Deck Hand

Warning: this is a picture-heavy post. I should also tell you that the deck isn't done yet. But that's okay, because you can't forget there was a sunroom on top of it two weeks ago:

Removing the first panel.

We took Labor Day literally this year (we called it Demo Day, actually) and had some friends and family over to help with the destruction. It was about 5-ish hours of on-and-off work thanks to some rain delays, but it wasn't too bad.

No more roof!

Just the vinyl remains...

Whew! Okay.

Once we got down to the subfloor, we stopped, and it would end up being a really good thing we did. Does that sound foreboding? It should.

Two weeks later, Hubsey's parents came back and it was time to get that plywood out of the way. This should have been a fairly straightforward process, but after painting the front of the house for an hour, my mother-in-law and I wandered into the backyard to see this:

Uh oh.

That was all they'd pulled up. Whoever put the wood down thought a nail every inch would be a smart plan.

Stabby!

So. That was a gigantic bummer. And I felt bad. There wasn't much we could do to help them since the nails were really in there; we would have been a lot slower. It took the dudes about four hours to get all of it removed.

If you look closely, you can see the original cement patio.

Then it was time to get the new boards into place. We were originally going to stagger the edge of the hole to help it blend, but wouldn't you know it, the old, original deck screws weren't budging. No thanks, we like being here in your way.

Sawing the boards.

So we decided to F that and just butted them up against the same double-joist. Whatever. If you're going to scrutinize the board pattern on my deck it might be time for a hobby.

They're all the right length!

We still need to patch a couple of rotting boards that are off to the side and then we'll screw everything down. And then we'll need to stain it all the same color. And then maybe we can use it before it snows. I suppose you could call this the home stretch, but realistically I know it'll take two more weekends of work.

On the bright side, we're saving a ton of money! And how many people can say they halfway rebuilt a deck? I do feel kind of cool. What's been going on at your house lately? Any deck stain tips to share? Who else is doing work outside now that it's cooling off?