June 8: Nothing there yet.
June 14: Measuring out the size and locations for support footers.
June 14
June 15: The footing locations are set - see them spray-painted in white?
June 28: After digging holes for the footings, we pour concrete into the holes.
June 28: Mixing concrete
June 28: For posterity.
June 28: All the holes are filled with concrete. I don't want to ever do that again.
June 30: Attaching the header to the house. The header is bolted to joists in the basement; it connects the deck outside to the structure of the house inside, tying it all together.
June 30: Header's up!
July 19: Wood's here! That's our whole deck, stacked neatly in the backyard.
July 19: Remember those holes with the concrete? These wood supports are on top of those, supported by a special bracket. They are essentially what holds up the deck.
July 19: Cutting the footings to the right size and shape.
July 19: Placing the cross-supports.
July 19: All in a day's work. Supports, cross-supports, and the first of the runners (on the right side, the beam running straight out from the house).
July 19: Work is done for the day, now it's time for a cold one.
July 20: Dad's laying the runners. Most of them are 16 feet long; the ones coming straight out from the house are 12 feet.
July 21: A view from the inside.
July 23: Runner's are finished! You can really see it starting to take shape now.
July 23
July 23: Soon we'll be walking out of those doors...
July 26: Time to screw on the decking.
July 26: You've got a long way to go, Michele.
July 26: Still going...
July 27: The floor is all finished. That didn't take long: 9 days from the day we started with the wood.
July 27
July 27: The Mastermind.
July 27: Some difference, eh? The sliding doors don't lead to nowhere anymore.
July 27: Roger gets in on the action.
July 30: Posts for the railing. The posts will come up a few inches above the railing.
July 30: These two posts are higher so we can hang plants, lights, etc.
August 4: The next step? Steps.
August 4: Steps are almost done, and the railing is underway.
August 4
August 6: Steps are nearly complete, and now spindles are going up.
August 9: Spindles are almost finished.
August 9
August 18: Another staircase complete.
August 18: Finished!
August 18
August 19: Pure deck-building muscle.
