It's Official

We got the permit to start the deck.  It's kinda funny how you plan and plan, but it's just not that real until you have the permit in front of you.  Shit just got real.  So no more talking about it, no more dreaming about it, it's now time to DO IT.

We stopped by the local hardware store to get an estimate on supplies.

J's dad told us the deck was going to run us between $4,000-5,000.  I nearly fell off my chair when he told us that.  I know it's a big deck, but I was not expecting 4,000+ dollars.  Luckily, it wasn't even close to that.

It will only be a little over $1,700, which is great because we have about $1,500 saved up. So we won't have to pay too much out of pocket, which is nice.  I'm glad we planned ahead for this project.  And the best part is we get 11% back as a rebate we can use in the future, which we all know we'll use.  Our rebate was $200, yay for rebates.

So now the permit is up in the window.  That means we can go!

First the old deck had to be taken down.  This bad boy was obviously built without a city permit because it would have never passed inspection.  But that's okay, it going.

This planter also had to go. As you can see, it's filled with a bunch of lovely weeds.  The thing is falling apart and we want it gone.

So we started pulling up the deck.  I stopped only to take this picture, then I was right back in there helping J remove all the screws.

 

Here are the majority of the screws we pulled out of the old deck.

Once all the top boards were off we needed to figure out how to remove the support boards.  Luckily it was as easy as lifting it out of the ground.  The old deck was not built with treated lumber, so all the old supports were rotting away.

Now all the old lumber is stacked up next to the playhouse and ready for bulk pick up. 

Here is an idea of size of the new deck.  The steaks mark the outer perimeter.  It's going to be a big ol' deck but we have to make it this size to avoid the tree stump.

This thing has caused us more headaches then we would have ever thought a tree stump could.  As you can see, we drilled holes and then add salt so that it decomposes quicker.  My mom told us this works, hopefully it will.  I would love this bad boy gone, it smells like roadkill.  There is some sort of mold (or something) that is growing on it that smells so bad, the flies come from the most norther parts of the state.  It's BAD.  So the sooner it's gone the better.

So this is where we are right now.

Just an unhappy looking backyard waiting for a new deck.  I'm hoping that this week brings holes dug and the inspector to okay them.  Then we can be on our marry way.  Fingers crossed.

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I'm having a giveaway over on my other blog, Three Fates Design.  Stop by to see how you can enter to win this awesome beaded triangle necklace.