management issues check out our:

(a) Gutter Installation
(b) Gutter Debris Protection Options
(c) Roofing Quality Standards
(d) Chimney Flashing
(e) Moss Control & Treatment

web pages for answers and solutions that could save you thousands of $ and a great deal of anguish.

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Below is a photo of our
Better Business Bureau's
NW Business Integrity Award
for the year 1998

We were also a 1997 finalist for this same award. See our referral web page to see how we managed to be honored with this special award