Connor’s New Room

Yesterday I got a bee in my bonnet about making some changes to Connor’s room.  His is the only room in the house that really has undergone zero changes since we moved in.  We set everything up in his room the day Jill and I brought the kids’ furniture over, and it really hasn’t changed.  I have not been happy with the lack of floor space in his room (and he hasn’t either), but I honestly didn’t think there was any way the bed could be moved to increase it any. 

That all changed yesterday after school, when I sent him in the living room with his Lego bucket and told him I needed his room for awhile.  Knowing how much the kids love surprises, I didn’t let either one of them in while I was working.  It took me less than an hour (and that includes vacuuming) and it cost zero dollars.  I think it turned out beautifully!  And check out all that available floor space . . .

Connor just loves it, and so does everyone else who has seen it.  What a difference a little furniture-moving makes!  Sometimes it’s the little changes that make a big difference.  In case you’ve forgotten what it looked like before, here’s a couple of shots (notice the narrow strip next to the bed that was his only place to play).

The Deck

I posted this photo on my Project Life blog last Monday, but I thought I should post it here as well.  Here is the finished deck with the furniture.  Doesn’t it look inviting?  I’m obviously missing flowers and pots, etc., but those will have to wait until it’s warmer.  I just wish we could enjoy the deck – this rain and cold weather isn’t very enticing, that’s for sure.

Deck Construction - Weekend Edition

Our two day marathon of deck construction started Saturday morning with a trip to Lowe's.  For the past few days, Jas has been digging the holes and filling them with concrete, and with a nice weather forecast for the weekend we hooked up a trailer and headed out with a long list of lumber and materials to purchase.  After a couple of hours spent filling three carts, we purchased all our supplies and loaded everything on the trailer. 

As soon as we got home, Jas constructed his "water level" to aid in the construction of the posts to support the deck.  He used some tubing we purchased at Lowe's, along with some pvc pipe leftover from the house construction.

This little thing was awesome!  Because the ground slopes away from the house, we knew that all six posts were not going to be the same height.  So we filled this with water, and Jas used the level of water in the pipe to determine the height of each post.  It was so cool!  As Jas stated later, there was no way we could have built this thing without it.  We obviously don't own a level big enough to span 16 feet, so this was really the only way to gauge the height each post should be.

After we cut all the posts and attached them to the concrete, we started on the beams.  These massive boards had to be attached to the posts.  The beams are bolted to the posts, and then additional bracing was added after the joists were placed.

Jas dug the water level out, and then we started the framing.  He had most of the joists done before supper, and the rest were finished that evening.

After all the framing was completed, we went ahead and laid out all the deck boards so we'd be ready to go for Sunday.  We finished up after dark, so I don't have a good shot of the deck as it looked when we went in for the night.  But it was so nice to accomplish so much in one day, especially since we didn't start construction until after lunch!

The next morning we worked on the decking.  We took our time, placing each board where we wanted it and making sure we liked the overall look.

I pre-drilled the ends of each board, and Jas came along behind me and attached all the boards with screws.  Jas prefers to use screws over nails, so the entire deck is screwed together.  Before he attached the deck boards, he added quite a bit of extra bracing to the frame.  This thing's not going anywhere!  As he announced this afternoon, only an earthquake powerful enough to swallow the deck whole could damage it.  :)  The afternoon and evening were spent building and attaching the steps.  We have a simple three foot wide set of steps leading down from the house, and then a much larger six foot set of stairs off the deck. 

 

And here's the finished structure.  We are SO proud of this project, both in how quickly it came together and in how hard we worked to get it done in one weekend.  Our muscles ache tremendously (plus we got sunburned Sunday), but the feeling you get when you design and construct something yourself is truly awesome.  We finished up too late to get the patio furniture out, but we plan to do that Monday evening.  We did set the grill up though after I took this photo.  I'll post a completed photograph as soon as we get the furniture set up.

Now I realize that this deck may not be everyone's cup of tea.  But it is exactly what we wanted.  It ended up being a few more inches off the ground than we had originally planned (mainly due to the slope of our yard), but other than that it is all we were looking for.  We don't like railings, so you won't see any on this deck.  We like the modern open look, so the steps and sides will stay the way they are.  Our plan is to add some flower beds to the sides when we landscape, and eventually we will probably build something to camouflage the air conditioner.  But right now we are tickled pink with our new deck and can't wait to use it!

Digging Holes

Connor volunteered to help Wednesday night in the "digging holes" portion of building the deck.  Although shortly after this shot was taken he asked for some work gloves.  He told his father that this was a lot of fun, to which Jason replied that he sure was glad at least one person was having fun out there. :)

The process was pretty straightforward.  Jas started the hole, and then Connor would measure to make sure it was 12" in diameter.

Next, Connor would dig the hole and fill up the trailer on the back of the four wheeler.  Connor's shovel isn't nearly as long, however, so he usually only made it about 20" before he had to ask for Dad's help.  Then Jas would come in with the post hole digger and finish it out.

They had all six holes dug before dark, and I took the wheelbarrows full of dirt and dumped them in various holes Trixie's dug.  We took the trailer full of dirt and dumped it in Connor's dirt box.

