Build Your Own Deck With Bench Seats - Part 5

These two Kookaburra's were the first on site today.

It was time to add a bit of bling this morning,

and like most bling, it was pretty ugly. Unlike most bling, it does serve a useful purpose. First up today I put another four upright supports in. These are more to act as members to screw decking into but will also be load bearing.

If you happen to have some 100mm bolts on hand from a prior project you might like to use them to help add some detail to the build. If you realise that they are not going to be long enough, it is best to respond despairingly before remembering you have a plunge router that might help with the process. These bolts held up some short members of timber that will support the floor of the deck.

On a side note, when I turned 18 my folks offered to buy me either a router or a second hand banjo. That reminds me of the classic joke.

    "What's the difference between a banjo and an onion? - Nobody cries when you cut up a banjo"

Anyhow, today I was glad I opted for a router, my wife has been glad for the last ten and a half years!

Building a standard deck takes time, building a deck with built in bench seats can feel like a black hole. No matter how much time, timber and screws you throw at it, it still demands more. I am comforted by the thought that I started out on this project less than a month ago, but hey it seems like much longer than that!

After the floor support detail I had time to add some more cross bracing for the bench seats.

I have never been able to capture the view properly with a camera, but this is the general idea in regards to the outlook from the deck.

Despite the fact that we are just half a week out from winter the unseasonably warm weather in Australia has our eggplant still producing fruit. We even have a confused cherry tomato out the back that has a crop on it.

Another bird shot to square things off...