The new deck

When we bought our house 4 years ago, I mentally slated the deck for demolition and replacement before the ink was dry on the closing papers. A few years back I got really gung-ho on the project and brought in some specialists to get quotes on what a replacement double-decker would run us. The shock must have registered on my face as the salesman gathered his brochures and samples and quickly headed for the door once he realized there was no way I was going to matriculate into a real sale. Recently we realized the deck - actually I am not sure the previous structure counted as a deck - had declined further into disrepair and either needed to be replaced or condemned. Nails were popping out of the wood, the stairs creaked with a threat of caving at any moment, the railing held itself in place with a real half-assed attitude of 'take it or leave it.' We saved our pennies and took the plunge.

First, we dream. We wanted a two-story deck measuring 12'x12' with the bottom deck being screened in. I also thought stairs running the length of the deck with screen doors that opened up half the length of the deck (running on hidden tracks) would be cool. My dad rendered a scale drawing of the deck, with his added touches, like the roof on the upper deck. Ahhh, a girl can dream.


My original plan had some holes in it, quite literally. It was pointed out the sliding doors would be near impossible to get flush, leaving a gap for bugs to get in and what's the point of a screened in deck if bugs still get in? Also, my little touches added to the bottom line. Quickly. So, we scaled back, but kept the screened bottom deck and also added underdecking to the ceiling of the bottom deck so it would stay dry. I am now going to fast-forward through the rest of our story (5 months and several small hurdles later) to unveil the gem of the backyard:




Add the screen, underdecking and some furniture...voila!


When this heatwave we call summer subsides I have lots of plans for pretty much living on this deck.