Ever start a project and think to yourself, this isn't going to be as easy as I thought it would be? Yeah, I do that a lot. We knew that building a new deck would be a challenge...but I think we underestimated that challenge. We've put a lot of work into our house so far, some very tedious and laboring work, and at the end of the day, we've been able to step back and see a world of change. This is not one of those projects.
Last weekend we dug up all of the paver stones out of our yard and were able to find new homes for each of them. This weekend we started removing the old deck and began building the foundation for the new one.
Before we get any farther I need to give Sara's parents a huge shout out for all of their help...not only did Sara's Dad help us mastermind and plot out what we needed to do (and do correctly) but they each were in there digging with us. We definitely wouldn't be here today without them and love and appreciate them so much!
Here is what we started with:
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| Removed the railings |
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| Last view of the deck before we knocked it down |
Friday, Brian took the day off and started prepping everything and cleared the way for the Home Depot truck to unload all of the deck boards. It's exciting to get new things delivered...until you realize they are going to be sitting there for awhile. Highly recommend the delivery, worth every penny!
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| A whole lot of wood |
Here's our starting view on Saturday...
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| All ready to go |
Now came the challenging part...we had to try and line up everything so we had square corners, correct angles and straight lines. This is the most important (and the hardest) part. If you don't set it up correctly, your measurements will be off which will affect the entire layout of the deck. This is where people mess up because it is really difficult to get exact. We measured, ran lines, measured, adjusted lines, remeasured, etc. for most of the day on Saturday. When we finally got it we were so excited...until we realized we still needed to dig. The next step was to measure and mark the areas where we would dig the holes.
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| X marks the spot...there were a lot of X's |
Then came the fun part (ha)! We rented a manual and a 2-man gas powered post hole digger (super power tool). First we got it together...
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| Getting it ready |
Then it was time to actually use it. We've watched several DIY shows and thought, if they could do it, so could we! Half way into the first hole we remembered how difficult it seemed for them and the reality was even worse.
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| The only picture of us working with it because it was a 4-person project |
Like most of our other projects, nothing came easy...out of the 17 holes we needed to dig, we were only able to use the gas-powered post hole digger on 8 of them. The rest had to be dug up manually with a few shovels and the claw. It was not fun. We had to call it a day so we could take the gas-powered one back, so we left the yard on Saturday evening looking like this:
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| A whole lot of work for a few holes in the ground |
Day 2 (Sunday) started out with more digging so that we could get the holes deep enough to pour the concrete. Everyone was ready to get to the concrete step...especially our supervisor:
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| Our Foreman |
Once the holes were all deep enough to satisfy Sara's Dad (the Mechanical Engineer) we started hauling the concrete. 80lb. dry concrete bags are not easy to carry, so we had to use the Escape to haul them back.
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| Still supervising |
Sara's Dad came up with an idea to help raise the concrete above the ground so we bought a wide pillar and cut it down to 3" pieces to help raise the wood off the ground enough to prevent any water damage in the future.
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| Inspecting the hole |
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| A whole lot of concrete |
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| Another helper...she's a little Houdini and a mess so we had to eventually tie her back |
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| Wanting us to get back to work |
Pouring the concrete and the water into the hole at the same time was a real mess and it took all 4 of us (plus our neighbor Mel) to get everything together so there aren't a lot of pictures. Once the concrete was in and mixed we used a trowel to finish and smooth the tops.
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| There's a tool for everything |
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| Ta da...1st hole done |
There was a little trial and error but we ended up getting them all done by early afternoon. It was a whole lot of work for a couple filled in holes...
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| Our concrete garden |
It was a real messy project and every inch of ourselves is sore, but it's all downhill from here.
Until next time...
XOXO,
Sara, Brian & Tequila
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