The Deck- Part III

By popular demand...I am sharing some pics of the recent progress to what will become our outdoor living space! The wood was ordered on Tuesday (6-12) and delivered Saturday (6-16). Shawn kept busy in that 'tween time by:

• digging out a french drain,
• building a retaining wall
• & pouring a "raised footing" on top of one previously poured (according to Shawn) too far below grade (the dirt).

It looks easy (below), but he spent some serious time scoring the existing cement and checking alignments/measurements several times before actually mixing and pouring the concrete. It had to be exact cuz the beam would be laid directly atop the bracket without a post (*I know TMI, but I can't believe how much info I have absorbed vicariously).

Then came Saturday, the wood was here by 8:30am and lucky for us, John (the carpenter) was available and came by to help unload some of the wood, but more importantly get the ledger up below the doors/windows on the house. This in concert with the beams will be the structure that holds it ALL up.

So for Father's Day, Shawn worked for a good six hours getting that first beam just right. This is how he wanted to spend his day.

It really is becoming a thing of beauty...now that the wood is going up I can begin to visualize with more clarity, Shawn's latest creation.

Over the coming weeks, Shawn will be using all that redwood seen below (covered in tarps) to:

• set up the second beam
• add the joists across the beams
• then lay the decking on top of that...

I'm sorry to say he is back to the G-R-I-N-D as of today, yesterday was the last day of the two week vacation...we already miss having him here...

Happy Fathers Day Shawn! Thank you for all your hard-work as our resident handy-man!! xoxxo