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new look for an old deck

VinceA, member

12 users recommend

Bird's eye view!

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This deck was re-made in 2004 - the existing deck surface was treated lumbar and probably 30-40 years old.  It had been neglected before we moved in - the wood could have been used as an advertisement for a wood protectant product - it had all the "problems" they talk about: checking, splitting, warping, fading, mildew, rot, etc.!  The style was 1960's with those built-in angle-backed benches all the way around - pretty ugly! 

So after several attempts and 12 years of trying to clean /restain the wood and replacing bad pieces, it was time for a new surface and a new look.  The understructure was sound so I simply re-topped the whole thing!  I extended the upper deck from 10 to 14 feet deep, inserted new steps everywhere, angled the corners and generally spiffed it up! 

One of my goals as a do-it-yourselfer was to do it as inexpensively as possible - re-topping instead of rebuilding was the first savings.  The last few decks I helped build for either friends or myself, I had always used screws - this time I used nails to for a cleaner look and saved some money in the process.  (And so far in 5 years I haven't had one nail pop up!)  That summer cedar was nearly the same price as PT, and I got lucky and managed to hand pick the cedar when a new shipment had just arrived at my lumberyard, so I got the prettiest I could find! 

I added low-voltage lighting and finished skirting the whole thing last fall.  I have plans to build some movable benches around the perimeter this summer.  We love it and use it often - it's the focal point of our backyard! 

(The photo was taken from a treehouse - that's another story!)

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Dave's Deck

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Two decks with Chinese Chippendale railing and recessed hot tub

Comments (2)

11kids writes: yep, nice job, I especially like the inset angled stairs. Great design focal point
Posted: 8:21 pm on September 10th

RDA writes: Nice work, Vince! --Robyn
Posted: 10:52 am on May 5th

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