If you own a house, things keep breaking. No wonder most Europeans own condos or rent apartments. Let someone who knows (we hope) what they are doing maintain the property. Why keep learning new skills when someone else has already tackled the problem multiple times.

Anyway, after finishing the patio block walkway I looked at the deck steps and saw this. The stringer is the zig-zag diagonal board that supports the steps. Note the crack where the wood has rotted.

Of course, in addition, here is what I found on the backside underneath. On the right is the gap between the stringer and the 4×4 post. There is supposed to be no gap. The nail pulled loose and the upper part of the outer stringer was hanging free. No wonder the steps bounced.

So I had a crack and a gap.

On the left is a crack in the stringer that I repaired last year with a vertical board screwed in place. All the wood is rotting and needs to be replaced.

Now, the point of this post.

Most people in their right mind would get a hack saw and cut the nail off so you could close the gap. Instead, you do the guy thing …

You reach for the BFG of tools, a Sawzall!!

This puppy can cut through anything.

I bought it years ago to dismantle an old fiberglass sailboat in my back yard. The pieces were small enough to put in the roller cans for Waste Management.

Overkill? Sure! But it’s a guy thing to use the biggest tool possible.

So I clamped and screwed the steps back together. They are safe now but, of course, the proper project is to do it right. Install all new stringers, treads, and risers. I would like to have a new deck built so I settled for the quick repair for now.

Note the klutzy attempt to replace the latticework. Like the other aging wood, it fell apart and I didn’t feel like gluing the pieces back together. Another guy thing.