Summer Deck Project: the Beginning

Up until now, we generally hadn't used the little patio off the back of the house. The sun on the south side is pretty brutal, and there just wasn't much space. The kiddos would go out there and eat lunch under an umbrella, but for the most part we didn't venture out there until sunset hours. All that has now changed. Over the course of the past few weeks, I put a nice little deck out back, which has turned our backyard from a sunstroke waiting to happen into an oasis.

On Monday I started out removing the landscaping rock. At this point, we were still considering laying pavers instead of building a deck. The more I thought about the pain involved in leveling the sand and all, the more attractive the deck sounded. By the time I had removed all the rock, I had convinced myself that wood was the way to go.

Wednesday I was sick, but even though I stayed home from work, I couldn't stand just laying around. I thought, "I'll just putter about on the project." The next thing I know I've got the whole raised portion layed out and leveled! Using these concrete blocks save me about $500! They worked out great and it was easier to do by myself than what I thought it'd be.

Dad came up from his place to help me out, but by the time he got here I was already putting down decking. He was a bit suprised I was moving so fast, but he didn't mind as it was less work for him. He helped me lay about half the decking and then on Saturday we we added an extension to the lower level, and started on the pergola.

From here on out I could only work on the deck a couple hours here and there. Family Camp came, military obligations, etc... all made it difficult to make steady progress. Finally we got it wrapped up last night except for a few minor things that will have to wait such as stain, some detail work like routering the edges, and installing some additional plant hangers.