The deck is finally finished....

A year in the making....countless hours of hard labor...many mornings of stiff joints...I finally finished the deck. So, we rewind the story six years to when I ripped off my old wooden deck at my house (the one that really made my sick of pulling splinters out of little Rachel's feet) one Saturday morning. I looked at Trex and found a win, win situation. No staining, sanding, cleaning required. Sounded like the miracle product I was looking for. I rebuilt mine including building a new frame and everything in a single day.So with much success under my belt, a decent tool box (lacking only a good saw) and hating to see my in-laws spend too much money on something I figured I could do, I volunteered for the job. I started August of 2006 spending weekends down in Orem, a bit more than 1 hour drive each way. The government every other Friday off thing came in really handy for this. We first thought we'd just tear up the top boards and replace them with Trex. Of course in reality nothing is so simple. We tore up the top boards only to realize a good 2/3 of the existing frame had dry-rot and would need to be replaced. I worked the weekends up through October until the cold weather forced a closure for the winter. I started again in April doing most weekends though not all due to sickness, lack of motivation, had to be a little honest here, and some family needs. It was going fairly well, though seemed it would never end. And finally at the beginning of August I put the final screw in place, thus completing the project. It will be given it's official breaking in as my in-laws ward has seen the results and scheduled a party over at their house. So here it is:
Specs: It is roughly 14 feet deep by 60 feet wide. Cost: a lot, Trex is spendy, but can you really put a price on 'NO' maintenance. They compensated me for my labors and I got a really nice saw out of the deal. Things I learned: First, air tools are your friend. First half framed by hand nailing, second part done with a palm nailer, so much nicer. Second, I'm not as young as I think I am. This work takes a toll on your body. Third, I really appreciate my college degree and the fact I don't have to do this for a living. But in the end you can look at the finished project which is very nice and say, 'Dang, I did all that. That's gotta add at least $50,ooo to the price of the house'....okay, so probably not.

Ryan