Why Do I Bother?

I promised I would tell you what I did instead of going to Florida. Since I had the week off with nothing to do, Mel and I decided to go ahead with a project that I have been really wanting to start for a long time. I ordered a driveway full of lumber and cement mix and got to work building a deck.

If you’ve ever built a deck before, you know how much work it can be. And if you’ve ever built a deck before why didn’t you tell me how much work it can be?! We had an existing covered concrete patio that had to be taken apart first. Knocking down the covered part was fun, but that’s where the fun stopped. The concrete patio was about 10′ x 10′ and about 4″ thick. I used an 8lb sledge hammer and broke it up by hand. I had to move all the pieces out of the work area by hand also.

After that my wife and friend Bryan helped me do some excavation with shovels and rakes to get the work area down to a level that would allow for then new deck frame. A friend from work helped us haul away the pieces of the old wooden and plastic covered porch since I don’t have a truck. A couple other friends came over to help with digging of post holes and that is where we ran into our first hitch.

I had rented an auger to make the digging easier, but when we started digging the first hole it just jammed up in the clay. They rent two types of augers at The Home Depot near our house. I thought the one-man auger would be enough, but it just didn’t cut it. I loaded the thing back in the trunk and headed back to get the two-man version. When I got there I noticed for the first time the big sign above the rental desk that suggested “Call before you dig: It’s the law!”. I looked at the man behind the counter and said, “Is that really necessary?” He told me that once a month someone comes in with a story about cutting through a power line or gas line. That didn’t seem like good odds to me so I elected to wait.

Two days later, to my surprise, we had the back yard checked out by the local utility companies and there was nothing in the way. My brother Chris with just a few hours notice was able to come out and help me dig 15 post holes with the two-man auger. It made all the difference and took only about 45 minutes or so to dig all the holes. He’s my hero.

At this point I finally have all the posts set in concrete and have started to bolt the support beams to the posts. It’s all downhill from here and I should have the deck completed in a week or so. I’m very excited and you’re all invited to the party. I’ll post some pictures when the project is done.

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