Deck

Once our garage was done the next thing on the list was to build a deck. We decided on a 20' by 10' deck of treated wood. We decided to build it low enough so that it didn't need a railing or a permit.

First thing we had to do was extend our ledger board on the house so it was long enough to support the deck. We also had to trim the siding and finish it off around the board.

We used lag bolts to secure the ledger board to the house.

Next came the joist hangers. We made the mistake of using galvanised nails to put them on. We had to take them all off and put them on again using deck screws.

Next came the holes for the deck support posts. We used concrete pavers, pier blocks and small adjustable teleposts to hold up the deck. We put in five. Three for the main beam and two to support the beam in front of the window well. We had to frame out around the basement window.

Next we got our main support beam in place and end beams in place and squared them up.

Once it was square we put the deck joists on from the ledger board.

 Once all the deck joists were on we put blocking down the centre of the joists to give it lateral support.

Once that was done we put the facing board on the front of the deck and then we finally got to start putting on the floor boards.

Here's where we made a huge mistake. We placed the first board on, thought it was all good and straight and proceeded to screw the rest of the boards down. We used a nail as a spacer between the boards. Pulled and pried to line them all up perfectly. When we were about half way down my Dad come over to help us finish off and informed us they were all crooked and we had to pull them all off and start over again. Blah. Unfortunately we were crooked right from the very first board.

On the second attempt we used a nail and string to make sure all the boards were perfectly lined up and spaced out. This worked much better and faster. There was a lot less prying and pulling to get the boards straight as we were no longer working off a crooked line to start as the first time round.

Yay the deck is finally done. We just need to take a skill saw to the ends and trim the boards to the same length. We used the stairs that were originally at the back door and placed them at the end of the deck. I originally thought this would be a two day project. When my Dad and I built my last deck that's how long it took. This time it ended up taking a week. Our wood delivery arrived a day late so we had a Sunday afternoon start rather than a Saturday start. The trimming out of the siding took a while as did everything in general lol. Not to mention all the work we ended up having to rip up on the floor boards. Oh well its done now and I love it. Next up is some deck furniture and finishing the rest of the backyard.

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The Garden

We came back from vacation in May to find out that the next day our grass was to be installed. The landscapers that the builders use to do everyone's front yard had already put lawn edging down to make a small flower bed. I wanted a really big flower bed so we pulled it all up and started over putting it in going up both sides of the side walk and around the porch. We also put a smaller bed farther down the side of the house for raspberry bushes.

I got 5 planters for the railing and filled them with Pansies.

To fill in the large space in the flower be I put in a lot more pansies in yellow to tie into the trim of the house, and some petunias. I love hydrangea bushes so I got one of those as well as a rose bush. The builder also gave us a variety of 6 different bushes to fill out the bed. The builder put in the grass for us in the front and down the alley side of the house. The back yard and other side of the house we have to landscape ourselves.

A couple friends gave me plants from their gardens as well. I got bleeding heart, hostas and sweet peas. I planted sweet pea seeds along the porch wall so they will grow up against it. 

Next up is the back yard.