Deck Ramblings

Jeannette and I (OK, mostly me) decided to build a deck in the back yard. I went through several iterations of me building, someone else building, building a raised deck, building a paver patio, etc. I settled on a raised deck and paid someone to build the structural piece of the deck to make sure it was done right. I came up with the design for the surface and my contractor made it work. Pretty happy with the results.

I decided to not attach the deck to the house. I was having some serious anxiety about tearing up a brand new house to attach the deck and elected to put in another span of posts to support the deck. The existing patio also presented some obstacles since the height of the joists and decking would have been above the level of the house floor if we didn't get creative. I worked through the details with the contractor and we have a nice compromise.

The major work is done now. The planters and benches took me the better part of two weekends to finish up. Another solid reason why hiring a contractor for the main part was a good idea. I have some lattice boards to close up the bottom, and I have the risers for the stairs. I still need to excavate and prepare a landing area for the stairs into the yard. Once all of this is done I can start working on the other areas of the yard to clean it up a bit.

One additional advantage of hiring a contractor was some extra time to ride my bike. I took a two day ride out to eastern Washington and northern Idaho to pick up a few last minute bonus checkpoints for a rally I was finishing. Day 1 took me across northern Washington out to Coeur d'Alene, ID. Weather was pretty good for the most part, just a few rain showers and cool temperatures. Day 2 took me south through western Idaho to Lewiston, ID, and then back across southern and central Washington to get home. Day 2 was a little wetter than day 1. One of the highlights of my trip on Day 2 was a stop in Moscow, ID for breakfast (huckleberry zucchini bread french toast) . Jeannette and I went to college in Moscow and it was kind of nice stopping by and taking a look at the old homestead. Things are largely unchanged in Moscow from what I remembered. The last couple of pictures below show Palouse Falls State Park and one of the dams I wanted to see on the Snake River. The state park is a gem sitting in the middle of nowhere in central Washington off of state highway 261. The roads surrounding it are awesome riding, too. Lower Monumental Lock & Dam is off the beaten path in southeast Washington and is one of dozens that line the Snake and Columbia rivers.

Almost "before". Posts are set and the beams are being positioned to level everything.

Deck is framed and ready. It looks like a lot of framing and blocking, but it was necessary to support the deck layout I wanted.

All decking is attached now. This was the extent of the contractor's work.

Planters and benches complete now. Still have work to do to close up the bottom and add stairs down into the yard. I also need to build a stand in the planters to support the pots we plan to put in each one.

Palouse Falls State Park in central Washington.

Lower Monumental Lock & Dam on the Snake River.