New Decks

Tony's House Projects

Story
A few years before when I was contemplating adding an extra room to our house, I had rough designs on re-doing the wooden decks around the house (see the New Room Design Project). With the demise of our hot tub in 2012, and the deterioration of the decks, it became time to revist redesigning and rebuilding the decks.
I contemplated paying a designer/builder to do everything, and I contemplated doing it all myself. In the end, I did not have time to do this project and all the other projects on my list, so I decided I would design it and have a general contractor help me with the construction part. Early onwards, I was fixated on having built-in furniture, but eventually decided to have stand-alone furniture, I had the contractor make the deck structure, planking and fences while I would build stand-alone furniture for the decks and also build the "deck screen" where a privacy fence used to be. More details on the furniture can be found on the Deck Furniture Project Page and more details on the privacy fence can be found on the Deck Screen Project Page. I would also be the one adding lights to the deck, which is described in more detail on the Deck Lighting Project Page. There is also the Deck Perimeter Project Page that shows some followon work around the adjacent areas to the deck.
The Landscape
Though this is all bundled under the "New Deck" project, there are a lot of projects wrapped up in this effort. They are all related and somewhat intertwined. The major things that need to be addressed:
  • Drainage Problem - When it rains heavy (as it likes to do in Central Texas) there is a river that runs along the back of my house. A 4 foot wide, 6 inch deep river. I live on a sloped lot, so the water does flows alright, but there is a problematic area around the den and kitchen where the water comes into the flow faster than it exits, so on a prolonged heavy rain it can start to approach entering the house. There are famous songs about the Texas Floods, so it is best that I actually solve this problem than resorting to wishful thinking.
  • Side Fence - The side fence on the east side of my property is long past due for replacement. I am not really sure what is keeping it up at this point and it has plenty of holes in it.
  • Front Fence - The front facing fence, especially the gate have their 4x4 support posts so loose that the gate is barely functional. Additionally, at some point in the next year or two, the electric company will need to get some machinery into the back of my yard to replace the telephone pole that is 10 years beyond its rated lifetime. Stabilizing the front fence will incorporate a new double gate to allow wider access to the backyard for the equipment they will be bringing.
  • Deck Demolition - The old decks will need to be demolished before new ones can be built.
  • Spa Removal - The old decks cannot be demolished until the old (broken) spa is removed. How does one get rid of a dead beast like this?
  • Tree Removal - Of the 3 trees that currently stick out of the decks, two are very nice, 18 inch trees. The third is a mangey 8 inch, malformed tree that is nothing but an obstace and has very little redeeming value. This is the tree that will be removed to create more useable deck area.
  • New Deck - There are currently 3 sections of deck. One is way back along the rear property line that is so far away we rarely use it. The other was devoted entirely to the spa. The third is a small area with two trees growing out of it, one being the problem tree previously referred to. In between the spa deck and the small, tree deck are steps down and then steps back up, which means a complete waste of space and time going down and then back up to get to the same level you started on: not very efficient.
The plan for the decks is:
  • Remove the unused deck along the back of the property.
  • Span the two other decks to create more useable, continuous deck space (removal of the spa also helps create space).
  • Build a new deck along the back of the house where a river runs through it. The drainage solution will be to excavate down to effectively create a riverbed which will allow a better water flow and ensure no water backs up into the house. Rather than have to step across this dug out channel, we'll put a deck over it to reclaim it as useful living space.
Preliminary Work and Requirements
I put some preliminary though into this a couple years ago and wound up with a list of desired features including:
  • Bench seating, tables and planters.
  • Built in lighting.
  • Non-slip treads on stairs.
  • Privacy wall. We have one already and want to reproduce something like this, though hopefully slightly nicer.
  • Ipe or composite decking. I want the deck to last a long time with a minimum amount of maintenance. Ipe is the only real wood that fits this requirement, but composites have a lot of advantages too.
  • Small gap near base of privacy wall and deck surface. A leaf blower trying to operate with the three current walls winds up with a cyclone of leaves that just go round in cicrcles and never leave the deck area. This was we can easily blow or sweep leaves off the deck.
  • Access to under the deck. We had a possum die under one of our decks once and it was a pain to have to get rid of it.
Being a very visual person, my plan was to build a 3D model of the area, and play around with ideas. I wound up getting a little carried away with the 3D modeling though. Instead of modeling the house around the decks, I continued to model just about everything on the property, which then bled over into modeling the interior of the house. After a fair number of modeling diversions, I finally got to the actual design of the new decks.
