Summertime decking

Final steps in order to call this home complete, include the second floor wrap-around deck.

Perhaps you, dear reader, have looked at house photos with curiosity, taking note of the obvious second floor french door with a mighty large first step. Skylar has taken to calling this "the door to nowhere". Charlie has proposed a zip line from the loft to the dock- straight shot, no interruptions! You may have bitten your tongue in favor of being polite. But really, this was something you intended to bring to our attention before too much time passed out of concern for safety of family and loved ones. After all, we have invited your children to come visit... and you're nervously wondering if you need to pack their helmets and knee pads, and harness them into repelling gear.

Worry not, we're all over it. While the deck wasn't intended to be such a late step in the house-building process, it all works out in the end. The winter ground thawed in late spring and Joe set into place precast cement pilings. After that, the guys made it look easy.

Pilings up, framing done, decking material selected (who knew there were so many choices? In the end, we opted for classic spruce), railings up, furniture and flowerpots in position, bring on the friend and family gatherings.