Next May, we will be hosting a high school graduation party. So, in August, we started thinking about what we wanted to accomplish in and around the house before then. One of the big things we needed to address was our deck. The wood was in rough shape when we moved in, and it has not improved no matter how we washed and tried to treat it. So, the flooring, rails, fence pieces, and balusters needed replacing. Knowing that we will (depending on the weather) want to use the deck for extra space during the party, we knew it was time. So, we ordered the wood and Keith got to work tearing out the old flooring boards – we really only had one set of tools for that task, so I just tried to do the indoor chores while he worked outside.
After the old floorboards were out, it was time to get to work! Because of the way the deck is constructed, the boards had to be cut to the right lengths (and sometimes angles) to sink down into the frame. We knew we would need a circular saw for those cuts, and thankfully we were able to borrow circular saws from both of our fathers. We also needed to cut off some nails that we couldn’t remove, so we borrowed a reciprocating saw for that. Lastly, we knew we needed to cut out the boards to fit around posts, so we bought a jigsaw. My Dad also contributed a lovely drill with 2 batteries and two collapsible saw horses. Keith’s Dad brought us a t-square and some really nice gloves that Keith used the whole time. He also came down to help us with the first day of construction. (That was technically September, but it was the only day in September…)
After that, we checked the weather and schedules in October and Keith took 1-2 days off each week to work on the deck. We always got lunch together and worked on the deck as long as we could before we had to start running our kids places in the evenings. Some days we had more hours than others, but we always made steady progress. 🙂
Our next task was to finish ripping up the railings and the privacy fence. We also had to rent a small truck to get the new fence slats to put up – we hadn’t planned to replace them, but they fell apart when Keith took out the ones that were over the floorboards, so we had no choice. We are really happy with how the cedar looks – we think the deck turned out beautifully!
I hope that we will be able to retain the two tone look when we stain and weatherproof it next year – I really think it looks sharp! We love it even more when it is wet – so pretty!
So, while this wasn’t our typical Create Date, I think it more than qualifies as trying something new and creating something that is beautiful! Can’t wait for our next project!
Adventure. Create. Relate 