The DECK - Part 1: What Were We Thinking?

So, The Deck.

Here's what we were thinking.

1.  Strip the old, somewhat deteriorating, decking off the joists.  Replace with new deck boards.

2.  Replace the trellis overhead.

3.  Replace the railings.

4.  Replace the stairs.

Here is what happened.

1.  We started to take the older boards off the joists and they were literally shattering into thousands of pieces in our hands.  Good thing we tackled this now huh?

2.  Ummm, that joist looks a little "soft".

3.  Ummm, those are definitely ants.  Carpenter ants.

4.  Should a support post break in two when you rock it back and forth to see if it's still attached?

You get the picture.  We were one incident shy of a catastrophe.  I think somewhere deep in our minds we knew that the deck was dangerous and that we needed to do something about it as soon as possible.  I'm so glad we did.  It was scary.

This is just a organizing post so I remember how far we've come and what it took to get there.  I can honestly say this is the largest, most intense, project John and I have ever attempted.  Nothing else can come close to this.

Here are some pictures of the chaos.

Isn't it pretty?  This was taken in October 2011.   

The closer you get, the scarier it gets huh?

See the patio?  What a disaster.

But you really can't see how bad the deck is from here,
let's move in closer... 

See the chevron pattern.  So on trend.

So stupid for exterior applications.

The builders had to use extra support for the seam on the chevron.

Water liked to go to there.

Ants like to live in moist, dark locales.

Our deck was paradise. 

This trellis is beautiful.  And will be replicated.

These boards broke in half when we moved them.
Just shattered in our hands.... 

This was a 16 foot post that was supporting the trellis.

It broke in half when I wiggled it to see
if there were still screws attached.

Also, note that it was about 1" smaller all the way
around and soaking wet where it was attached to the decking.

 Since we are almost finished attaching the deck boards, I wanted to start to chronicle the process before we forget how difficult and, at times, soul crushing the demo process was.  

Next up, removing and rebuilding!!