Our Life for the Past Week

Updated: I think I fixed the problem with a few of the pictures.

Original Post: Well, here we have one of the "Before" pictures, but keep in mind that usually we don't have eight tarps covering 2 by 4s, soffets, and plywood on our deck. This is just what it looked like for the week or more while we waited for the rain to subside. Take note of the huge puddles on the tarps, which actually were handy because they kept the tarps from flying away.


So, on the second day of no rain in this wet month of June 2009, Tim and his friend Jesse both took off of work to get started on our deck covering.

Ethan was excited to have his friend Jesse here, and we spent the morning gathering all of his tools and doing some building ourselves. Then Grandma came over with a bunch of new toys that she had found at garage sales. Oh, and Ethan needed his hat and sunglasses, too, just like daddy and Jesse. How wonderful that sunshine felt!

Imagine my excitement when I saw the guys actually get one of the poles and support beams up. I really didn't think this project was going to get done before July at the rate we were going. I was ecstatic to see progress.

By the end of the first day, they had the basic covering up. Tim was so great about spending two whole days helping with the project, even though he had to spend some time just watching while Jesse did the one-man tasks.

Day Two was much more wet than Day One. Thankfully they had the covering up.


Ethan enjoyed his snack while watching the guys.

And here they are working in the rain. (Take note of the puny posts. . . more on that later.)

Jesse had shown us some other coverings he had made, but we asked him to make some changes to those designs, one of which was the soffet (sp?), to give the covering a more finished look and to keep things bright.

Another change we had him make were the pergola-like rafters .

You might also notice that the posts are much heftier-looking in these last two pictures than in the picture where the guys are working in the rain. The original plan was to keep 4 by 4s as the only supports, and when I saw that, I just thought it looked puny and disproportionate, so I found a picture of a covering that had the 4 by 4s wrapped in 2 by 8s and 2 by 4s. I was so thankful that Jesse was willing to modify, even when it took him quite a bit of extra time to cut the boards and get them to fit at the right angle.

Anyway, now Tim and I have been prepping the deck for staining, and I have been spending nap-time sanding and staining. A huge shout-out to Kate and Ethan for being great nappers! I love painting, so this has been a therapeutic week. LOVE IT.

Apparently, Ethan loves it, too, because when he saw the huge tub of paint and the huge paint brushes, the only thing he could talk about was painting.

"Ethan, do you want an ice cream cone?"

"No, let's paint."

He was a good helper.





Coming soon. . . the finished product (weather-permitting).