What would you do? - deck help

[David Feldbaum]

Hello to my fellow woodworkers.


I think this falls under that category. I am building a deck myself, with a friend who has helped since hes built things before. Problem is I am super anal how things are built. I wasn't paying attention and i forgot to square off the ends of this decking before laying it out. Its 20 feet long and screwed in. It would take me too long to un do it all. As you can see from the photo I need to cut off that bit of angle so my first step sits flush with all the decking. I am dealing with IPE and i cant afford to make mistakes. What ideas would you guys have to cut this angle edge off to make it square? I was thinking of sanding but i only have an orbital sander. I have jigsaw, track saw, dremel but haven't thought of a solid idea yet. 463761

[Stan Calow]

Is it just the one board? How much do you need to cut off? 1/4" or so? Do you have access to a multi-tool (like a Fein multimaster)? That's what I would use, so you could cut all the way to the wall. Or a handsaw.

[Gary Ragatz]

Score the top as deep as you can and take your time with a hand chisel?

[Frank Pratt]

With 'normal' wood, I'd say use a hand chisel. But ipe is just so hard that it eats edges for breakfast. Careful use of a multi-tool is probably how I'd go at that.

[David Feldbaum]

thanks guys. i forgot about my multi too. its a milwakee. not that best. have to be careful i dont burn the IPE.

[Ron Selzer]

multitool have spare blades and change as soon as a blade dulls

[johnny means]

I'd grab my Ryoba and get at it. You can ride the edge of the adjoining board for a perfect match.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Since the board is screwed in, I'd bite the bullet - curse like a drunken sailor @ how stupid I'd been - and take the board out where I could do a proper job.

I know my luck...which is that I would somehow screw the board up trying to do it in place & be out the price of another board.

[Doug Garson]

I'd trim the stair tread to clear rather than the deck board, but then I'm not that anal that this would bother me.:cool:

[Mike Kees]

I agree with Doug. Then just for kicks see how many other people actually notice it ,my experience is 98%of the world will never even see it even if you point it out.

[Bill Dufour]

Flush trim router bit or roundover router bit. You could clamp/screw a guide cleat to the deck before hand.
Bill D.

[Matt Day]

If it’s screwed in just deal with it and remove the screws. I bet it will save you a lot of hassle especially if you mess it up with a multi tool.

[Bernie May]

Just take the 5 minutes to unscrew the board from the joists leaving the screws in the board. Trim the board and redo the screws.

[Andrew Hughes]

That’s a smart idea the peel and stick on the top of joists.

[Mike King]

Since the board is screwed in, I'd bite the bullet - curse like a drunken sailor @ how stupid I'd been - and take the board out where I could do a proper job.

I know my luck...which is that I would somehow screw the board up trying to do it in place & be out the price of another board.
If you look closely, you will see that the board in question is the starter course. The field of decking is screwed using clips that are in a grove that hold to the starter course then each additional row. So to unscrew, he'd have to start at the edge of whatever field he's laid, perhaps the entire deck. Not a low effort approach...

[David Feldbaum]

I decided to leave it alone for now. I can always unscrew the entire deck board. problem is i have these special slips for spaces so it might be a pain. While not ideal its about 1/4 inch gap that is about 3 inches long. Its not really that noticeable.Again i have idea what I am doing. But so far its pretty dam professional. 463805

[David Feldbaum]

I liked Rich's comment. I actually have a tool that bends the wood in place. I Cranked to hard on it last week and nicked one of the 20 footers. Most people would have said eh its fine. Just sand it out. But I knew it would bother me, so i bought another 20footer.

[David Feldbaum]

What do you guys now think about me taking a rectangle sander, and just sanding the board in place. I don't think i want to use the multitool. it will burn the wood. This IPE is tough. I already broke 2 bits and my counter sink.

[Rich Engelhardt]

If you look closely, you will see that the board in question is the starter course. The field of decking is screwed using clips that are in a grove that hold to the starter course then each additional row. So to unscrew, he'd have to start at the edge of whatever field he's laid, perhaps the entire deck. Not a low effort approach...
True enough - however - the same amount of effort will be required after the attempt to make a presentable cut goes awry and ruins the board.
The aggravation level will change though. Big time. Usually it squares - not doubles.
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I do have to be 100% honest though and point out - - what the OP sees as a flaw, is a non-issue.
It's a deck - not a piece of furniture.

