askjake

Natural lighting under a porch or deck

Lea asks:

Jake,

I have a home with a full finished basement. My question is how would I put a front porch (I just have a stoop right now) with having basement windows. Do I use lattice to allow light? I have a family room below the living room and I have a bedroom below the upstairs bedroom. I only make $8.80 an hour so I will be doing what I can myself and would like any savings tips. Thank You

Jake's answer:

Lea,

When you build the front porch you will substantially reduce the amount of light you currently have streaming through those windows. Try placing some boards over the window wells to give you an idea of what it might be like.  

Also take into account if the windows serve any kind of emergency exit. A deck over the windows could really hinder egress, either in or out.  

I have seen glass blocks embedded in the deck flooring that is above the windows. Glass block is not that expensive. You will have to get a little creative on how to alter your floor framing to accept the glass block. Good luck!

Laying out a deck board pattern

Question:  Hi Jake, I am trying to decide how to lay out a pattern for my new deck flooring. My new deck will be 12.5 x 20\'. I can not get PT deck Boards in 20\' lengths in my area. The longest is 16\'. I am trying to figure out what size boards I should purchase so that once installed the seam pattern doesn\'t look funny. I like simple designs. Nothing fancy. Can you help?

Jake's Answer:  Would it work to run the boards in the 12'5" direction and avoid any seams all together?  This may require a re-thinking on how you do the beams and joists layout.  It will also produce a fair amount of waste - like 9 boards total - Ouch!!!  A diagonal pattern may reduce the impact of the seams.  Otherwise, I would stagger the seams randomly, one seam per board run.  And, I would make the length of the boards a little random as well.  Lay it out on paper and you will be able to figure out a nice pattern.