When the kids went to Poppy and Mimi's house for the second time this summer, New Daddy and I tackled the deck with bracing, screws, and paint. There were several parts in need of "improvement"... so we wouldn't fall through the swaying railings and break something. The people who built this deck must have not been thinking of maintenance, because it covers the entire back of the house. Who all were they planning to entertain, anyway? And there's a landing dividing the staircase. Good grief.
I never realized how many surfaces could exist on a deck. Each baluster has four sides, for goodness sakes. And did I mention that the deck went on forever? Halfway through our second 5-gallon container of paint, we were finally nearing the end of the project. I have no idea what those people were thinking when they built such a huge deck on this very average house. What were we thinking when we decided to paint it? Well... it was paint it, or watch it rot, that's what. But it turned into a much larger project than we had thought it would be.
We ordered a few more pineapple finials (that the people before us had selected) and painted them, too. Twenty-one finials total. And last Saturday, New Daddy got everything nailed in place. We still need to do a little touch-up painting, but overall, we're done. It took us just under two months, working on and off. We (mostly New Daddy) also painted the front porch floor while we had the paint out. It's nice knowing that it's protected, too.
When the family came over for Precious' baptism this summer (she wanted a private-ish baptism, but it's not very private when you have ~30 family members present), they remarked that the paint made the deck look bigger. I think it could have been that we drastically trimmed the birch tree away from the deck, recalling that we couldn't open the back door during the ice storm last winter. Anyway, it's all for the better, especially since we now have the chickens inside a portable ElectroNet fence, and they're not pooping all over the deck, yard, and pretty much anywhere you would want to step.
Speaking of the chickens, we used these plans to make a pretty sweet tractor (after the other one self-demolished, thanks to a lack of bracing and a proper roof). It's inside the ElectroNet and keeping feed dry. We still need to put the laying boxes in it; but for now, the chickens are mostly laying in the playhouse that we put inside the fence as an extra shelter. And guess what we painted the new tractor with? Yep-- the deck paint, hahaha.
The laying box end- minus the laying boxes.
I never realized how many surfaces could exist on a deck. Each baluster has four sides, for goodness sakes. And did I mention that the deck went on forever? Halfway through our second 5-gallon container of paint, we were finally nearing the end of the project. I have no idea what those people were thinking when they built such a huge deck on this very average house. What were we thinking when we decided to paint it? Well... it was paint it, or watch it rot, that's what. But it turned into a much larger project than we had thought it would be.
We ordered a few more pineapple finials (that the people before us had selected) and painted them, too. Twenty-one finials total. And last Saturday, New Daddy got everything nailed in place. We still need to do a little touch-up painting, but overall, we're done. It took us just under two months, working on and off. We (mostly New Daddy) also painted the front porch floor while we had the paint out. It's nice knowing that it's protected, too.
When the family came over for Precious' baptism this summer (she wanted a private-ish baptism, but it's not very private when you have ~30 family members present), they remarked that the paint made the deck look bigger. I think it could have been that we drastically trimmed the birch tree away from the deck, recalling that we couldn't open the back door during the ice storm last winter. Anyway, it's all for the better, especially since we now have the chickens inside a portable ElectroNet fence, and they're not pooping all over the deck, yard, and pretty much anywhere you would want to step.
Speaking of the chickens, we used these plans to make a pretty sweet tractor (after the other one self-demolished, thanks to a lack of bracing and a proper roof). It's inside the ElectroNet and keeping feed dry. We still need to put the laying boxes in it; but for now, the chickens are mostly laying in the playhouse that we put inside the fence as an extra shelter. And guess what we painted the new tractor with? Yep-- the deck paint, hahaha.
The laying box end- minus the laying boxes.
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