they all do things like that..i have not found 1 that does not do things that make you mad and charge you terrible prices to do it..

this is why most i know are doing things themselves..we can screw up just as bad as them,yet we dont have to pay a lot to do it..

quality is something that i dont see much anymore no matter what the cost..

Birgit,

That sucks!

There are possibly a couple of ways to "fix" your problem, but they would require a woodworker with a router, and SKILLS...not your contractor with a dull blade, and no clue.
It's very easy to make mistakes, but difficult to make them go away.

steve

End grain trim can still be put on, I always trim the decking flush with the frame. J

End grain trim

Well, to be honest, I think it was his "lackey" that did it because I called him yesterday morning and he was taking his car to the shop, and when I had hubby call to say "WHAT THE HELL IS THIS???" he sounded like he didn't know what was being talked about ... so I don't think he was out here yesterday.

Anyway .. I digress .. I think he does have pretty good woodworking skills (and a router) because we did look at about 8 references, and some of it was nice looking furniture.

So, assuming he has a router and knows how to use it .. how would one proceed?

I have had several ideas ... but they're all tough to implement, since the deck boards are cut off flush to the 2x10 underneath, and the last set of screws is centered (or roughly) in the 2x10, so you can't cut the Ipe back too far without hitting the screws.

The fascia is to be installed perpendicular to the deck boards, with the top of the fascia piece lined up to the top of the deck boards (giving it a "boxed" look), which means that the "boo-boos" will be 1" in from the edge (meaning some sort of bevel wouldn't work).

I first thought about sanding, which I suppose is an option, but it would be a lot of fairly deep sanding, and we would totally lose the nice crisp join of the deck board ends and the fascia.

Next, I thought about giving it a "double-box" look .. cutting the ends of the deck boards back 1" (which would cut off the badness), and having him rip boards to 1" and then putting those down and then putting the fascia up against that ... might look a bit silly .. dunno ... but then we run into the screws issue ... some of them are within 1" of the end, and some are probably right in the 1" cut zone.

I'd be happy to post pictures if that would help.

But please .. Steve or John or Anybody ... if you have any ideas (regardless of the skill level necessary) if you could detail them out for me, I'd be so grateful!!

Thanks again
Birgit

p.s. Can I cry now ... ?

Thats a bad deal Birgit,one of the things that is so easy to do and so bad if its done wrong.

End Grain Trim>>> with the decking cut flush to the frame rips of the decking 1 1/2'' wide are glued/screwed to the edge of the decking usually I put a router detail on them before hand.Running the facia from the frame to the top of the decking always leaves a gap,water,dirt,leaves get behind the facia and kabongo you got a mess.Runing endgrain trim and the facia or skirting bumps up to the botom of the trim.

If the man could not make a good cut in the begining the odds are he cant make such a fine cut now, that is trim back a 1/2'' over the joists, but if he could you could just enlarge the endgrain trim another 1/2'' and it would work fine. If you decide to go with the bad trim job and install endgrain trim it is possible to fill the chip out places with tightbond 111 and ipe sawdust ( I use the really fine stuff from the belt sander) sand with an orbital/80 grit pads. This might have to be done a couple of times but it usually makes a pretty good fix.

Of course all of this depends on the Man's skill leavel,mabey he did just leave it to the swamper boy to trim the decking and he really does know how to work with wood if so he will understand what Im saying. J

Birgit,
Let's see some pics

Here are some photos:

Here's one example of the end chew:
{{!gwi}}

This one I'm holding up a board at the end of the deck board to represent the fascia:
{{!gwi}}

I know I may be over-reacting, but it is just so bad looking.

Thanks again for the help!
Birgit

>"....The UNDERSIDES of my deck boards look really great."

Why not just turn the boards over and screw through the same holes?

I also thought of that ... sadly, that would only work for fewer than half the deck boards, because my deck is not square (I have several partial octagons), and so you can't just flip the board over and have it work. I also worried to some extent about "reusing" the screw holes and if the boards wouldn't hold down as well the second time (and it seems like you need the most hold possible with Ipe in case it decides it want move around).

Thanks for the idea though! I really appreciate it.

Birgit

From the pictures it looks as though the tops of the boards could be orbitally sanded and the problem would disappear, at least on the boards shown.
If he had the blade in backwards you would see burn marks on the wood. This looks like he used a framing blade(fewer teeth, coarser cut)instead of a fresh 40 tooth blade.
The boards that can't be sanded smooth,can be replaced. They were screwed in.
Ron

Birgit that board your holding up is somewhat like the endgrain trim I am talking about. It looks like those chip/splinters could be sanded out after the trim is up with very little showing after.

I agree with Ron the man just used a bad blade, its a wonder he could keep it straight. J

Birgit,
It doesn't look as bad as I expected...but it could look worse in person. Anyway, it doesn't call for drastic measures. I agree that a sanding will help. You need to sand away that anchorseal stain too. Those shiny trimheads don't do much for me either.

Are you going to put in a railing? if so, the bottom rail should help obscure the splintered ends.

steve

The cuts are nice and straight ... he used some sort of track/stop to run the saw along. We did have him sand yesterday (with the thought that if that doesn't work, anything else we'd do would be more drastic and the sanding wouldn't matter). It was pouring when we got home so I have to go outside now and see how much it helped.

That actually isn't anchorseal, it's all splinters and chew marks ... it looks darker because those are the boards he put down last fall, so they have faded, and the chew stuff exposed the new wood.

The screws are a little shiny, but they are countersunk a bit, so as long as you're not looking straight down on them (like I am here), it's really not too obvious ... plus I thought they'd go better when the deck is gray (and if I stain the stain will fill the little sink holes and obscure them a bit).

Anyway, I'll post an update tonight with some new pictures ... I know he did go get "another" new blade (with 60 teeth) after we yelled at him, so perhaps the few remaining boards to be cut will be better.

Do circular saw blades really run "backwards"? That's what he said ...

Thanks for all the support guys! It probably wasn't as bad as I made it out to be but I was REALLY upset when I first saw it (after all, all the other cuts he made on the deck were perfectly smooth).

Thanks again,
Birgit

There are times when we do put the blade in backwards cuting material like lexann and a few other things but I really doubt the man could keep a straight cut if the blade was running in reverse, probley just something he came up with after he got in trouble. J

OK, so I've taken my medicine, looked at the sanded ends, and overall they look pretty good.

{{!gwi}}

I do have a bit of coloration issues now, but I'm hopeful that the RAD process will perhaps even it out:

{{!gwi}}

So, sorry for the panic attack! And thanks for the suggestions and help!!!!

Birgit

Birgit,

that looks much better. It will fade to silver over time, and look like the rest of the deck. That board looks a bit shorter then the 2 surrounding boards...must be the camera angle.

steve

I think that board is shorter. the sanding worked great. I would be more worried about the wild screw position.