An Unexpected Demolition
Broken Spa and Privacy Fence
Once I had a rough design, I began the conversation with a general contractor about the slew of interconnected projects. I had looked around on the web for companies that would remove the broken spa. I found the going rate to be about $300, maybe more. My general contractor made the suggestion of listing it on Craigslist to see if someone would take it away from me for free. Like so many things on Craigslist, I would never had thought anyone would be out there looking for something like this.
I took his advice though, and wouldn't you know: I got a bunch of replies. Some seemed to not appreciate that it was broken despite how clear I tried to be, and some seemed to not have any idea what kind of project and equipment would be needed to move this beast. However, I got one reply from a guy named Jim, who very clearly stated he had a truck, a trailer, moving equipment and a few friends he could round up to help. He was not the first to reply (I usually like to adhere to order when I list things), but he seemed the most serious and had the most plausible plan for taking it.
Existing deck, post spa removal
Existing deck, post spa removal
I gave Jim a call, made sure he fully appreciated that it was not operable, but nothing deterred him. A couple days later he shows up with a couple friends and the necessary equipment. I had already measured my back gate to ensure it would fit (standing on end) and diconnected the electric. Problem number one was getting it off the deck. The only place to move it was across a steep grade of grass, which would not do. However, if we removed the privacy fence, we could dump it over the side of the deck and onto the dolly on some concrete paving stones. They were more than willing to do the demolition work if I would give the consent to trash the deck wall. I thought for a couple minutes and gave the go ahead. I brought out my crow bars and sawz-all and the wall did not last too long after that.
The spa was much, much heavier than I would have thought. The 4 of us could just about coax it into going in the direction we wanted (but not always) and all 4 of us could barely even lift one end of it. I am not sure where the weight comes from. It took a lot of ingenuiuty and brute force from Jim and his friends, but they had clearly done things like this many times before. After a few hours of working, they finally got it secured on the trailer and drove off. At each obstacle, I kept expecting Jim to back out, but nothing made him even remotely hestitate about taking it. I sure hope he can get it going and enjoys it.
Decisions and Modeling
The unplanned demolition work served as a forcing function and resulted in a new spark of effort into getting more detailed and specific about the deck design. With this inspiration, I spent some time nailing down the details and making the decisions on exactly how it will get executed. It was during this period where I decided on the exact separation on what I would contract out and what I would do myself. Instead of built-in furniture, I would make the deck furniture (see the Deck Furniture Project). I will also be adding the lighting and finer details (non-slip deck treads, etc.)
The deck design consists of three main areas that are more or less separate decks, though they are adjacent to each other. I refer to each based on their general compass orientation in relatioon to one another.
Northeast deck from the northwest
Northeast deck from the southeast
Northeast deck from the north
Northeast deck from the east
Northwest deck from northeast
Northwest deck from the west
Preparing for Contractors
After notifying the general contractor that I now had made decisions and have a design, he brought his carpenter out to survey and discuss the deck and fences. I wanted to be clear that I had a specific vision in mind, rather than getting some generic deck solution, so based on that we left off that I would produce some detailed blueprints for my design. Not wanting to be the bottleneck in moving this along, I then spent the next day solid working on translating then 3D model into some 2D, easier to read blueprints and sent them along. I also provided the 3D renderings (above) to help visualize things as well as the following blueprints.
Deck Overall Plan
Deck Stair Details
Privacy Fence Plan
Privacy Fence Details
After delivering the blueprints to the general contractor and going over the details, the general contractor brought up the suggestion of my doing the privacy fence (what I later refer to as the "deck screen"). His reason was that he would have to get a very expensive "trim" guy to do this work. This suggestion was actually perfect for me. I had only put that as work for the contractors to do because I thought it might be too complicated to coordinate partial work on this. Thus, I agreed to this right away and began planning the work. You can read more about this work on the Deck Screen Project Page
Drainage Improvements
Initial level of new drain inlet
Initial burial of new drainage pipes
The first day of contractor work was just about fixing the drainage problems since the carpenters were not available until the next day. The drainage solution consisted of burying a couple 4 inch pipe and having the gutter downspouts and two ground surface intakes feeding into them. Unfortunately, the burying of the pipes first done would have to be undone and dug deeper, but that was not realized until a week later when the carpenters began to think about the details for the new section fo deck that was to be above where the drain pipes were.
Another part of the drainage improvements was to add a new downspout to a very long gutter run I have along the back. This would tie into one of the pipes, whilem the other, existing downspout would feed directly inot the other pipe. This extra downspout wound up being among the last things add, which was a few week after the project began.
