I built a deck!

A picture of a new deck at night. Landscape lighting illuminates plants around.

Long time no see! Most of the time, I'm building things on computers, but occasionally I get distracted and make poor decisions with my time and build things in the physical world. This past summer I decided to rip our old rotting cedar deck and replace it with something a little more modern.

I rebuilt everything starting with footings a couple of feet below the ground. I decided to go with Deckorators Voyage line in Khaya, accented by Dark Slate picture frame boards. It was a ton (actually a lot more than if you weighed the materials coming and going off property) of work, but I'm quite pleased with the result. I have a retaining wall I'll have to build to meet the deck next summer, but I'm done for now.

Here are some pictures in order of progress.

The old rotting deck. Time to go!
An older rotting deck. Time to go!
Start of demolition.
Start of demolition.
More demolition.
More demolition.
All gone! Nearly two tons of material.
All gone! Nearly two tons of material.
The old deck was built on top of footings resting right on grade. Time to fix that.
The old deck was built on top of footings resting right on grade. Time to fix that.
One deck. Some assembly required.
One deck. Some assembly required.
The framing coming together.
The framing coming together.
Free dog picture.
Free dog picture.
Deck board delivery.
Deck board delivery.
Some of the boards getting in place.
Some of the boards getting in place.
Not done, but I needed to smoke a tri-tip after not having access to my smoker all summer.
Not done, but I needed to smoke a tri-tip after not having access to my smoker all summer.
Nearly done.
Nearly done.
All done. Lights installed and fireplace providing some warmth in the evening.
All done. Lights installed and fireplace providing some warmth in the evening.

Phew. That was a lot. I need to get back to the computer. I'm not cut out for this kind of thing.

Written by Matt Haliski

The First of His Name, Consumer of Tacos, Operator of Computers, Mower of Grass, Father of the Unsleeper, King of Bad Function Names, Feeder of AI Overlords.