Bringing the deck to code

I had a week off this week. As always, I hoped to do more than I was able to do, but one major project that I saw to completion was the building of a rat wall under our current deck. The former owner built our deck not to code, and I had to correct the mistake. First, I had to get a permit. Oddly, they issued me one despite the fact that I am not the homeowner. Ha. I dug the trench over the course of two days. The required dimensions were 2' x 4" for the perimeter of the deck. Naturally, digging a four inch trench that deep on a retrofit is ridiculous, so the average width ended up being between six and eight inches. Most of the work was done with a post holer, which wasn't the most fun thing I've ever done.

I had the concrete delivered after the code inspector approved the project. The delivery guy (Concrete Express, Warren, MI) was nice enough to stay an entire hour while I filled the trench one 250 pound wheelbarrow load at a time. Not that he helped, but he didn't rush off. In the end, I put in a cubic yard and a half of concrete into the trench, and I need to finish it off with maybe a 60 lbs. bag. If a rat gets into that deck, he deserves it.

Now that the concrete is in, I can start on the next step outside: cedar raised bed for my vegetables.