The weekend before last I attempted to start work on my deck. This weekend the family helped set posts and frame our entire deck.
Dad, my brother Keith, John and I did the majority of the work. Elise shed a little sweat herself when she wasn’t at work.Building a deck in central Texas sucks. We had to set ten 4″x4″ posts 2-feet into the ground. That meant digging through rock. It was so bad that John and I drove over to the HoPot and rented a jackhammer and an auger. We used the auger to dig an inch into the ground until we hit rock. Then the jackhammer. Then the auger. The jackhammer worked great at breaking rocks, but it’s not fun to lift out of a hole while standing under a Texas sun.
We worked extrememly hard the entire weekend. We’re all sore as hell and I’m indebted to my family (yes, that’s you too Englers) for all their hard work. I’m looking forward to finishing the deck planks so we can begin enjoying our new deck.
Hi – Read your story about busting through rock to set the deck posts. I need to do the same thing at my place and wondered about the jackhammer. Any recommendations about the jackhammer size (I presume it was electric) , jackhammer bits, techniques and tips? Thanks!
Al
I used a 1-1/8 bit to bust through rocks for a fence post in NC. I bought the Jackhammer form Harbor Freight for a little over $320.00 with 20% off coupon from NRA magazine.
The Jackhammer doesn’t make the job easy, it just makes it possible.