Final drain and access panel
Drain intake access panel
With the drain pipes later needing to be buried even deeper so there was room for the deck and its support structure, there was a need to be able to access the drain intakes since they need to be cleaned periodically to prevent debris build-up. This was all very much and on-the-fly solution, but the carpenters came up with a simple solution. They just made a small board with a finger hole in it. Since there are two intakes, there are two of these boards on the deck.
Finished drain exits
Raw drain exits
These two new, underground drain pipes would run under the deck and out toward the front of my property, since that is where the water current flows. I wanted to be extra sure that I did not change the main flow direction of the water as this could just result in new problems for my downstream neighbor. I suspect that part of the drainage problem I have is due to changes people have done to their property further upstream.
River as it exits the deck, under fence.
River as it enters under the deck.
About 2 months after the main deck work was completed we had a rain storm that dumped about 4 inches in a single hour. This was the type of event that was a true test if things had improved, and everything seemed to work as planned. This also afforded me to get some pictures of the fast moving river that forms in my backyard when a heavy rain occurs. Note that the fence where the water exits the deck was deliberately a co-uple inches off the ground to allow the water to flow out to the front and off to the storm sewer nearby.
The Planned Demolition
Debris in dumpster and lumber
On Day 2 of the contractor work, the carpenters showed up and began demolition of the fences and the existing deck boards. In all, the following things needed to be dismantled:
  • side fence;
  • front-facing fence;
  • southeast deck boards;
  • northeast deck boards; and
  • back, north deck.
At this point, it was not clear how much of the existing deck structure was salvagable, so the deckboards were removed first so the carpenters could acess the situation. Either way, there were at least two new sections of deck structure needed where no decks were before:
  • span between northeast and southeast deck; and
  • new deck along back of house (northwest deck).
It turned out that a good amount of the existing deck structure could be used, though there needed to be adjustments for a few rotted pieces and to accomodate trees that were now much larger than when the decks were first built.
Side Fence
Extra fence section added due to straightened fence
Side fence under construction
The side fence we had pretty much crumbled and was mostly being held up by some vines. My neighbor and I had discussed replacing this a few years before, but that went nowhere. I wanted to replace the wooden posts with metal posts so that it would be easier to replace the fence the next time it rotted away. The old fence curiously took a right hand turn near where my pool equipment was, toward my property and then resumed its run about 12 inches closer to my house. The plat map for my property shows this side border to be a straight line, so it must be that someone (me or my neighbor) has some property on the wrong side of the fence. I was not thinking about this when the fence was going up and they seemed to install the new fence in a single straight line. The end result was that I gained 12 inches around my pool equipment area. My best guess from measurements and looking at the plat map is that this property probably always was mine, so I didn't worry too much about it. My neighbor was pretty easygoing about it as well, so thankfully no unnecessary dispute arose. The contractor had to add a couple extra boards to the little fence I have around the pool equipment.
Other view of tree obstacle
Angled brace to compensate for tree obstacle
The fence also intersected a tree toward the back of my property, which used to be entirely on my side of the fence. Thus, I might have lost some area near the back, so maybe it al-l evened out. This tree did cause the contractors some temporary problems until they figured out a funky way to do the fence structure around it.
Outdoor Shower Work
Finished shower wall.
Wall opened to access shower plumbing
We had an outdoor shower, which had hot and cold water: very nice. A couple years ago, it sprung a leak somewhere, so we were afraid to use it for fear of water getting into the wall. The shower is located between the northeast and southeast decks, which is the area where I was going to span with a new deck structure. The existing shower head was a bnit low and now with raising the level up to the decks, the current shower height would not due. Opening the wall to raise the shower would serve the double purpose of figuring out what was causing the leak. It turned out to be a burst pipe, which must have happened during one of the winter freezes. Luckily, this burst was after the valve, so it only leaked when you used it.
The main complexity was that the wall that the shower was on was a masony wall. This mean an expensive work to rebuild the wall. THe other side of the wall inside the house is where the oven is, so that was not easily accessible either. There was not much choice here, and I really liked having the shower, especially after doing some dirty yard work.
Tree Removal
Tree stump under deck
The existing decks had three trees that protruded through the deck surface. Two of them are very nice live oak trees of significant size. I did not want to remove them, and it would have required a city permit given their diameters. k However, the third tree was a big undesirable. It was small and took a hard turn toward horizontal only 5 feet off the ground. It went over the driveway and provided very little in the way of shade. Additionally, since this was near where you exit the side of the house, it was mighty inconvenient as far as being an obstacle and breaking up what would otherwise be a nice deck space. Thus, it had no redeeming values and would be removed.
