Before and After: Back Deck

This project has been so huge that I did an intermittent before and "in progress" back in April. The deck we inherited with our house was weathered, splitting and generally a mess. Luckily, the foundation was solid, but we had to replace all the top planks, rails, spindles (balusters, whatever), rebuild the stairs and lattice the sides. I say we but really mean Jason and the other handy men in my family.

So that all got done and then we had to wait to stain it. Wait wait waaaaaait. Not my strong suit. I guess the wood needed some time and I stared at yellow pine all summer (is it pine actually? I have no idea. Some kind of plywood). Finally, a couple weeks ago it was time to pick a color! We debated gray to match the foundation of the house but ultimately, I chose taupe. Our kitchen has big sliding doors out to the deck which make it very much an extension of our living space. We look at it year round, therefore I thought it would be best to keep the inside and outside "floors" a consistent color (our kitchen has a tan tile).

I'm in a real pickle here because I can't decide whether to post the before, in progress, and then after pictures. Hmmmm. I guess if you want to see the in progress ones, click on the link above :P

The final results! I know my angles aren't perfect but you'll get it.

The posts are going to get caps around the bottoms at some point to fancy them up, but for now it's finished. I owe it to Jason to post a picture of him laboring away:

He put two coats of semi-transparent stain on the deck and stairs and on all the balusters. He must have reminded me what a pain in the ass those balusters were like a hundred times. Hee hee. That really is a lot of tall, skinny sticks right there. Four sides each ;)

Overall, our house is so much less sad than when we bought it. The grass is greener, the colors are more cheerful, and I think it can tell it is very loved :) Half bath and dining room projects are in the works!