Fencing

With the fascia boards in place I could nail in more bits of 8"x2" board between the joists where the post holders would need to be attached. Nailed on three sides (two joists and a fascia board) this would provide a sturdy support for the post holders.

The post holders where secured with coach bolts driven into a pilot hole with a socket wrench. You need a decent size pilot hole or the wood will split. I attached steps of trellis wood to each side of the posts to provide a corner into which I would screw the trellis's themselves.

At the far end of the deck, two final stretches of trellis was made up from scratch as there was a longer than standard length stretch along and across.

Well there is was structurally complete. Just in need of painting, and crying out for some deck furniture and a BBQ!

Deck Painting

There are a lot of ways to finish off a deck, painting, staining, oil finishes etc. With this much deck to cover we went for paint. A paint finished seems to last two or three years. Initially we went for a wood tone, but then we made the mistake of going for a bluish tone, uncharitably described as "battleship grey" by friends. Getting back to a wood tone is a hurdle we have to cross soon. Aside from the advisability in my opinion of sticking with wood tones as they will be sympathetic to repainting in another wood tone as years go by, I cannot think of much useful to say on painting decks. Though one thing does come to mind. On a small deck I built later, I used fence stain, this said don't use on decks on the tin! But was perfectly good for decks and a whole lot cheaper. This makes me think that manufacturers want to segment the market and charge more for something labelled a deck stain/paint.