Jas went to get about 1000 lbs of concrete from Lowe's Thursday afternoon, and last night we mixed concrete and filled holes.  This process took a lot longer than expected for a couple of reasons.  One, 30" was way too deep and we ended up having to fill the holes back in with dirt to about 24".  Each hole was taking over 3 bags of concrete, and that was ridiculous.  Two, the wheelbarrow we were using was very old, and isn't really the greatest thing to mix concrete in.  Jas had thought about renting a mixer, but ended up not.  If it hadn't been for the insanely strong wind yesterday it really wouldn't have been too bad.

He placed anchor bolts in the concrete, and rigged up these cool 2x4 supports to keep them level and spaced apart correctly.  We worked for about 2 1/2 hours and finished all but one hole.  Jas is picking up two more bags of concrete today and we'll finish the last hole tonight.  His dad had two extra bags in the machine shed, but the moisture evidently got to them or something because Jas said they were solid.  Oh well.  Who doesn't love a trip to Lowe's at lunchtime?  :)

The plan is to finish the concrete tonight after supper, and then all that's left is to buy the lumber and we can get to work.  That new deck will be here before you know it!

Outdoor Project #1 -- The Deck

We started our first of numerous outdoor projects last night.  The deck is first up on the list, even though it didn't start that way.  The original plan was to build the storage building first, but after a lengthy discussion on Sunday afternoon Jas decided he wanted to start with the deck.  I did not argue, mainly because 1) it really doesn't matter to me what order we do them in and 2) I'm not the one doing most of the work. 

Before starting this project, we did what we always do and spent a considerable amount of time planning it out.  Jas and I are both of the belief that you do it once and do it right.  In other words, don't hastily cobble something together and then in a few years (or less) decide it really wasn't what you wanted/needed and have to redo it.

Our first discussion point was discovering exactly what we wanted and needed out of our outdoor space.  We know we want three things:  some kind of carport for the vehicles to park under to prevent scraping ice in the winter, a storage building for our stuff, and a deck or patio to have the grill on and be able to use for lounging around outside or having get-togethers.  Jas would enjoy being able to have a large shop outside to work on cars in and other larger projects, but that's not a necessity.  If we ran into a great deal of money down the road we might consider building one, but that's not high up on the list. 

We decided on a carport, but a carport is more expensive than the other two projects and now that winter's (hopefully) over we can wait on that for a little bit.  So that project is shelved until probably this fall.  That leaves us with the storage building and deck/patio.

Our storage building plan has been completed for a couple of months now.  We found an 8x10 storage building that we really liked at Menard's last fall for $700.  Jas knew he could build it for less, and he was right.  We priced lumber, etc. this past week and we can do an 8x12 for less money.  That's a win-win, if you ask me.  The plans are drawn up and the list of materials has been made and priced, so this project is ready to go.  We went with an 8x12 because, after considering the stuff we wanted to store and the space it would take up, an  8x12 was perfect for our needs.  We could go bigger, but we both know that you fill up what you have, and a bigger building would mean room for more junk.  We really want to avoid that!  So an 8x12 is perfect for us.

The deck/patio has been a more difficult project to finalize.  Mainly because we've been back and forth over what we want.  We really like the idea of a patio because there's less maintenance.  However, it's more work to get it level and to actually lay the stones and Jas didn't really want to invest that kind of time in it.  We discussed patio stones, blocks, and even concrete, but it just wasn't what we wanted.  So we switched to deck plans, and then the choices multiply as well.  Do you want to use composite decking, cedar, or treated lumber?  Are you building a free-standing or attached deck?  Do you want it low to the ground or up in the air with storage underneath?  Lots and lots of questions.  Here's what we went with.

All along we've been leaning more toward composite decking, but so much of it gets bad reviews for mold growth and warped boards that to us it didn't really justify the much larger price tag.  We'd love to do a cedar deck, but that price tag is a little heftier than we want as well.  :)  So we finally decided on treated lumber, and we're happy with our choice. 

Next up was the size and shape of the deck.  We knew from the beginning we wanted what is known as a "patio deck", meaning low to the ground.  We wanted to keep it open with no railings, and the only way to do that is to build it right off the ground.  Both of us looked at A LOT of decks and knew the look we wanted.  It will be more of a free-standing structure, but it will sit up next to the foundation of the house.  It is a basic rectangle, and the size we finally decided on is 16x10.  We set everything out like it would sit on the deck, and then measured around the space.  16x10 was a little bigger than necessary, but it centers up perfectly on the patio doors. 

Sunday afternoon we drew up the plans on this cool deck-building software available on Lowe's website.  Jas printed them out last night (along with the lumber and materials list) and we went outside to mark off the holes that need to be dug.

Jas dug the first hole last night armed with only a shovel and brute force.  There really wasn't time to do any more, but he plans to use a post hole digger tonight.  :)  Although it really didn't take him long to get this hole dug.  It has be to 30" deep and 12" across.  Amazingly, he eyeballed it and had it within an inch.  Tape measure?  We don't need no stinking tape measure! :)

There will eventually be six holes, and each one will be filled with concrete. 

I'll keep updating the blog as we go.  He plans to dig some more tonight and get concrete tomorrow (Thursday).  More photos and descriptions to come!