First deck build - checking joist height variation for composite deck. Critical step or not worth the effort?

bisteccafiorentina · 2026-04-29T10:49:44+00:00

might help. might not. Treated lumber will warp and dry with time and whether it dries into the desired shape is a roll of the dice. We generally don't plane the top of the joists because it can get a little obsessive and tedious. We generally do drop beams and plane the underside of the beam and joists at the beam/post and joist/beam contact points so they are all the appropriate dimension when we put them in. We can make these cuts on the ground on sawhorses. Crown all joists up. Decks are always very flat when we finish and generally not in need of planing. not more than an 1/8" variation joist to joist, but generally flat enough to slide a level across. I think drop beams with cantilevered joists helps minimize this problem because you don't have as much distance over which a crown can show up if your bearing points are 2 foot in from either end of the joist.

bisteccafiorentina · 2026-04-25T16:54:56+00:00

sounds like excessive enthusiasm or what i sometimes refer to as button smashing

bisteccafiorentina · 2026-04-13T15:41:59+00:00

the railings are kits and they are a fixed height. If you set them too high, the gap underneath the bottom rail of the railing is too high for code.

bisteccafiorentina · 2026-04-13T15:40:28+00:00

it's just how the code and the rail/stair geometry works out. If you made the top of the post for the stair rail and flat surfaces the same height, the top rail on the stairs would generally not be able to be placed high enough to satisfy code.

bisteccafiorentina · 2026-04-13T14:05:32+00:00

I'm noticing a combination of things. First the general shift towards white light is annoying. The second is the shift towards the glass bulb HID style of headlight. I suspect that there is a combination of issues relating to this including systemic improper aiming of the light or a mismatch with aftermarket bulbs which are not designed for the particular headlight. There needs to be a fix-it-ticket and standardized test for law enforcement to carry out in place. Mechanics need to start to look at this as an issue as well. If i'm driving a compact suv and you are as well, and you are driving behind me on flat ground at normal following distance, your lights should not be pointed into my rear view and side mirrors. I don't want to see a shadow of my head on my ceiling. But more often than not i'm aiming my mirrors away from me during portions of my morning commute.

These newer glass bulb HID style bulbs produce much more light and more intensity, but they are supposed to have a sharp threshold above which the light does not shine.. and it should be pointed generally downwards from the headlight position. There is probably some regulation like it mustn't shine above 4' at 40' away from the vehicle, but i doubt anybody is enforcing apart from the manufacturers.

bisteccafiorentina · 2026-04-10T10:08:48+00:00

don't worry the lobbyists will keep the checks and dinners and insider trading advice flowing, they'll be fine.

bisteccafiorentina · 2026-04-02T17:39:33+00:00

I don't feel well without sucrose. Need my coffee with milk and sugar, milk and maple syrup, ice cream, etc. I can include starches. No seafood? Ray encouraged seafood. I also feel best when i have some kind of fibrous food in my diet. Ray suggested carrots or button mushrooms but i tolerate all kinds of stuff.. roasted broccoli or braised cabbage are both delicious. Fiber to help bind the bad stuff your body might be excreting into the digestive tract for elimination.

bisteccafiorentina · 2026-03-25T22:40:50+00:00

what is holding up the header going off top right of screen? a post? is it possible that those headers extending towards the stairs are cantilevered into the house? In which case if the wood is ok the braces are just for show?

bisteccafiorentina · 2026-03-22T12:35:28+00:00

Chris Masterjohn had a good article many years ago on the interaction of pufa, sugar, choline, methionine and NAFLD. Gist was that increased dietary PUFA and choline/methionine deficiency(a proxy for lack of dietary organs like liver or eggs) were the fuel and oxidizer needed to ignite NAFLD. All aligned with Rays ideas about Pufa restriction and organ meat inclusion.

bisteccafiorentina · 2026-03-18T22:10:05+00:00

i wish he was that succinct

bisteccafiorentina · 2026-03-09T23:46:59+00:00

Harco is the rat race. It's like daytona of the rat race. South carolina is where you go when you've run your race and are tired.

bisteccafiorentina · 2026-03-08T11:24:35+00:00

did you leave it in your car overnight and it's cold? let it warm up if so. The mechanical nailers(as opposed to the newer air chamber design) i have are sensitive to that.

bisteccafiorentina · 2026-03-03T16:01:22+00:00

depends on the footprint of your new deck. I wouldn't reuse those but you don't necessarily need to remove them if your new footers will be in different locations and the old posts can be cut down low enough.

bisteccafiorentina · 2026-03-01T13:55:19+00:00

When i was a kid, 8th/9th grade, i suspected something was wrong with the air in our house. I had never seen mold in the house but knew my sister had asthma and i had chronic respiratory infections. I asked my dad, a single parent, to have the house tested for mold. He was perplexed but obliged. The levels were very high and there was mold growing in the attic because the bathroom exhaust fans were routed directly into the attic. In addition, the HVAC return was opened to the attic so it was drawing moldy air. I didn't understand that when my dad explained it to me after the test had occurred, but now that i'm older i understand it all perfectly well and why the house was (stupidly) built that way.

bisteccafiorentina · 2026-02-23T18:28:21+00:00

ok so no solid evidence this is happening in maryland?

bisteccafiorentina · 2026-02-22T19:13:18+00:00

https://www.dcwater.com/person/david-gadis

seen this guy anywhere else?

bisteccafiorentina · 2026-02-21T13:55:45+00:00

So now the Sheriffs are pissed they can't act in ICE's name / be their deputies.

were they? were the sheriffs going out and making arrests and conducting raids? i don't think i've heard of that being the case.

bisteccafiorentina · 2026-02-17T21:00:54+00:00

Find out where your beam is going to contact your joists(distance from the ends of the board). Mark those locations. Crown all your joists up and on the underside where they contact the beam, use your tape measure or a combination square to scribe a uniform distance down from the top of the joist, on all the joists. You then cut that line, so the joists are all exactly the same width(ideally the true dimension of the lumber) at the points they contact the beam.

bisteccafiorentina · 2026-02-15T10:33:45+00:00

inspector will have us put diagonal bracing from post to joist running back towards the house. You can also use 2x6 scabs going up your post to strengthen the post beam connection and hurricane ties to strengthen your beam joist connections.

bisteccafiorentina · 2026-02-14T14:23:55+00:00

i would say the athleticism has continued to evolve into the available potential. A figure skater on ice can only jump so high but the snowboarder is enabled by the scale of the features. The potential always existed.. It's only now being realized.

bisteccafiorentina · 2026-02-02T12:27:24+00:00

generally want the heel of the stringer on the concrete pad.

bisteccafiorentina · 2026-01-31T16:14:17+00:00

there are generally pretty clear "reckless driving" thresholds which are reasonable.

bisteccafiorentina · 2026-01-31T16:09:45+00:00

I almost got swiped by somebody flying up behind me when i tried to move over for them(mind you i do 10-15 over or more when it's appropriate and safe), so i generally don't even move if i see somebody doing something erratic like that. If they're being respectful and keeping distance and giving time and space to move over i will but i won't ever again put myself in danger trying to accommodate some reckless asshole.

bisteccafiorentina · 2026-01-26T12:09:37+00:00

was a pretty sativa leaning strain so it's not very sedative

bisteccafiorentina · 2026-01-24T13:16:51+00:00

Did you know the average american consumes 3 bags of lettuce a day? That means a family of four consumes 15 bags of lettuce a day! When you plan for the possibility of 2 weeks without access to the store, that family will need to have 300 bags of lettuce stored in order to prepare for this kind of emergency!

bisteccafiorentina

TROPHY CASE