Deck Planning & A Ground Breaking
Distraction…yes…that’s my middle name. Angie Distraction Bohovich. It has a nice ring to it I think. Or maybe my middle name is A-D-D. Yeah…that’s more like it…Angie ADD Bohovich. Why? Because we absolutely cannot focus on one project at a time here at Angie’s Roost. We’ve got a bathroom reno we still haven’t completed, we’re in the middle of finishing up the dining room, and we’re about halfway done building a new his & hers desk. But what project are we working on this weekend? We’re building…wait for it…a deck. But let’s step back a moment because we’re really not as crazy as we’re making ourselves out to be. We’re building a deck (a baby deck actually) out of necessity. You see, we have these stairs:
That are falling down. See the tilt:
The stairs are downright scary. They actually sway back and forth when you step onto them. Why? The wood that supports the stairs is rotting away. Check it:
That’s just the beginning of it. I have about a dozen more pictures of the stairs that are downright scary. But it’s still another month away until Halloween…I’ll save the worst ones for the ghoulish holiday. Colby was pretty adamant that we needed to replace the stairs this fall because they won’t last another Maine winter. He was also adamant about replacing the stairs with a deck. I wasn’t completely sold on the deck at first but he twisted my arm…like it was hard. He is a lot stronger than me. So here’s the plan…courtesy of Google Sketch Up:
Ignore the backyard deck. That project is reserved for dream house reno for when one of us wins the lottery. Hmmm…maybe we should start playing. Cool deck huh? There’s still plenty of room in the driveway to park the cars but we were able to expand the stairs into a baby deck. There’s even enough room on the deck for the grill and the patio table/chairs that have been rotating their home between the front porch and the back yard. With the plan in place, Colby put together his materials list:
And yes he did write it all down on wood…silly Colby. The lumber was delivered this past Wednesday, and with the building permit in hand, it was only appropriate that we had a little ground breaking ceremony. Goose said a few words, I cried, Colby cried, it really was a very moving ceremony, and we dug up the ceremonial dirt:
And why yes our inquisitive readers…that is a golden shovel that I’m using:
Fancy huh?! Who doesn’t use a golden shovel for their baby deck ground breaking ceremony?! Colby immediately began demo and preparing the house for the deck:
And it’s going to be a doozy to prep for. Not only were our stairs rotting away but so is the house. Awesome! This is the area underneath our door:
There’s rot all under there, old mattresses for insulation, and electrical wires under the siding. This should be a fun project! Until next time….keep it classy readers.
Pssst…anyone else break ground on a new project this week? And spray paint their dog poop scooping shovel gold just so they had a fancy shovel for the ground breaking ceremony? Just us? Why am I not surprised!