Man v. Deck

I decided I should undertake a summer project to keep myself occupied. It was that or move to Tampa. We figured making some improvements to the house we're in now might quell the boredom that makes me want to move. Over the last month whenever I've gathered enough motivation, we've been digging a hole in the ground.

The garden is beautiful, but we need somewhere to sit and take it all in. At first we were going to make a stone patio. We measured it out to be about 96 square feet (8x12) and started digging. Thinking it would be easy to dig an even space 6 inches into the ground was the first mistake. I don't have that pretty black dirt like folks in the midwest. Mine is rocky red clay, which isn't conducive to shovels. Still, we kept digging.

Well, after digging this big hole, we changed plans and now we are constructing a wooden deck. Transporting gravel and sand, tamping the gravel, and leveling the stones became overwhelming. I found plans online to build a wooden deck instead. We probably could have done that without digging a hole, but what's done is done. Of course, the wooden deck comes with its own set of complications. Right now we are leveling the concrete piers which will hold the foundation beams in place. Sounds easy, right?

Stay tuned...