We loved the yard on this house. With three little people running around, we knew we wanted some extra space for the kids to play. We also knew we wanted some deck space since we love to have people over. This deck was great! It did, however, need a little TLC.  This is how it looked when we moved in.First things first, it needed some serious power washing. I borrowed a washer from a guy in our small group and went to work.  And I mean work.  This was my fist time using a power washer and it was quite a job.  I spent about 10 hours on it, but the outcome was AMAZING! A clean deck. Still red, not my first choice, but CLEAN!  I actually think the deck will need this every year.  It’s pretty shady back there most of the time (GREAT for the summertime), but that means things don’t dry well and get/stay dirty easily.  Look at the difference!Next, we needed to repair a bunch of deck boards that were rotting through.  There were a few spots on the stairs going down that were completely soft and needed to be repaired as well.  Once those boards were taken off, we realized the entire stairway needed to be rebuilt and could come down with a big jump or step.  Luckily my dad was here from Florida that week (and the man can do anyyyyyyyything!) so he went to work.Once the deck was clean, and the boards were replaced, I knew it was time. TIME TO PAINT.  Painting is seriously my favorite thing. Some people lean on ice cream. Or shopping. Or drinking. Not me though. A paint brush and some music and I am a happy camper. But…look at all those spindles. Just look at them. I didn’t count them because that would be silly (there are exactly 130 of them). And all of them needed to be primed. And then painted.  Twice.  Lord help me.After a long weekend of painting all the white trim, now came the easy part, the deck.  I gave it a final sweep, brushed all the edges and then rolled the deck.  Took a few hours and two coats, but it looked like a NEW DECK! By the way, I used paint from Sherwin Williams called Deckscapes and I can’t say enough about it! We used it in our last house too and it covers and holds up great.

I bought some plants, put our table and chairs back out, and hung lights up to make the space homey and comfortable.Our family spends a lot of time out here, especially in the fall and spring.  Although most of it was just cosmetic, the improvement was huge! One of my favorite times to be out on the deck is at night.  It’s the best!Also, here’s a quick bonus. Since these pictures, we’ve added a new table.  I sold the old one and purchased pressure treated pine for this new one. (you’ll start to see that I have a habit of selling old things and using the money to build something new!) I followed some easy plans online and built this large farmhouse table and bench.  It easily seats 10 people!  And I finished it just in time for my big boy’s 8th birthday dinner with some buddies.And the new table is also a great place to work on some art. 🙂Check out before and afters of the entire house.
Don’t forget to visit The Shop!