Many many many months ago, I introduced you to Project Deck. This by far will go down as our all time most laborious construction project we've done on our house thus far. And there have been a lot of projects over the years.
A deck. Who would have thought??
Before I get into that, let's take a little moment to enjoy the motivation behind the project...
Ahhhh....
Now a recap. Old deck (buh-bye!)...
And the drawings brought to life by my husband and our original contractor...
Notice I said original contractor. This is where the crazy started to come in. Our original contractor took everything to permitting and then poof - disappeared!
Months of prep and planning were down the drain. We were genuinely worried about him for awhile, and then by the magic powers of Facebook realized he was alive, well and decided we would just move on as well. Looking back on it we realized he had been making excuses and putting off the project for almost two months. The warning signs were there, but we liked him as a person and overlooked it. Oh well, moving on.
After a few more inquiries and revisiting some of our previous bids, we were finally able to get Project Deck underway right around Memorial Day.
The Cutes were already out of school for the summer, and they were beyond excited to see anything and everything construction related. It was the best babysitter/petsitter I could have ever asked for. Literally, for hours they would be in this position watching.
The original deck took no time at all to come down!
Then the new deck construction seemed to be going just as quick.
With project supervisors like these we figured the deck would be done in no time. :)
In just a few short days, the deck began to resemble to the drawings and our dream deck was quickly coming to life.
We had to leave for our summer vacation to Hilton Head Island around this point in construction, but some neighbors were nice enough to check in occasionally and send us pics.
We came home and then things slowly started to go a little askew from here.
The project moved forward but at a snails pace for a few weeks.
I'm not joking, we literally saw a few people arrive, grab tools, hammer a few things and then leave for the day.
And for those few hours I would be so on edge. No ladder. No harness. Just a hoist, and a grab, and a prayer. Cirque de Soleil should totally hire these guys.
The frustration came when our original timeline wasn't even going to be close. It was summer, and we wanted to be able to at least use the backyard, but with construction going on it took the whole back area out of commission. We were patient though, and after a few tough conversations we finally started to see movement again.
Each morning a crew would arrive right at 7a.m. now, and summer in the south isn't for the week. With temps usually in the high nineties and even 100's already it looked like it was a tough job - I felt so bad. The
And their acrobatics were still on point through the whole thing.
Then it began to rain. And rain. And rain.
Throw in a building inspection gone wrong - times two - and we stalled out again.
The rain finally stopped, and the building inspection issue cleared up, but for the most part the deck looked like this for a long time.
Then on our part life took on a different meaning, and Project Deck took a major back burner in our priorities. We cut checks and just trusted that things were moving forward as scheduled. We weren't home for almost a month, and we expected to come home to a finished deck.
Wishful thinking on our part. As our attention was elsewhere so was our contractors.
A few more conversations, and the project began to move forward again. For those who haven't fallen asleep yet at the painstakingly slow progress - we are now looking at 9 weeks worth of building.
9. Whole. Weeks.
For a deck.
School started, and our attention was still elsewhere, but we also wanted our house to at least be in a normal state.
Fortunately our contractor finally heard our pleas, and sped the process way up.
Towards the end of August we were in the home stretch, and for the most part Project Deck was looking like it might finally be done by Labor Day weekend.
Surprisingly, we had yet another inspection issue and I think our contractor might have shed a tiny tear at not getting that C.O. for us.
However, at this point we had a couch on order and a working t.v. with tailgate chairs to hold us over (no shame in our game). We were rolling with Project Deck being a done deal.
Even after all the crazy we love how it turned out. It is exactly what we envisioned when we thought of redoing our outdoor living space, and we are so excited to enjoy it this fall.
I've done a little decorating here and there and we keep making little furniture tweaks, but at least we are now on to my favorite part - the decorating!
I've been able to share a sneak peek or two on Instagram, and stay tuned tomorrow for a fun little porch tour we have planned with a special "delight"-ful
I will plan on doing a full tour with a full list of details soon! Until then, feel free to share your favorite places for hunting down outdoor decor - I've been on quite the mission, but apparently it's already Christmas in the wonderful world of retail and I've majorly missed out. Eek!
PROJECT DECK CHECK LIST
