Monday, July 9, 2012

The Deck Is Dun-Dun-DONE!

Take a look at our backyard deck refresh! 

Alex slaved away at it while I was in Michigan, then over the Fourth of July, and finished it up on Saturday!  We still need to stain it (ugh and pick a stain), but man it feels good to have the boards leveled out and railings.  It's a WHOLE deck now!
In case you are wondering about what or why we changed it, lets look back.  The first time we redid our deck was in the summer of 2010.  The boards were rotting and spaced too far a part (even little Sadie got her paw stuck between them once, so sad!).
 After that this was kind of how it looked ever since.  We hoped to have added the railing and stain last summer, but the tornado wrecked those plans (still breaks my heart seeing our backyard with those trees and shade).  Then over time we started to notice a problem with our first redo...
The boards were popping up unevenly as the nails loosened up.  It didn't take Alex long to figure out that he should have used decking screws instead of decking nails (remember we aren't perfect, learning as we go!).  He also determined that we needed additional support joists on the old frame. 
 So Alex started tearing up the deck again....
Deja vu?!?!
 Alex figured he should flip each board since they were faded before screwing them in. If you look closely you can see one of the additional joists he installed.  One things for certain, we will have to be more timely with staining this time!
After getting the base set, he began to install the deck railing.
 Alex picked the railing style knowing that the only thing I was against was the plain skinny railing sections that you can buy at Home Depot.  He picked up some 1 X 6" wood and created this on his own.  I think he did a fantastic job and I love the style!
To give the deck some flair he also built two wood planter boxes and a bench.  Yep, always above and beyond (even though it means more cursing and time in the hot sun, LOL!).
With the bench and planters in place the deck was done!  Hooray!
I'm loving this improved space right outside our door, just feels cozier!  Heck, maybe now we can finally enjoy our yard this summer?!?
Here's a closer look at the finished planters and bench. 
Hmmm... I am sure there's ways to decorate the deck and bench right???
Alex already said that I can remove those little trees (because they'll one day be full grown blue spruce trees) and add some pretty flowers so I might do that this week!


  Woo-hoo!  Well, we can almost check that one off of our Summer Plans list (still need to stain), but I love it!

What do you think of the deck? 
What kind of fun outdoor decorations should I add?

Decorating in the outdoors is still kind of foreign to me, if you have ideas let me know!

11 comments:

  1. awesome deck! I wish ours looked like that!

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  2. That is AWESOME! I agree with replacing the spruce's with some flowers. Me? I would do red geraniums with some added filler flowers of yellow and maybe a hint of blue or white. The bench seat would look great with some padded pillows - either the length of the bench or throw pillows or both!
    Wonderful job and don't dally getting that stain on! It's a job, but once it is done, you will be glad you did.
    Have a great day!

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    1. Love the geranium idea, I am so bad with flowers! I will have to bug the hubby to get on doing the stain, he is a procrastinator on those kind of things!

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  3. Nice job on the deck. Alex is a superstar husband. I like the 1x6 touch. Bench and planters will be fun to decorate. I look forward to seeing pictures of that!

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    1. I know, I love the 1" x 6" touch too! So glad it turned out well! Hope to decorate this weekend :)

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  4. Great looking deck!! Just one thought though...to keep the ends of the decking from shifting, the ends need to stop on the joists underneath, otherwise, you're going to end up with the same problems over time.

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  5. This looks so good! Some cushions and outdoor pillows on that bench would be a great touch. Maybe even a little table for a cup of coffee in the morning... Very impressed with all the deck work!

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  6. Its beautiful !! Can't wait until my hubby and I own a home and we can really get to DIY-ing. Love it :)

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  7. You should definitely add a cushion to your bench! I have seen some beautiful outdoor fabric lately so picking a color shouldn't be an issue! And while he did a wonderful job, what a man to plant spruce trees in your planters!! Hopefully you will find some colorful yet easy maintenance flowers to plant there!

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    1. Yea, maybe I can get some outdoor fabric on sale? If you have recommendations for low maintenance flowers I'd love to hear them, I am not good with gardening/ planting yet. Need to work on that next summer!

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