Fin

After several long weekends, I can now officially say my deck is finished. Sure there are still a few things left to do like adding in some steps and other small items but for the most part I’m calling it a day. I have furniture on the deck and spent some time relaxing upon its freshly decked surface. Of course, I’m exhausted from all the work but I guess that’s the beauty of spending the time designing and building it but let’s be honest, I really don’t plan to do it again anytime soon.

Almost Done

As the saying goes, “What doesn’t kill you might sometimes make you wish you were actually dead.” Okay, so maybe that’s not exactly how it goes but that’s how I feel. As I mentioned previously I have a new door which I think is quite amazing. In order to use the door, I need something to occupy the space that would otherwise provide for a rather sizable first step. Since I was helping Jeremy and Nikki build a deck at their house, I wanted to keep up with the Jones’ and build a deck at my house.

So I started this deck last weekend and now, a mere eight days later, I’m almost finished. In fact, I’m far enough along that I was able to sit on my new deck and drink a beer after two long days this weekend spent trying to finish said outdoor living area. I’d be willing to bet that one more solid day of work will complete this horrendously ridiculous undertaking.

Like most home projects that take longer than they should, I’m getting to the point where I want it to be done and I’m getting less and less concerned about the little things. For people that know me I can kind of be a little over-the-top about the smallest details but right now I don’t care if a board is spaced a little further away than I’d like. I don’t care if there is seam that isn’t exactly perfect. I don’t care if a screw is sunk in a little too far. What I do care about is getting this project finished. On the upside, I’ve decided that once this project is done I’m taking the rest of the summer off from home improvements. Of course it will probably take me until October to finish everything and get my house back to normal but that’s just a minor detail.

Decks, Part II

So last weekend I mentioned that I was helping my friend Jeremy build a deck at his house. Well, this weekend, I decided to help him (and now that Nikki is back, her as well) finish the deck, but at the same time start mine. See, in our ‘hood we have a strict rule that only one deck is allowed to be worked on at a time.

On Saturday I decided to start my deck which basically meant I was destroying my arms by digging holes for the posts. I spent a goodly part of the day getting the actual size and shape of the deck figured out and I think it goes without saying that it’s going to be much bigger and complicated than I originally anticipated, but still relatively simple. Let’s be honest though, who doesn’t like a big deck (and get your mind out of the gutter Ms. Y)?

So you may be asking, why the rush to build a deck at my house? Well, when I bought my house two years ago I decided the miniature window in my dining room would look a hell of a lot better as a set of French doors. This week, that finally became a reality. Of course, I can’t have a brand new door without a massive deck to go with it, right (again, Spring, this is not the time)? Anyway, I’m going to take some time and build the aforementioned deck throughout the coming week so I don’t get totally destroyed by the process.

Crushed...

So this weekend (starting Friday after work) I thought it would be a good idea to help my friend and neighbor Jeremy build a deck. Of course, when I say build a deck, I really mean doubling the usable footprint of their home. This was a colossal undertaking and I’m not entirely sure why I decided to spend an entire weekend digging holes, plumbing posts, leveling beams, and setting deck boards.

I guess it was a neighborly thing to do and the free food and beer was a nice perk but suffice it to say, I’m more exhausted now than I ever thought I would be and the deck isn’t even completely done. Of course, it is usable and that’s what counts. I’m just glad I wasn’t around for the jack hammering. Oh yeah, and a hearty congratulations goes out to Spring and Brian for getting all married this weekend so now they can officially stop living in sin. Congratulations you guys…