New Door

The new basement door is installed. This is Cooper's favorite spot. Coop loves being able to see outside.

New Windows

The basement and garage windows are installed. These Andersen windows match the windows on the first floor of the house.

Deck Complete

The deck is finished.

Aerial views of the deck, shot from an upstairs window.

We are very happy with the way the deck turned out.  .

Garage Window

These are the existing windows in the garage and basement.As you can see they are in bad shape.  The previous owner, replaced one of the panes with a piece of wood. He then drilled a hole in it to run electrical wire outside! I always wonder what the previous owner was thinking when he was doing "home (not) improvements".

We are having the windows replaced while the deck is built.

Almost Done

The deck is almost finished.

 

All that is left to complete are the stairs and gate.

This is what the deck looks like.

Basement Door

We replaced the basement door shortly after buying the house. However, due to the constant moisture and lack of sunlight, the outside frame was starting to rot. While the deck is being built, we are having a new door installed. The frame is made of a composite, that should last forever.


The new door is all glass. Cooper will love being able to see outside. I hope  the quality is as good as the sales person claims.

Progress

Most of the floorboards have been installed. I like that the builder put an "edge or frame" on the outer rim of the deck and then installed the floorboards on a diagonal within the frame.

The railing is also starting to be installed.

Posts

The railing posts are installed. The floorboards are starting to be installed. We chose to run the flooring on a diagonal, instead of the traditional horizontal.

Framing

The framing for the deck is almost complete.

The new 32 foot deck is much smaller than the previous one.

Footers Ready

The footers have been poured. We are waiting for the lumber to be delivered, so construction can start.

Footers

The footers have been dug and inspected. Deck construction can now begin.

Deck Demolition

Our old deck has been completely removed.

Deck Started

When I arrived home, I was surprised to see a trailer in the driveway.

The railings have been  removed from the deck.

Deck Delayed

A few hours after the Deck blog post went out, I received a call from our builder. I knew that we were in trouble, when he said, "We hit a snag with the Wilton Wetlands Commission".

Although we are reducing the size of the deck by 40%, the Wetlands Commission is stating that we need a Wetlands permit, because we are changing the footprint of the deck. This makes absolutely no sense to me. It would be fine to rebuild our mammoth deck, but a smaller deck is cause for concern ?

As you might remember, our last encounter with the Wetlands Commission took months to resolve and was extremely expensive. I am hoping that this experience will be less painful.

For now, deck construction is on hold.

Deck

This is our existing deck. As you can see it is very large and not very attractive.

Even worse, the deck is in bad shape.

We believe a previous owner built this poorly constructed deck. The builder did not dig the footings deep enough. As you can see the footing has shifted and the support beam rests on the dirt.

We are having a new deck built which is much smaller and suits our needs. Construction should begin in the next few days.