I was somewhat dissapointed that the tree was not cut further down, but I guess due to the deck frame and the concrete patio next to it, getting a chainsaw in there was a bit tricky. The general contractor did drill some holes in it and treat it with chemicals, but since the deck soon covered it, I do not really know whether this was effective or not. I was also a little afraid of the chemicals affecting the nearby tree.
Deck cutout - northeast tree
Deck cutout - southeast tree
Many years ago, I had to do a lot of work cutting the deck boards and adjusting the deck frame due to the two large trees having grown so much. The tree was growing deformed due to it hitting the deck. This was neither good for the tree, nor good for the deck. Since that time, the tree have not stopped growing, so the frame needed to be adjusted yet again, and with this new deck, it was the ideal time to give the trees more room to breath. My original plan had j9ust a large square cutout for the trees, since I figured that wo-uld simplify the cuts the carpenters had to make. Turns out that without asking, they did a much more elegant solution for the trees.
Front-facing Fence
Front fence and double gate
Finished front-facing fence
The existing front facing fence separates the driveway from the backyard and part of it is adjacent to the decks. The fence itself was in good shape, but the gate on the fence was problematic due to the support posts being very loose. Additionally, if or when the utility company needs to replace the pole in my backyard, the gate is not wide enough to accomodate their machinery. They technically do not have an easement other than along the back of the property, but if they did that, my neighbors would have a lot of grief. It would be much easier to access this from my backyard. Thus, with all these considerations, I decided to replace the entire fence and add a double gate that would allow wider access.
The city codes do not allow a fence higher than 6 feet, but this only pertains to along the property line. Since I wanted the deck to have a 5 foot fence for privacy reasons, and since the deck is a couple feet off the ground, from the front, the fence would be over 6 feet high.
Front fence with tan paint
Front fence and gate after painting
The previous fence was painted the same color tan as the trim on our house and there was some debate whether we should paint the new fence the same way. We did decide to paint it, though it was over two months later before we finally got around to painting it. This was just a low priority given all the other deck-related projects going on at the time. For some reason, we had a brand new 5 gallon bucket of this tan paint. It had been sitting in the garage for probably 6 or more years. I was not sure whether we could use it, but after about 45 minutes of mixing it with a power drill attachment, I was about to coax it back to a form that resembled paint.
Deck Structure Decisions
Old northeast deck frame
The demolition and some preliminary side fence work were the first things the carpenters worked/ Once they were ready to begin work on the deck proper and started thinking about the structure of it, they told mem it was not possible to have all the decks at the same level as I had hoped. I did not like stairs, since they are a trip hazard and they reduce or limit the options for utilizing the space. The decks are adjacent to some concrete slabs that more or less are extension of the deck. The concrete slabs (properly) are not level in any direction, since they are contoured to allow drainage away from the house. Additionally, the southeast and northeast decks that I wanted to add a span between were not the same level. Mix all this uneveness together, and they said it would not be possible to have a single level deck.
I spent 20 minutes mostly just thinking about how the design would have to change to account for this. I cannot say I was surprised to arrive at such an obstacle, something like this was inevitable. What was most stressful was my having to come up with a solution and make a decision on the spot. Failure to do so and the carpenters would have nothing to do and I had to make this decision in the presence of the carpenters to make sure any proposal was feasible. I finally came to the conclusion to lower the southeast deck and raise the northeast deck. This would imply that the new northwest deck would have to be up one step as well, which was not ideal.
Framing and spacers for inter-deck leveling
New framing for span between old decks
With the unhappy decision made (it was the morning), I went back inside to work on some other things. About midday, I went out to talk to the carpenter again to see how things were going. He informed me that he'd figured out a way to make the decks all the same level. He did so almost matter of factly like it was something I probably was not all that interested in. Anyway, I was very, very pleased he was able to work it out.
In fact, they were already adding some spacing strips to level out all the existing frames and had built part of the span between the deck. Thus, they were well on the way. There would be some small height transitions between the deck and concrete, but they were all small enough not to pose a trip hazard (unless you are a real foot dragger).
Southeast Deck
Initial deck boards on southeast deck
The first deckboards were put on the southeast deck. They did this at atime that I thought was very premature. There were still structural issues to resolve and other work to do in the area around the front-facing fence. Maybe they had a good reason, but something made me think they just wanted to throw down some boards to make me feel better. Maybe the average customer likes to see deck boards to make them feel like progress is being made.
