There's a lot to be said for planning

For those of you who have been to our house, you know how ugly our deck is (WAS)! When we bought the house, the deck was kind of shabby and painted dark red. We had it powerwashed SEVERAL times trying to get the paint off and get it back to that natural look. Well, the previous owners had painted it with BARN paint! That stuff doesn't come off with ANY amount of powerwashing. Instead of making the deck look better, it just looked shabbier and shabbier for a couple of years. OK, I'm getting to a point!!!!

So...I decided that it was time to fix the deck. We were going to replace the spindles and rails, rent a belt sander, and sand the planks, paint the decking a dark brown, just to cover the old paint. All of this was decided on Wednesday. Kelly, my stepdaughter from my first marriage, was here on Wednesday and was stuck helping us on Thursday. (all of the following is Kelly's fault - see pic!) So, after we got the spindles and railing off, Kelly asked why we decided not to flip the boards like we had previously mentioned. In a moment of insanity, Tom and I looked at each other and said "why not"? The expression "easier said than done" was invented with us in mind. The boards started splitting when we tried to get them up. Yes, we were using a crowbar and mallet. Reallllllly long story, realllly short....today is Tuesday, we started the project on Thursday and we're not finished. New boards on the deck. White PVC spindles/railing. New 4x4 pressure treated posts. New, wider steps. And divorce only mentioned once....

Stay tuned....