Decking the Outdoors

We hope everyone had a sparkling Fourth of July filled with memories, pride, honor and borderline heatstroke.  We couldn't have wished for better weather.  Thank you Mother Nature.  You da bomb.

This week/end we were able to get the majority of our newly designed deck completed.  Not going to lie, there were lots of moments of "what the **** did we get ourselves into?"  In the end, us humans prevailed.  

We were able to reuse a lot of what we had, fortunately.  Therefore, the cost wasn't too unbearable, in fact it was quite reasonable.  We certainly aren't experts at deck building as this is a first for us, but what I can tell you is the materials that we used to make our deck are far less expensive than "traditional" deck materials... and the end result kinda makes me want to eat a Chipotle burrito.

Cost Breakdown:

19 4x4x4 wood posts= $87.00

26 3/4x10 feet galvanized pipes= $92.00

12 boxes of screws= stopped counting

L brackets= $20.00

Pipe cutters= $60.00

2 2x2x8= $10.00

2x8x12= $15.00

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Grand Total:  $350.00ish

For a very typical and very basic deck similar in size (11x16), you are looking at $4,000.00.  We win!  This price point was found courtesy of amazingdecks.com by using their deck estimator.

Just to get our thank you's out there, there would be absolutely no way we could have done this without the help of my parents.  Even after dad's knee surgery he was ripping up deck boards with the best of 'em.  My dad could in fact be a superhero...  

My mom was even able to get the rest of our deck furniture painted.  We love you mom!  As an added bonus, our stainless steel appliances have never looked better.

If you don't remember what our deck looked like before, here is a little refresher-- Old Deck

In no particular order, here is a photo montage of our three days together with the deck:

The rail removal process begins

Dad the demolition man.

The rails are down!  Gretzky is enjoying the open view.

Posts are up!

Galvanized piping going up.

Even the pups enjoyed all of the outdoor time:

 Momma getting her paint on. Doesn't she do fabulous work?  I love this Poppy Red color by Rustoleum.

This photo represents seven seats.  That means seven people can comfortably chill on our deck.  Please tell me it is a normal "mature adult" reaction to get excited over these kind of things.

Aaaand last but not least, here is the deck at 85% completion:

Still a few things left to do, but it's giving me so many smiles!  I just love it so much!  Time to break this sucker in soon.  Black-out and get wasted party photos coming soon... not.  We wouldn't put those up for public viewing, but the party part will happen. Happy Monday!