Completed southeast deck with new span section
Construction overview
The southeast deck was the first to have all the deckboards installed and gave us the first real view for how this was going to look: it was fantastic. I was very pleased with the result. At this point, no work was done on the new stairs, but they did have the plan for it all worked out.
New Stairs
Initial stair framing
Southeast deck completed but without stairs
I generally do not like steep and/or high stairs. I got a great appreciation for how the rise/run of stairs matters when I toured Frank Lloyd Wright's Darwin House in Buffalo while I was in college. Going up to the second floor, I only felt like I went up a half level, and it was a pleasant climb at that, with a more natural gait. Thus, for the deck stairs, I wanted them to be at most 6 inches high, and I wanted them to be a full stride in length. This full stride length also would match an existing concrete step. I wanted the deck stairs and these concrete stairs to flow smoothly together.
Finished stairs closeup
Finished stairs with wiring
My initial design had hand rails for the stairs. I did this because I thought the city code would require it. I did a lot of research on stair railing codes to come up with the dimensions. However, since the deck is not that high where the stairs are, it was not necessary (and my old deck stairs did not have railings either. This was good news for many reasons:
  • opened up more space for more deck surface area;
  • less of an obstacle as you take things up and down; and
  • would be a lot cheaper.
The end result looked very, very slick: the carpenters did a great job on this.
The biggest conundrum with the stairs is that I had not decided exactly what the lighting solution would be. I knew I wanted the stairs illuminated, and preferred something on the staor risers, but the exact size and such was not decided. However, before they built the stairs, they would need to run the wiring I needed for the stairs. I had decided on a low voltage (12V DC) solution for the deck, and the use of LEDs, but I was very unhappy with the local selection of lights I found.
I had to make a decision, so I hedged my bets a bit and had them drill a small circular hole in the middle of the stair risers with a wire coming through. Once I decided, I could expand this hole or add other ones if needed. In the worst case, I could even replace the boards if I decided a light on the risers was not preferred.
New Northwest Deck
New deck framing
Excavation for new deck
The biggest unknown in the design was the new northwest deck that would be along the back of the house and over the area where there was the new drainage pipes. There used to be a concrete slab in this area, bnut that was removed to help the drainage many years before. It was unclear how the structure of the new deck and the drainage pipes would interact, nor was it clear that it was possible to make the deck the same height as the other decks. It was probably a week into the project before the carpenters began to contemplate how to solve this problem.
It was about this time when it became clear that the new drain pipes would be in the way of the new deck structure. Rather than the 12 inch trench initially dug for the pipes, the entire area would need to be dug out 12 inches deep to allow pouring some concrete footers and adding some joists. Once that was excavated, the pipes would need to be put under that, buried another 12 inches. I also had to make sure there was enough gap between the ground and the deck joists so that water could flow under it. I was very afraid that the deck blocking water flow would be making my drainage issues worse, so I made sure that there was enough clearance.
This new deck would be adjacent to a couple stairs that go up to the pool. These stairs are very stylish curves shapes, which looks nice, but complicates the deck to stair transition. My early designs attempted to fill in as much of the nooks and crannies as possible. Realizing that this could greatly complicate the structure, I decided to keep it straight and deal with the leftover "nowhere land" at alater date. So I told the carpenter to make the deck a rectangle that was as wide as possible without running into the stairs.
Update from August 22, 2013: See the Deck Perimeter Project Page for what was eventually done with the left over "no man's land" next to the northwest deck.
Rough board layout
New deck in progress
New deck closeup
New deck wide view
../images/deck-2013/new-deck-completed-3.188x250.jpg
New northwest deck completed
Northeast Deck
Transition between northeast and new deck
Reconstructed frame on northeast deck
The northeast deck is where the hot tub used to be and would be the main useful living area of the deck. Most of the existing deck frame could be reused as it was built to support 500 gallons of water in a hot tub (which is probably about 5,000 pounds of weight). However, at one end there was some joists that needed replacing and this also was the area adjacent to the new deck. The new deck framing thus flowed into this new section of decking
Northeast and southeast decks
Completed northeast deck
A nice result of all this was that the northeast deck wound up being a bit larger than it used to be and than my designs called for. On the south side, it was about 6 inches wider due to not needing stair hand rails. On then north side, it was wider to align with the new northwest deck width. Finally, on the east side, for some reason it wound up being about 4 inches wider, I think this was due to the vertical posts for the deck screen being on the outside, instead of the inside of the outer-most joist.
