Incredible! When you say you profiled the strapping, how did you go about that? Did you use a laser level to measure depth of cut for each piece? Table saw to make the cuts? Seems like a ton of work considering the amount of strapping I see
So I laid pieces of 2 x 4 across the concrete and shimmed them to be level. I then used a scribe to follow the profile of the uneven concrete on the bottom side. I then took the 2 x 4s to my band-saw and cut along the scribe lines. The 2 x 4s now sat making full contact with the concrete. After prepping several 2 x 4s in this way, I placed another 2 x 4 perpendicular across them, shimmed that piece level, and recorded how much material I had to
I also had to mark on the 2 x 4s where I was going to place my "Ramset" concrete nails. I wanted the nails to go into solid areas of the concrete. If I got too close to the edge of a cracked concrete area, I worried the concrete would break apart and not hold the 2 x 4 securely. I also countersunk a hole where each nail would be placed to give me the maximum depth the nail could penetrate the concrete. "Ramset" nails are notorious for not
Yes your explanation does make sense. That's a lot of scribing! Clearly well-worth it, it turned out beautiful.
I'd never heard of ramsets before. Can I ask why you didn't want to use something like tapcons?
(P.S. I'm replying to your comments here because if I reply to your reply, it won't notify you. Something to work on!)
Tapcon generally requires you to drill a hole into the concrete, and then having to line it up with a screw. Ramset nailers eliminate all that work, ... load, place, fire.
@Bill Nash Makes sense, especially for the amount you'd have to drill and screw for this project. There's also likely not enough upwards/horizontal force to make tapcons worth it in this case. What length were the ramsets?
So when we bought our house, it came with a poured cement patio and walkway that had seen better days. The cement was 6 inches thick and cracked and moved a bit over the years. The thought of taking a jack-hammer to it and then hauling it away wasn't too appealing. I decided to affix pressure-treated lumber "strapping" to it at 18" centers with "Ramset" concrete nails. I profiled the strapping so that the final product would be perfectly level to itself. Then it was a matter of treating it like a deck to fasten my pressure-treated deck boards, and voila!, ... a new patio and walkway. I also added the trellis system for a stubborn grape vine.