{The Deck} Stairs

Now that the deck floor is complete, the stairs and railing need to be finished. My dad took over the construction of the stairs (I don't think the others minded at all!) and aren't they great? I mentioned in the last deck post that there is quite a drop off from the deck to the patio and this shows it well. It's big enough for our dogs to go under the deck for shade and even Lily can walk under some of it. There's a slope to our yard and a slight slope in the patio, but not much. 

Here are the dogs enjoying the new deck and stairs. You can see the start of the railing going up on the left side. We chose to go with 4x4 posts and hog panel (or maybe combo?) for the sides. It's very similar to how we constructed Lily's play yard last summer, so there's some cohesiveness in the back yard. There is a large combo panel in Lily's Garden for a trellis and we may use the left over piece for a future trellis in the back yard as well. 

There's a slight problem though... if you look at the photo above, there's not much height from the privacy fence from the deck to the of the fence. In the photo above, Doug's grill will eventually go up against the fence, overlooking Lily's Garden. However, we don't have it up yet and are even thinking of buying a new grill (that was supposed to be Doug's birthday present after all). So, as we feared, my stupid dog Zoey (the brown one in the picture) decided she wanted out of the fenced in yard and jumped it. It's a SIX FOOT privacy fence, so the deck is her only option over it. Luckily we were sitting in our dining room at the time and I saw a blur go through Lily's Garden, so I ran to the front door and there she was, ready to come inside. So now I'm on a mission to figure out an extension idea for the top of the fence that would look good from both sides. 

{The Deck} Progress

Holy Moly these guys move fast! After my dad, Doug and Pat got started, my dad left the boys to work while he continued working on Lily's Room. As I was able to sneak out and take photos, the boys got a ton of work done. In less than a week (just a few days actually), we went from the ugly before (just a set of broken concrete steps that were probably decades old) to the start of a beautiful deck. 

Below is a picture of Pat and Doug making sure the boards were nice and tight. They started on the end closest to the patio, which would be the side most people would see first, and worked their way back towards the fence that divides the back yard from Lily's Garden. 

As you can see from the photo below, they had some difficult cuts to make. The deck was, of course, square, meaning our house and the vinyl siding on the back porch weren't square. Notice that curved cut in the corner? And that sliver of wood that was then pushed flush into that tiny crack. That's some detail, boys and girls! 

Here's a close up of the crazy cut they did. The board then went flush, leaving no gap at all. And notice the pile of dirt in the top left corner? That's where the original concrete steps were.

Check out that nice deck! It's already making us brain storm possibilities and a large to do list for our back yard. It's been neglected as we tackled the inside of the house, the front yard, and Lily's Garden. Now that we have this wonderful space to enjoy, plus the furniture for the patio, and Lily's play yard, we need to work on the rest of the back yard. Oh, and that screen door needs painted like yesterday. And don't even get me started on the wood around the door and window. 

You can see from the photo below and above that we tried out one of our patio chairs (that actually goes with our table) to see how it fit. This is all pre-railing because there's a good drop off on both sides of the deck. 

The corner of where the wood deck matches our brick exterior and fence. The white bar on the brick was an original window sill but the window was shortened in length to fit above the counter tops. 

I can't wait until we start using this once the weather cooperates better! The dogs enjoy it and the shade the deck now provides on the patio underneath. 

{The Deck} Let There Be Wood!

After Doug removed the stairs (and all the remaining concrete) and the holes were dug and filled with concrete, the guys started working on the supports. You can see I missed a step or two or three, so it's a good thing this isn't a DIY step by step blog. However, you can make sure everything is level and straight as can be, even dealing with the slanted angle of the concrete (leading away from the house, luckily). So once the vertical supports were up and supported, they worked on the horizontal beams.  Then they added more joists and made sure this deck would be strong! 

Here's the shot towards our ugly back door. We haven't talked about replacing it but I see a makeover with some Oil Rubbed Bronze spray paint in the future... maybe. I'll keep ya updated. 

Here's the corner by the fence (that is in Lily's Garden, the trellis is on the other side). We will most likely have to add something on top of the fence to keep dogs and cats from falling over. My dog, Zoey, has an issue with jumping and I'd really hate for her to try just to then realize it's 6 feet to the ground. I like her too much for that to happen. It'll also be, most likely, where Doug's grill will end up. 

Barefoot, pregnant and standing on beams. Just a normal day at the house. 

Vinyl pieces to help fix our vinyl siding. Some had to be removed and dealt with to correctly keep the water out of the house and porch area.

Looking out from the back screened in porch, towards the garage. There's maybe 7-8 feet between the edge of the deck and the garage. The overgrown area on the top left will be dealt with this fall or next Spring as there is a little flower bed area. It's a hot mess right now, so we'll see what happens to it later on.