Electrical Work
Outlet for proposed transformer
Out by stairs for working
The old deck had an outlet on one of the walls, which was handy at times. I wanted to retain an outlet, but move it to the other side of the stairs since that was where I would need it the most. I plan on putting an outdoor table to serve as sort of a workbench for outdoor projects. I'd rather not have cords running across the stairs while I am working.
Although I had not decided the exact deck lighting, I decided to run a ton of low voltage wire (12 gauge for safety) to ensure that I could accomodate any solution. Thus, in each major corner is a wire and they all run to a home location, which was planned to be the location of the AC to DC transformer. This was on the lower back wall of the northeast deck. Therefore, I would also need an outlet near where all the low voltage wires terminated so I could plug in a transformer. I was still not sure how this would work as a transformer in this location would not make it easy to turn on and off. More about the lighting solution follows below.
The other electrical work needed was terminating the 220V wires that used to power the hot tub. I had disconnected the hot tub and had the circuit breakers off, but I wanted these wires to be "professionally" terminated in a junction box. I did not want to remove them as I might find the need for 220V power for something else one day (car charging station?) and wanted to leave my options open.
Deck Screen Installation
After 3 Screens Installed
Assembly of ipe trim
As seen in the pictures above of the completed northeast deck, all that the contractors did was to provide a 4x4 and 2x4 frame for me to finish the deck privacy fence. The day after the carpenters finished I was ready to install the trim and lattice work, but more about this work can be found on the Deck Screen Project Page.
Deck Oiling
Post oiling Ipe color variations
Contrast: before and after oiling Ipe
With the Ipe deckboards and deck screen trim Ipe boards in place, it was time to apply oil to the Ipe. You can leave Ipe unfinished and it will weather to a grey color and last just as long (som say 70 years or more), but if you oil Ipe, it takes on a much more elegant and pleasing color. Thus, we decided we would oil the Ipe, which means this also will need to be done about every couple years (as most wood decks need to be).
Ipe also has the nice quality of not being monochrome in color. It can vary from dark brown to light brown, and even be reddish or greenish. The picture at right shows one area where there is a particularly rich variation.
For me, I visually had an image in my mind of what I hoped the decks would look like, and it was not until we finished oiling them that I would be able to see that vision realized. I was very eager to oil the decks, but had to wait for a window of time where there would not be rain for 48 hours.
Northwest Deck (new)
Northeast deck
Southeast deck
To apply an oil finish (in general) you put it on liberally, but uniformly, and let it sit for a bit (about 15 minutes), then you wipe off the excess. The more the wood absorbs the oil, the less critical it is worry about wiping up the excess. However, Ipe is famously very dense and does not absorb that much oil. Therefore, if you do not wipe off the excess, you wind up with a very sticky surface that will act like glue for all the dust and dirt. I have about a half dozen people warn me about this, so I made sure we did not leave the oil sitting too long.
Northeast and southeast decks
Backside of deck and stairs
Closeup of stairs
Deck Screen and Fence Staining
Front fence after staining
Deck screens after staining
Next up was the staining or painting of the deck screen. I write "staining or painting" because I am still not entirely sure what to consider the product we used. Details of this, including how we came to decide on this particular color can be found on the Deck Screen Project Page.
Deck Lighting
Lights on stairs
Deck lighting at night
The details on the deck lighting were the last thing that got settled on and was not fully settled until the Deck Furniture Project was just about completed. I was eager to install the furniture, but it would be in the way of installing deck lighting, so I had to get that sorted out firts. You can read all about the details on the Deck Lighting Project Page.
Deck Furniture Installation
Final southeast deck
Final northeast deck
Finally we come to the last step and the culmination of years of planning and months of coordination, problem solving and work: installing the furniture. This completed the grand, initial design. The furniture was built with one large initial phase and then a series of incremental work. Read about the details of all this on the Deck Furniture Phase I and Deck Furniture Phase II project pages.
View toward pool
Porch (adjacent to decks) furniture
In summary, here is all the deck furniture that got built and installed with the quanities in parentheses:
  • (4) 5 foot long benches
  • (2) 2 foot long benches (chairs)
  • (4) Small side tables
  • (2) Large side tables
  • (3) Ottomans
  • (1) Dining table
  • (4) Dining chairs (store bought)
  • (1) Work bench and cabinet
  • (1) Clothes/towel drying rack