Our First Project of the Season- This Weekend's Progress

When I left you last, we had just begun our project.  First thing was to remove the concrete pad from the deck framing.  If you missed it you can find that post here.

 

Now we're moving on.  Slowly and methodically my husband, with very little help from the rest of us, has ripped the old deck apart.  He worked most of Saturday and a partial day Sunday, with me sitting outside basically watching, ready if he needed me for something (I'm the gopher).  

First step, remove the rebar railings and then the posts and handrail.

 Then, he removed all the fascia boards, he's trying to salvage as much as he can so he can use it for a deer stand.  Should be interesting.  See how rotten that truss is.  Wow!  My husband hated to bust out the concrete and tear this deck down but now he's really glad he did.  It was getting pretty weak in spots.  You can see how one of the underboards is bowing pretty back, that's where the water would drip when it rained.  That piece just fell off, no salvaging for it.

 Thankfully  nobody was standing underneath it.  I think he managed to salvage most of the other pieces.

 

 See those two weird looking sticks leaning against the house.  That's how he got the white sheathing down without breaking it all up.  My son and I each held one at either end of the board as he knocked it loose from above.  I don't know how we managed not to break them but they made it and they got a good laugh at my expense, I cannot hold a stick level to save my life!

 All down except for the truss and the end boards attached to the house for support.  Wow! 

 

 

Last night we worked on the truss a little bit.  Got all but the main, large portion on the bottom down by hacking it into pieces.  Now, it's tied off with rope in a couple places and we'll start in again tomorrow.  Getting that down with only my help oughtta be pretty interesting!

 

How To Take Your Concrete Driveway From Blah and Boring to Fabulous!

In years past a piece of property came up for sale around the corner from our house and my husband scooped it up.  We needed a project.  So, we went all in and built a spec house, what an adventure. 

Today, I'm sharing with you the driveway and back patio pours.  We stamped the entire drive with a slate texture and then added some brick accents.  A great way to add visual interest and break up such a large expanse of concrete.

My love affair with concrete prompted me to add a new postcard to my Cheat Sheet Postcard Series, a collection of postcards to collect and reference on a variety of topics.   For your free Subscription to the series, click here:  10 Ways to Decorate Your Home with Concrete.

Patiently Waiting for Spring, NOT!

Aster




Astilbe




cactus




gladiolus




gooseneck loosestrife




coreopsis




shasta daisy




purple coneflower




hydrangae

Dry-Brushed Adirondack Chairs

In year's past my husband gave me these Adirondack Chairs for our Anniversary and I decided to give them a paint job.  I had some leftover paint from other projects so I put it to good use and simply dry brushed it onto these chairs.  I love the look of dry-brushing, it allows the wood to peek through and give a nice "aged" appearance and its a very easy process.

I gave these chairs a quick sanding, cleaned off any of the dust and gave them a once over with paint.  You can apply your paint in a couple different ways.  For this project I added a little bit of water to the paint and used a rag to rub it onto the chair, it's a lot quicker than using a paintbrush.  I finished them off with a couple coats of polyurethane.  I love the way they turned out.

Our First Project of the Season- 2015

My husband always has at least one major project every season.  This year, replacing a deck that has been leaking since we built it is that project.

First thing is to get the concrete out.  It is spring break around here for both of my college students so they are around to help out.  Thank goodness, even cutting the patio into small chunks, I still can't carry them. 

My husband hated having to tear it apart but we both knew it was going to rot away and become a hazard over time.  When he took the first few boards off the end to get to the slab, there's some proof.  Made him feel a little better about destroying it.

Here's the size of the squares he ended up cutting the slab into.  They will work perfect for another patio project or walkway somewhere else in the yard.  Not sure where yet, but I'm sure I'll find a spot.

You can see the orange trash shoot down at the end.  What a life-saver that is.  I thought they'd be carrying all that through the house in order to get it outside.  You should hear a chunk of concrete go down that thing, sounds like a Mac-truck barreling up the rock drive, loud and grumbly!

This is the view from the garage man-door.  This deck has been one of the few things after building the house that we weren't happy with.  It has trusses vs. a header that were made to hold the weight of the concrete, with the set number of supports we would have.  Yeah, not really, it's bowed from the day the concrete got poured.  It has also leaked the whole time, hopefully we've got the water dispersion system figured out a little better this time (by we, I mean hubby).

Here's a look at a fraction of my new pavers, hmmm, what will I ever do with them? 

The new deck is going to be a couple feet wider and will have a rounded area off the side where the garbage shoot is at.  Underneath the deck is where we've planned for an outdoor kitchen.  Can't wait to get to that part, it's going to be quite the project with a more functional design that maybe will make it more usable, as well as a new outdoor kitchen.  Let the fun begin!

Today is Saturday, major workday's around here.  The concrete is out, now it's time to rip this baby apart.  Should be an interesting day.

Here's the links to future posts:

This Weekend's Progress- ripping apart the rest of the deck

Update- drilling post holes, who knew that'd take an entire weekend, wow!

Slowly Progressing- Header board is in and a couple new posts. Yep, that's what we call progress around here, however slim it may be!

 Part 5- Joists are in!  Yeah! 

Weekly Update- Almost ready for decking.
Decking is on
Weekly Update- posts and railings

My Landscaping Adventures- 5

This is my attempt to chronicle the progress made around our home when it comes to the yard and my many garden projects, which is a continual work in progress.

 

Here are the links to previous articles in case you're interested:

My Landscaping Adventures  Getting started in the front yard and an island of rock

My Landscaping Adventures- 2 The island border and a preview of the back patios

My Landscaping Adventures- 3 Back lower patio, firepit and cantilevered staircase

My Landscaping Adventures- 4 Upper Patio, deck and the beginning of backyard plantings

 

Now, amazingly there's still quite a lot to see.  Let's take a look at how my front flowerbed and island has filled in, as well as the backyard plantings.

 

The Front Yard:

 

The Back Yard:

 

A few shots of the Island:

 

 

Now, it's all about the maintenance for these areas of the yard.  I must be crazy, but I started adding another flowerbed out front by the road.  Here's a glimpse into it's humble beginnings.

Remember the large pile of rocks from the first post?  After building our first retaining wall and outlining the driveway we placed a few of the larger rocks out here, they sat like this for a couple years.

 There's three berms out front.  The one in the forefront runs the entire length of the bed area.  With two smaller ones in the back (you can see the one on the right and there's another to the left.

 

I always tell people to put in their structure first and then add plants.  I didn't follow my own advice on this one.  Once we got the berms in I went ahead and planted my trees and bushes, took perennials from others areas of my yard and bought a few more as well.  I couldn't help myself.  I still don't have any structure (beyond the berms that is) and it's probably been three years since I got this area planted.  Still lots more to see but we'll save that for next time.

 

What are you working on in your yard?