All Done!!

Woooohoooo!!! It's done!! Joe and I have really busted our tooshies for the past two weeks. My beautiful deck is really done done done. It's been the stuff of dreams for so many years, I'd begun to think of it as an impossibility. Joe took one look at my plans and said "let's do it." Next thing I know there is a deck on my house.

We enclosed a small portion of the deck with a board and batten pattern. This was a tutorial for me so I can enclose the rest myself. It also negates the need for a stair rail on this side of the stairs.

My favorite part...a gate to keep Gadget from getting out of the house! Ha!

Notice the pretty pattern with the stiles on the railing. This was something I'd seen online. Joe was very reluctant to try it. He was sure it would mean a lot of extra work. It's the only time he actually whined while he was here. But I insisted, and it turned out really well. Not too much extra work, but a lot of visual bang. Joe also cut the tops of my posts with a 45 degree angle. So Pretty!!!

This is the part where you begin to realize that I've taken advantage of my brother. He built the kids a really cool playhouse. I had the pattern in a book, and have been trying to figure out how to do it. He had this thing done in no time. Well...OK it took time, but SOOO much faster than I could have done.

Long story short...

Joe is a lazy fart who only begs for food and whines if you ask him to work. Never ask him to help you build anything. He really messes it up and is so slow you can't see progress. You'd be much better off getting some random contractor to do the work for you.

Joe asked me to put that in.

Thanks little bro for all the great stuff. This time with Joe has been invaluable. I LOVE HIM!!!