{The Deck} Removing the Stairs

After the drywall was installed in Lily's room and Doug wasn't needed inside, he turned his attention outdoors to our new deck construction. As mentioned in the previous deck post, we are removing the old concrete stairs that are falling apart and are building a custom deck to fit around our house. It'll be a great addition to our back yard and hopefully a jumping off point for future projects (like fixing our veggie gardens, working on some flower gardens, and a few other projects). But before any of that can happen, we need to start the deck. Doug already dug the holes for the support beams (all 6 of them), including cutting through concrete for four of the six holes (he got lucky and two of them were in dirt). 

Next came the stair demolition. We went to our local rental store and rented a jack hammer over the Fourth of July. We had no idea what we were getting into with the stairs but after Doug started, he realized they were hollow and easily came apart. So the next problem became... what to do with all the concrete?! We (and I mean Doug, I only helped pick up the chunks) put all the concrete underneath our shed. Our yard slops and it's at the back of it, so no one will see it and it'll eventually (hopefully) be turned into a chicken coop and the underneath will be surrounded with fencing anyway. So, off he went and got it all with 4 trips. The dirt went to fill in a low spot in our yard and a few holes that a large white dog likes to dig. 

Sorry there aren't really "progress" shots of Doug and the jackhammer but he didn't want me breathing the concrete dust and because it was a holiday, Lily was home with us so I entertained her until we both came out to help and check on the progress.

Lily is sitting in our small screened in porch. I may replace the door at some point (it kind of sticks, plus it's horribly ugly but it does its job right now) and the windows/screens all need replaced but that's a whole new project we're not messing with right now. 

Under the concrete steps was a small hole where no concrete was poured. It'll all be covered up with the new deck so it just made Doug's job of digging the 6th hole easier.

 Lots of broken concrete. 

The leftovers of the stairs that was all thrown away. Tetanus, anyone?!

Doug has since filled the 6 holes with concrete and an anchor screw for the boards. My dad ordered all of the wood and it'll be delivered Monday. My dad and Pat will be back to work then and while my dad is inside in Lily's room, Pat can help Doug build the deck. We are using pressure treated wood for the most of it and then cedar for the top handrails, just like what we did on Lily's play yard. 

{The Deck} It's started!

As if we didn't have enough to do already with Lily's big girl room remodel and working in Lily's Garden, we started another project! And this one isn't just for Lily! Although the other two aren't just about her too, but both use her name. This one is for everyone! 

When we bought the house, we were blessed with a giant concrete patio for our back yard. It has allowed for many parties to happen and now that we have furniture, we can enjoy it even more. However, we had some issues out here too. The big one - safety! Although the patio is nice, the crumbly concrete stairs with no handrail screamed for some improvement. For some reason we allowed it go on for 6 YEARS, using it mainly for our dogs (our screened in porch is off the kitchen and connects it to our backyard) now that the fence is up. But we've had problems. Lily has to have help going up and down them for fear of a dog bumping her off (my fear, not her's - that girl is fearless some days!). We actually had an accident on the stairs involving the dogs. Krypto, our big guy, knocked our old chihuahua Beefy off of it and probably gave her a concussion. We were really worried about her as she couldn't walk straight and her crazy long chihuahua tongue stuck out of her mouth, sideways. She wasn't right but eventually came to and was fine. But it brought it back to our attention that something needed done. Like yesterday!

So... anyway, now that you know the backstory... Doug and I (mostly Doug, this is his baby) designed a raised wooden deck to fit the house. Our house has some corners and such on this side due to the house, the screened in porch, and the basement exterior door. You can kind of see it if you scroll down.

Thanks to my dad and his collection of tools, he brought over his concrete saw for Doug to use Wednesday. The concrete wasn't very thick, luckily, and Doug was able to get them cut without any major problems. Six holes needed to be dug and four of them were through our concrete patio. 

Here's looking back at our house. Doug's grill has seen better days and will be replaced once the deck is done. But our deck will start at the fence, leaving room for the gate and a walkway between the deck and the garage (on the left side, just out of the picture frame). As I mentioned above, there are some corners for the deck to fit into, so it'll start at the gate, curve around the edge of our house, go towards the door, and then curve into where his grill is. It'll end on the far right of this photo, which is the basement door, so kind of an L shape or an upside down F. Yeah, I probably just lost you.... 

There will be enough room on the deck for Doug's grill (probably near the fence, overlooking Lily's Garden) and then some chairs, where his grill is in the above picture. There will be steps down to the patio and I'm thinking of figuring out some sort of doggy/baby gate so that we can sit up on the deck without the dogs being in our face. I mean they have the rest of the patio and back yard to enjoy! I'm also visualizing some pretty planters/hanging baskets, fun lighting, and pretty decorations out here. We haven't really messed with the backyard except for Lily's play yard. I have high hopes for this space! It'll help me get some of the rest of the yard in shape too, including painting our shed to make it into a chicken coop, fixing our two garden spots, finishing up Lily's play yard (mulching and fencing it in to keep dogs out), and planting more flowers. That'll all probably happen this fall or next spring.