Time to build a deck

Two years ago we had a party on our old deck. I became keenly aware of how poorly constructed it really was when we noticed how little support the railing offered. We knew moving into the house that eventually we'd have to tear it down, it wasn't built to code. Didn't really like the design either. Some winding steps took up a huge amount of space right in the middle- taking a 200 sq ft deck almost down to 100 sq foot. I had a nightmare where a law firm wanted us to host a party on the deck. It had to go.

While tearing down the old deck, our AC compressor exploded in an unrelated monetary disaster. Our budget for a new deck was decimated. Sad. Two years later we're ready to build.

Anyways we got our building permit and dug some holes. Cousin Marc supplied a cement mixture and helped me buy the lumber. Now it's time to start building.

Hmm. Those look kind of tall. Actually they were almost waist high on the second floor. Check out those diminutive 6ft ladders next to the one post. The shadow makes it look smaller than it is, it goes all the way to that third lattice in the door.

That's better! I overbought the posts by a wider margin than I realized. Now, what to do with 3 foot posts?


Aha! Diagonal truss bracing! I think they make the whole thing look pretty cool too. This week I'm hoping to get my last header installed, which means I can start work on the joists this weekend.

Mistakes I've made during construction:

1. I started off digging 8 inch diameter holes, 2 feet deep, due to a misreading of the building codes. I had to make all my holes 16 inches square, 2 feet deep. Our footings account for 30 bags of 60lb concrete.
2. Using non-galvanized hardware to secure the posts to the cement footings. I had to take down two headers and all the posts and redo.
3. Forgot to check both angles of level on the second set of headers (we have 3 total). Since I drilled for the lag bolts two of my posts were ruined and I needed new ones.
4. Chose a freestanding construction plan. I'm still not sure if this was a mistake. It meant not having to screw around with my siding and the headers in my house, but I did have to dig more holes. The extra headers are extra work. I'll be happier this way in the end.
5. Twisted my ankle on a low spot, then dropped two 12 foot 2x8 headers on the same ankle. I drink so much milk that my bones are solid. :)
6. Tried to buy my lumber at Lowes. They didn't want to deliver it, so I returned my entire 1400$ order and put in a 2500$ order at home depot instead. We also got 3 new french doors from home depot for that extra $$.

Fun things that have happened during construction:

1. Picked up some supplies at home depot with a rejection sticker on my truck for VA safety inspection.
2. Parked the truck in the back yard. If you're familiar with our house you might recall that we have a row of trees out back, in between rows of town homes. Use your imagination.
3. Got to play in the baby pool with Karl. Claire posted a picture of us earlier - I told her I look fat.
4. Marc and I got to goof around at home depot an unprecedented number of times. This included some gratuitous photos of concrete form tubes for his phallous palace collection on facebook.
5. The UCB have posted the BP spills coffee video. "Don't worry about it, it's a small spill on a very large table..."