Deck

When I was taking a picture of my "cool corner" to send to my friend Eric, my deck
(above) was over to the side.. which is why it's not quite in focus. It isn't what I was
focusing on.

When I saw this photo it was the first time I saw my deck. Up until then, my deck
was something I crossed several times a day, oblivious of its looks or health.

Once I saw it, I was quite ashamed that my deck looked like this. It just looked so
trashy.

So, I decided to have my deck replaced. It was only then, when the old deck was pulled
up, that I saw how rotten it was underneath. My old deck wasn't flat because it was
badly rotted.

The support structure on my new deck isn't ideal... I didn't see what was happening.

But, I think if I put some rock around the cement things and plant some thyme and other
plants, that it will look charming.

Oh, the other thing is that in this picture you can see the side of my Big Trellis that I had
put up for me. My plan was to grow some kind of neat vines on it. But I wasn't very
well this year.

I hadn't realized that it would edge off the side of the house so well.

I want to put up shutters around the forlorn, cheap looking window. I'm loving the idea of
green shutters, sort of a lightish green... More about that later.

One thing's for sure, this bit about the shutters was sort of fun...

I found these pictures of shutters, and the feeling from these pictures is what I'd
like to get from my back area when I look at my window...

Dusty Darker Green? The other thing I was thinking, was that maybe bats would
come and live in the shutters, which I was happily excited about because of how
many mosquitoes they eat. But then I read an article about the amount of guano
they make... and even though it's great for the garden... I began to have some
doubts.

Blue Grey Shutter - There's a house here in Santa Fe, on Canyon Road, with
shutters about this color and I've always loved it and the feathery shrubs
growing buy it. But for my house... I don't know.

Sage (?) Green - This looks the most like a commercially available color. And,
my neighbors have their trim about this color and it's always been a favorite look
of mine.

Again... do you think I have to paint my post? Do you think all the trim has to
match?

I sure wish I'd get the equity from my condo back. Then I'd get some really neat,
"beautiful" actually, Pella windows that I saw at Lowe's. But... right now I'm not
even in a position to pay my October mortgage.

I bought Phillips Premium coated screws that were supposed to be all right to use
with the treated wood that is in place for the supports.

But when the $60 an hour guy (for him and his illegal helper)
screwed them in, (I keep reading the above to say "screwed
them up" -- but really I do mean, screwed them in) the heads
were all left above the top surface of the wood.

Not all. You can see that some of the screws are in deeper and
there's no black around them.

When the deck was sanded, it looked great. But then it rained.
The black marks appeared after there was rain on the sanded
deck. It looked horrendous.

So I had to have all those screws removed and replaced, and I
had to have the whole thing sanded again...

This was one of three pretty serious problems.

My original plan was to have a fascia plate to sort of finish
the deck off and make it look more substantial.

But the cinder blocks are too far out in several places... so
there wasn't room to attach the finishing board.

The builder kicked this block under a bit more... so it looks
better than it does in this picture, but the deck bobs a bit
when I step there now.

I think that if I plant things around the bottom of the deck it
will look nice in a country sort of way.

Also, when he came back to saw off the excess from the
support boards, he didn't take the decking up, he just put
his saw next to them... so, they got sawed and their edge
was irregular. He turned them over when I complained, but
he broke the screw heads off, which I didn't realize until a
friend was stepping off and one of the boards popped off
the screws because there were no heads.

I didn't call him back because by then I'd been sued by the
first guy and I was a little... overwhelmed.

For some reason,
unfathomable to me, the
builder put in a few boards
that were clearly not long
enough...

And then when he came
and replaced them he used
the side of the redwood that
was least red.

I can't help but think he did
it because he was angry I
called him upset about the
black marks.

In any case even after I
sealed it the color was
radically different in that
area.

But I used Behr sealer that
was supposed to be clear.

The fellows who replaced the screws for me and did the sanding were really nice. I
don't think they have enough experience with a level to have done the support
boards underneath... but these fellows are great.

They aren't "builders" so much as handy men... but they come when they say, they
are efficient, they are helpful, and they do a better job.... if driving the screws in
further is better.