I’m going to try to pick these up again! After my dad died, I lost a lot of my motivation to keep working on the house. It was one of the things we did together.
But in the last two months or so, slowly, slowly, I’ve started to pick up and plan projects together.
One of the things that needed to be addressed quite urgently was our deck. It turns out when the geniuses who built it placed the posts for the stairs, they did so by digging a shallow & narrow hole, pouring some concrete into it, sticking the post in, and calling it a day.
Not only is that not code (though I suppose it may have been at the time) it’s not a good way to ensure longterm stability.
So, in August, my brother came up and we took apart that portion of the deck, re-seated the posts in proper sono tubes to a proper depth with a proper width of concrete, and then rebuilt the deck.
Except…we forgot one piece. So part of the deck started sagging again. Then this morning, my neighbor came over to help me lift that last piece, add the wood bracer back in, and now it’s more or less set – and I just need to make a trip to the hardware store for more screws to finish securing it.
Home stretch! It had to be finished before the snow starts falling, which is…depressingly soon.
beljoeor.com 
It’s hard to return to activities when you’ve lost someone. And There is always something with a home. That is a massive deck so it’s good that it’s fixed before winter. Your dad would be happy to see it fixed.
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We had to tear out all the old supports for our front porch this spring because of previous horrible construction and it was SUCH a project. I’m relieved for you that you got it finished before snow!
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That looks like a pretty serious project! Glad your brother was able to help. He has an impressive beard!
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