We started with months of sketching and measuring and more sketching. Eventually, we settled on a plan:
Construction progressed mostly as expected. We anticipated some delays, but we couldn't really know what they would be.
June 23 - Measuring and placing stakes
(Dexter supervised a great deal of this work. Clearly, Dad and Granddad can not be trusted to do this on their own.)
July 3 - Digging holes! Dennis's favorite thing. Except this time, he got to use a power auger. (Well, first we dealt with a dead car battery. Dennis went to Home Depot to rent the auger and couldn't leave because his battery was dead dead dead. The car ended up sitting in the Home Depot parking lot for 2 days. Klassy.) ANYway, we figured we'd find some interesting things in the holes, but it was mostly rock and old bits of concrete and brick. We do think we found some charred bits of the house that burned down on this lot in 2004.
July 4 - RAIN! Bummer of a delay, but we hadn't had rain in a few weeks, so the rest of the yard was happy to see it. Thankfully, Dennis had the foresight to cover the holes he'd spent the previous day digging.
July 5 - Finishing up the holes. All of these bad boys need to be at least 30" deep and shaped just so. So there was a bit of effort involved.
July 7 - Holes inspected and approved! The inspector claims they look better than what he sees from many contractors. Woo hoo!
July 10 - Lumber and concrete delivered!
July 11 - Partial framing. They got a great start on "the hard half" of the framing. The rest will have to wait until the concrete is poured.
July 12 - Partial concrete. ANOTHER rain delay! Again, the "hard half" of the concrete is done.
July 18 - Finishing up the concrete and some more work on the framing. Danielle even got to put in a few nails.
July 19 - Finishing touches on the framing and getting ready for inspection. Dexter looked worried for a while, but he eventually approved.
Mom? Are you sure they're doing it right? I think I should go help...
July 21 - Framing inspection passed!
July 23 - A few deer stop by to check on the progress (click the photo for a larger view)
July 25-26 - Deck boards! Well, actually Bud put in some extra blocking first to make this super-secure, awesomely-framed, better-than-most-contractors deck even MORE sturdy. But THEN there were deck boards!
Mom! Dad dropped a whole bucket of nails down there! See what happens when you don't let me help?!
The very first deck board!
Dad, you look like you could use a Gatorade break and some company!
August 1-2 - More deck boards! Again, the "hard half" is done! :) There was rain on Saturday, which forced an early work stoppage (just by a couple of hours, though), and then there was a slight delay on Sunday while Dad and Granddad assisted with Dexter's bloody nose, but all in all there was a lot of progress this weekend!
The invisible fastener system really does take quite a bit longer, but it really does look a lot better and should help keep the deck in better shape for longer. Dennis also spent a few hours during the week putting fasteners in place. It's good to be able to make progress during the week.
August 8-9 - HEAT! Literally, it was hot enough to kill a cow this weekend. As such, Dennis and Bud pretty much worked half days with more hydration breaks than usual. Even so, they were able to make quite a bit of progress on the deck boards.
August 15-16 - Finishing the deck boards. A VERY exciting step. And they had some extra help, too.
August 22-23 - Railing! And Stairs! Mostly. I presume this was "the hard half" of those two portions of the project. :) Predicted completion: 3 more "good weather" days.
August 30 - Railing is done! Stairs are not, but that's OK. It is looking super stunning!
September 7 - DONE!!!!! Yes, that's worthy of five exclamation points, even though "done" doesn't include skirting, sanding, staining, or sealing. :) Dexter got to watch for a little while in a specially-designed play area, then later in the day he got to help!
September 14- Final inspection passed! The city says people can play on the deck now. :) The inspector said we "did a really good job." Well duh. And I don't think he even knew about half of the extra blocking and lag bolts and whatever else is in there.
Total Cost - $5538.00
- building permit - $35
- auger rental (July 3) - $57
- auger rental (July 5) - $40
- lumber - $3696.75
- post base, sono tube, brackets (Home Depot) - $146.43
- post base (Lowe's) - $10.57 (Yep. Lowe's. You know they were desperate to get this thing ASAP.)
- bolts/nuts/washers (Home Depot) - $9.76
- cement mixer rental - $36.30
- bolts, tarps, etc (Home Depot) - $99.61
- cement mixer rental - $25.30
- returned some sono tubes and bolts - ($68.54)
- more bolts/nuts/washers - $34.78
- nails, bolts, nails, bolts, WASHERS! and NUTS! - $46.40
- Deckmaster invisible fastener system materials - $1109.25
- more deck boards (we underestimated on waste) - $407.51
- Returned concrete, a few framing boards (Liese) - ($107.85)
- supplies for corner posts (Home Depot) - $64.56
- even more bolts, nuts, and washers (Home Depot) - $56.23
- 3" deck screws (Home Depot) - $28.24
- Returned extra lumber (Liese) - ($569.66)
- Food for the help (plus tons of leftovers) - 380.37
Kindof seems like a lot, but compared to paying someone $20k plus to do a lesser-quality job for us, it seems like a steal, even if a contractor would have had it done in a week instead of 10. :)
Some final pictures:
