Hurray for Lowes~

So, My mother brought up an idea to me, on building a lil back porch/deck for her at her home, wanting to know if I knew of any cheap, but good contractors to build it for her, ya know. I kinda talked her into letting me try and build it for her, at no labour cost to her, just that she had to buy the materials for it. Which honestly, I had no idea how to work a hammer, or saw, or the difference between a 2x4 and a 8x8, xD

Anyway, We took my Jeep to the lowes in Mt. Sterling, mother went with me, as she wanted some decorating ideas for her front yard, and we didn't want to scratch up her lil Chevy~

I OC'd my Hi-point .40 while there, didn't have any problems at all, only a couple looks to of from some other shoppers. I went over to the lumber part, and asked some advice from one of the people back there, on what tools I would need, and the wood types I should use, and you know, how to use a hammer, and saw, and stuff. I did notice him taking random glances at my Pistol when i sorta looked away. Though he was very friendly, and very helpful to me, even taking the time to teach me the best design and set up for a small back porch, and how to place the 4x4's, use 2x4's to box it in, and 1x6's for the deck flooring. The guy, as I said, was very helpful and friendly, but did seem a bit rushed to leave the conversation after a couple minutes of explaining~

I got the materials, and went to the check out, waited in line for a couple minutes, no problems so far~

Then Someone walked up behind me, and asked; "Is that a loaded gun on your hip?" - To which I turned around, and noticed this tall, muscled guy with the Lowes tags and stuff, his name tag said "Manager" on it. I smiled, and told him yes, said the make and model of it, and though I was a bit afraid that he'd say it was illegal to OC there, I did interject before he could say anything, and explained to him that it wasn't illegal to OC a loaded hand-gun and stuff~

What surprised me, was, when he asked if we could take a couple steps over to the side for a little talk. I was thinking the worse at that point, because his complexion and the sound of his voice was neutral, ya know, like, not showing any emotional signs, no constricting or dilating of pupils.

We got to the side, next to an unmanned cash register, and he pulls out a lil DVD, and went on about talking about the DVD showing how to build a deck, and how it was full of information, everything from the type of nail to use, and how to place the support beams and stuff, even offering to take me to the tools section and giving me pointers on the hammers, and nails, and saws. I gotta admit, I was taken aback by it and the conversation, LOL.

Anyway, after getting the tools, and nails he suggested, which actually wasn't the more expensive things, we got on the topic of my firearm. The manager said he has a CCDW, and often CC's a Sig Sauer (I cant recall if he said P226, or something like that), both at home, and when he is not working. He thought the Hi-point was a cheap, and poorly made pistol, but I tried to talk into why I love it, and why I bought it, how accurate it actually is, and stuff.

Sorry to ramble on, but, all in all, I had a fun visit to Lowes, Learned alot about building thingies, and even had a very friendly and pleasant talk with the manager, who had no problem at all with my OC'ing, and perhaps even turned him onto OC'ing instead of CC'ing. I wrote down the OCDO forum address/URL onto a slip of paper, and told him to check us out, and stuff.

So, Lowes in Mt. Sterling, I would say is pretty OC friendly <3

Managers like that make me proud of their stores. :thumbs up:

Dont use a hammer and nails. The nails don't hold up well to weathering. I would suggest 3 inch wood screws and a drill. Also, 2x4s aren't recommended for flooring. They offer little support. Most houses use 2x6s and most well built houses use 2x8s or 2x10 (my grandma's house uses 2x12s).

09jisaac said:

Dont use a hammer and nails. The nails don't hold up well to weathering. I would suggest 3 inch wood screws and a drill. Also, 2x4s aren't recommended for flooring. They offer little support. Most houses use 2x6s and most well built houses use 2x8s or 2x10 (my grandma's house uses 2x12s).

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Well, she lives in a single wide trailer~ and wanted a lil back porch she could sit on after using her pool, to which I admit to taking lil pool breaks, hehe.

I used a hole digger thingy to make some holes for the 4x4's, and got them cut in place. Neither her, nor myself, have a drill, and she didn't want to buy one, neither did I. So the Manager told me to just use a hammer and some nails ^~^

the 2x4's are going to be nailed along the outside of the posts, to make a box frame, and then a couple more inside the box to nail the 1x6's to.
She isn't overweight or anything, and to save on building materials, we went with the 1x5's for the deck boards, and 2x4's for the boxy thingy xD I don't recall the terms the manager, or the other guy used >.> And I personally feel a sense of achievement, because it only took me seven attempts to make a straight cut on the posts. ^~^

If'n it isn't too off topic, I can post a picture, for you experts to judge, xD I'll even have me OC'ing in it to stay on topic ^~^ Though I found it a bit uncomfy to do the work while OC'ing~

And @Fallschirmjager;

Yush~ I love patroning stores that are OC friendly I'm going to start usign this local Lowe's for any I might have in the future~ <3

I do construction for a living....you gave me headache trying to figure out what your doing lol

Well, ya know burying 4x4 even pre-treated is not a great idea...but cool on the story about Lowes.

You should watch some Holmes on Homes or Holmes Inspections on HGTV.

It is the frame and decking. Like what was pointed out, burying even treated lumber isn't idea. It will rot in the ground in short order. 16 in centers (16 inches between the center of one to the next or left to left or right to right) of 2x4s may be sufficient to hole her and you but will probably warp with age.

If you already built this I hope you used galvanized nails. Coated sinkers are what is commonly used in framing a house, but if left in the weather will rust and cause streaking (people running without clothes). Galvanized nails are a silvery color and usually have a slight spiral pattern up their length.

I think I used galvanized nails, their gray and had spirals on them ^~^

I kinda went ahead and have been building it since my last post, I have yet to finish the steps, which will be for tomorrow~ ^~^

Now, I'll share a couple pictures taken as the sun went down >.>





I know its not that good of a job, but it doesn't wobble, and it held up to both my mother and I bouncing on it a bit. I'll go back over there tomorrow to finish it, and use gravel under it and onto the posts themselves int eh ground...

I didn't know about using treated posts in the ground rotting, though ;-;

Treated posts resist rot due to weather and bugs but it is not a lifetime thing. It will last years but not as long as the rest of the deck. I fear your frame is a bit lacking. Also, is it square? Is it level?

09jisaac said:

Treated posts resist rot due to weather and bugs but it is not a lifetime thing. It will last years but not as long as the rest of the deck. I fear your frame is a bit lacking. Also, is it square? Is it level?

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Well, the sides, front, and rear are level, the lil bubble thingy being in the middle, the way the guys at Lowes said it should be. And looking at the first picture, the left end is two inches short in length from the back of the deck, to the front, than the right side... Don't know how that happened, but it's pretty level, and straight and stuff ^~^

We kinda ran out of 2x4's for the middle of the deck, tis why theres one 2x4 on each side; But I did nail in some extra 1x6's under the deck, made a little thin box from the middle of the 2x4 to the front, hopefully that will help it out?

Next time I volunteer to build anything, I think I'll just pay or barter with one of you guys to come show me how to do the job or something, xD a few boxes of ammo to build a roof for the back porch sound good? heh.

I do thank you all for going easy on me with my first ever building project not relating to computers >.<, But I don't think I'll be getting hired on to any construction thingy jobs any time soon LOL.