Deck spans...

Last year I had the pleasure of working on a deck project that involved a face-lift plus a structural repair to the main supporting beam.



The deck is an elevated second-story deck that sits over a 2-car parking area which required a 20 foot clear span of the main beam. The picture above shows some fancy engineering of a laminated beam made up of 2 x 12's and plywood spanning the 20 feet. It will not sag under it's own weight and will hold up nicely when your party of 12 sits happily and safely above!

The deck in the distance shows a 20 foot span sagging under it's own weight...evident in the slightly curved appearance to the bottom of the deck. Imagine what a party of 12 would do to it? When designing the structure of a deck, there are specific building codes to follow with beam and joist spans. Things are very specific in the types and sizes of beams to use according to the distance you wish to span from post to post.

You want to make sure your spans follow those guidelines for safety reasons... saving money or trying to maximize space under a deck by using less posts with the wrong type of beam could result in structural failure. The above picture shows what you get with the proper guidance of a knowledgeable contractor working on your job. The deck carpenter for this project was Tony Fredericks of The Woodcrafters (416-420-3999)

Yikes!!! My Tomatoes!

If any of you out there are avid gardeners and enjoy fresh home grown tomatoes like I do... watch out for these pesky buggers!



This is a picture of the Tomato Horn Worm which later turns into the Five-spotted Hawkmoth. It can make a meal of your tomato plants in a hurry... leaving you nothing to enjoy for the rest of the gardening season. If you find this silent invader in your garden plot try a quick and green solution of hand picking them and disposing of them from the garden area.

I have heard of cornmeal being used... the worms eat the corn meal and are not able to digest, which results in their death. Other hopeful solutions is to let nature deal with them as they make wonderful meals for birds and they can also be attacked by wasps.

In my many years of being around Tomato gardens, I have only seen the worm once... they are hard to see from a distance but easy to recognize (4 inches long) when you find your tomato leaves being eaten.

The outdoor living room

Recently I have noticed a growing trend in the sense of the outdoor living room. A concept that was widely used in California back in the 50's is now making it's way here to Toronto!


With the warmer summers and longer growing seasons we are having ... there is a push to be outside in your backyard rather than in the home and in front of a TV. Actually, they are making flatscreen TV's for the outdoors these days... so you can have all the comforts of inside with you as you enjoy the outdoors in your yard.


Why not create that dream living room or dinning room space in your backyard? You'd be surprised what a few well placed pieces of furniture or even well planned out gardens would do to a space.


Complete that with an Outdoor kitchen with a bar and you'll never have to leave home to find a fun spot to entertain in! If budget is a concern, doing something as simple as planting a tree in an ideal spot would create that shady area needed to have a table and chairs set up so you can enjoy an outdoor space. When decorating the landscape, the possibilities are endless....