27th Feb: Jetty Rebuild – Week 1

During a social evening I half jokingly asked a neighbour, Mark, if he would like to rebuild my jetty.  To my surprise he was interested and came up with a proposal avoiding the use of wood and, as far as possible, metal fixings and hence the effects of rot and rust.  The suggested jetty decking was to be “Millboard” which was described as moulded from natural timbers, composed of 38% recycled materials including limestone, UV stabilised, and high slip resistance even when wet.  The latter was particularly attractive since the present wooden planks tend to get slippery and I’m not getting any younger, in fact with a 25 year residential warranty the millboard should easily last longer than me!

I was worried about the darker coloured versions getting hot under foot in summer and opted for the Weathered Oak Driftwood version, the specification sheet is here.

At the start of the project the garden and side passage started to look like a builders yard!  Work started on Thursday, 19th February, with the excavation of holes for the foundations for the jetty uprights. These photos were taken early next morning…

This work continued on Friday the 20th with one of the old uprights having to be cut away and replaced by props, so by the next morning…

On Monday 23rd February the first uprights were concreted into the foundation holes ready for themselves being filled with concrete.

Tuesday 24th saw this work completed, so during the 25th most of the new uprights were filled.

In order for the work to continue the old decking needed to be removed.  This was all done during Thursday the 26th February so by that afternoon access to Seatern required “walking the plank”!…

On Friday the 27th February the cross joists were fixed in place using rigid nylon tubes to avoid metal fastenings.  These went through the wooden side planks and, before the joists were cut off flush, the construction took on a decidedly Japanese appearance!

The following weeks’ work is described here.