6 months outside & the deck will be filled with a whole bunch of mismatches like that & worse. In the meantime, few if any are going to pick up on that as a flaw.
A deck is not the realm of a finish carpenter & certainly not the cabinet maker & for sure not something a furniture maker takes on for money.

Really, the best tool to use to address this is a pencil eraser.

[Bill Carey]

.................... Really, the best tool to use to address this is a pencil eraser.

2nd this idea

[Jay Michaels]

I would imagine sanding end-grain on ipe would take you approximately 3-4 months, but it would get the job done.

[Frank Pratt]

What do you guys now think about me taking a rectangle sander, and just sanding the board in place. I don't think i want to use the multitool. it will burn the wood. This IPE is tough. I already broke 2 bits and my counter sink.

Burning with a multi-tool has more to do with deep cuts in wide material where the swarf can't clear, causing the heating. On a board that's only 3/4" thick, I doubt it would be a problem as long as the blade is sharp. But it will probably take more than 1 blade, depending on the quality.

An oscillating or orbital sander will take forever, use a truckload of sandpaper and still probably burn the wood. A rotary diamond disc on an angle grinder would probably make short work of it though, but you'd have to be really careful not to let things get away on you.

[Bill McNiel]

Score it with a knife and straight edge (multiple passes) and use a chisel to create a wall maybe 1/8"-1/4" deep then use your multi-tool. The process will take 5-10 minutes.

[Patrick McCarthy]

The 2 screw heads shown are sunk deeper than i would have expected. My concern is water accumulation. Are you going to plug them and trim with a flush cut saw?
Sorry if i am jumping a few steps ahead.

[David Feldbaum]

Yes indeed. I have not plugged the holes until I am 100% sure I am good to go. Everything is a hidden system. I started this project in June. Have another stair to finish this weekend, then all the railing. Huge undertaking, but hiring someone wasnt really an option. I enjoy doing this myself and learning along the way. Plus most people you hire do a sloppy job.

[Steve Fish]

Take a stiff rip of plywood and nail it down between the gaps in your decking. Make sure it’s flush or a tiny proud of your field boards. Use it as a guide with a quality flush trim saw. Might have to finagle the last tiny bit next to the brick with the multi tool. Finish with 60 then 80 grit paper and a sanding block. That ipe makes a beautiful solid deck but it’s hell on tools. Looks great so far

[Mel Fulks]

I have an ipe deck, it’s nice enough, I used the special plastic biscuits. If I had to do another one I would just use slotted brass counter
sunk screws.

[Frank Pratt]

Score it with a knife and straight edge (multiple passes) and use a chisel to create a wall maybe 1/8"-1/4" deep then use your multi-tool. The process will take 5-10 minutes.

That's a great way of helping the blade stay on course.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

Analysis paralysis going on here, it's not detail oriented thinking, it's just good old fashioned indecisiveness. If you want that board trimmed, just do it. Pick a way and go. You'd be done with this already if you had.

If you want something to worry about, those don't look like hanger rated screws.

[Jack Frederick]

We did a small deck on the place a few years ago and after trying various mounting methods went with Camo. It has not failed anywhere on the deck. As to squaring that board I’d take my hardware store plastic handled double sided pull saw to it and it would make short work of it and give a good surface.

[Stephen Rosenthal]

Shameless plug: You should have purchased the deck building books I offered for sale here recently. I have a few more and they might appear in a classified section near and dear to you soon. 😉

[David Feldbaum]

Thanks. I will have to check it out. Perhaps in the far far future I could build another deck, although the intention with this one was to last me forever. I really went all out. I have 12 cement pilings in the ground that can support a massive amount of weight. I was going to buikd with Azek but decided on Ipe since it was natural and just or more harder and will last just as long. Slow going but I sure hope to finish second set of stairs this Friday. then I have to do all the railings and finish the flooring. Then I will have to drill holes for up lights. That I am super scared of since you need super strength bits for this type of wood.