The Front Deck

MISSION: CURB APPEAL

Quite possibly one of our most difficult DIYs yet…the front deck…*enter dramatic music*

So many of you followed along through our Instagram stories on this one so you know how overly excited and ambitious we were when we first set out with this project LOL - Let me start off by saying, 1. Derris and I are CLEARLY not professionals 2. We will most likely not be doing this one again (although we did learn quite a lot throughout this difficult challenge) and 3. This is like building the hardest piece of ikea furniture on steroids…if you know, you know….

OBJECTIVE: turn our empty front planter into a wood deck with an “x” railing fence…how hard could it be? *enter even MORE dramatic music* // Story continued in captions underneath the following images…

The Supports

First we loaded up on the supports, which I’m sure could have held a 100000lb deck, but hey, better safe than sorry! P.S. these things weigh about 900lbs each…not really, but you know

Level Up

Then, we made sure the planter was level, which in the end didn’t really even matter since we had to move so much dirt to get the concrete bases in the ground…but, hey it was superrrrr level for a few hours!

Disaster #1

Apparently there was a broken sprinkler buried in our front planter than had been leaking for god only knows how long…so not only did we uncover a muddy mess but we had to head back to Home Depot for a cap to fix it (I think this was the 4th or 5th trip…)

Pause for Cute Husband

Hi, there he is

The Potential

Got a little glimpse of what it might look like when we were done! Side note/Disaster #1.5: did I mention we couldn’t dig the posts down for support due to the TWO old sprinkler systems that are buried in place on top of each other….Back to home depot we went to get some Quickrete to cement them in place LOL

Building the Base

Step 2/3 - building the base was challenging because we needed to drill into bricks and stucco which meant we had to get two different kinds of screws - back to Home Depot…again….thank god for Derris, that’s all I’m going to say!!

The Framework

We ended up adding a few more supports throughout the middle sections but let me tell you, this thing is STURDY!!

Staying Hydrated...?

Official sponsor of home renovation projects everywhere….

Left our Mark!

Fun fact: we were supposed to be on our honeymoon when we were sweating our butts off building this deck!

More Materials

Once we got the supports in the ground and the base built, we were ready for the rest of the materials which took about and hour and a half to pull off the racks and get loaded into the jeep…

Expertly Packed

Truly, a work of art

Distaster #2

Nothing like a shattered windshield to stop you in your tracks! After the hour and a half of painstakingly packing the car we pulled over about 30 seconds after departing from the parking lot to unpack it all… Shout out Dad for coming to the rescue and the roadside assistance…

Deck Boards

If there was one thing that went right, it’s that the deck boards fit PERFECTLY without having to trim them!!! Celebrate the small wins people!!

Disaster # ???

Filling the gap between the front deck board and the bricks took some thought but we figured we would rather have the gap in the front (under the railings) than in the back! Ended up using a small piece to fill and it fit like a charm!

Painting the Posts

Progress, progress, progress!!!

The First "X"

We were so…not on the same page….when it came to this part LOL so much back and forth, miscommunication, confusion and, yes, some tears…Once we got it built, we stood back and were ELATED!!! But the longer I looked at it, the more I realized it didn’t look quite right…

Nevertheless, Progress

We realized the “X” wasn’t really lining up the way we wanted…after this progress photo and a few heavy sighs, we disassembled it and came up with a new plan for the “X”s

On the Move

Once we found our groove, things really moved quickly! It was so satisfying to finally feel like we were on the right track and making progress!

Happy Campers

Pure joy from two sweaty, tired people…

The Finished Product

Never have I ever been SO happy to be finished with a project…This one taught us so much about ourselves and the only word that comes to mind is PROUD!!!!

Ta-Da

Simply Gorgeous!!!

After 5 weekends, on and off - we def needed some time off here and there…WE FINALLY HAD A FRONT DECK!!!

Journal