De deck is done! De deck is done!

That would be the deck out back that has been a source of: contention ("Does the contractor know what the hell he's doing?"), aggravation ("But you said you'd be finished three months ago!"), irritation ("Could you at least clean up the insane mess you've made of the surrounding landscape?"), procrastination ("Didn't he say that would take 15 minutes to finish like 15 days ago??"), humiliation ("OMG, he lost ANOTHER worker to a macho ego fight?"), rationalization ("Of course he's blaming the carpenter for all his own mistakes!"), trepidation ("Are those skanky crackwhore-looking girls he keeps bringing here supposed to work...on his penis?").

During the course of this nightmare three different workers threatened to kill the contractor or at least hunt him down; a carpenter put an axe through his foot (fortunately NOT while working here but at his own home), a carpenter went to jail (not once, but twice, both times for breaking a restraining order his ex-wife took out on him--we never saw him again after the second bust), and three -- or was it four? --different crews quit on him in despair. Then, for most of the month of July, a complete nervous breakdown on the part of the contractor. (Very loose paraphrase of his voicemail during the Dark Days of July: "I can't talk. I just can't now. My world's gone to shit. Everything I planned for, all my hopes and dreams have died. DIED ON THE ROCKS OF FALSE HOPE! I don't want to live anymore. But if I do, I'll call you back. BEEEEEEEEEEEEEP.")

However all those memories faded away when we had our first big BBQ this past Sunday with a bunch of delightful friends who admired and praised the deck and reminded us that we are ever so lucky to have this retreat.

This is a shot of the back deck when we bought the house. It was a narrow walkway out the back door. What made us hire these contractors is that while everyone else who bid thought it'd be a quick job to simply replace the floorplanks, this contractor immediately noticed that the support system was in trouble and warned us not to go out there until it was repaired. We thought perhaps he was exaggerating to get the job -- until his men tore up one of the planks and the support beam beneath it collapsed. Apparently everything was so rotted, the only thing holding up the support beam was the rotting plank it was supposed to be supporting.

And here's the brand-new deck shot from the same POV. Room for partying, and a gorgeous gazebo with screens and an indoor fan to make balmy evenings a beautiful and bug-free experience. We LOVE our new deck! We love our new grill too.

Pix snagged from ketzl: home improvement.

August 28, 2007 in Autobiographical Urges | Permalink

Your Comments

G, W, & K --- enjoy! It looks wonderful!

Posted by: mitch at Aug 28, 2007 1:31:02 PM

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Thanks, Mitch! It's awesome. :) Will's out grilling on it right now.

Posted by: Gloria at Aug 29, 2007 1:15:14 PM

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