Summer Project

Colby and I decided that we were going to refinish our deck for our big summer project this year. Last year we moved river rock from a good neighbor and put it in out front planted areas. Boy, does it look great. Little by little we are learning about the care for a home and yard, and it's lots of work - but worth it. Next year we are hoping to stain our fence, which needed it last year, and even worse this year, but it will have to wait. Expenses say a little at a time. We are also going to tackle the island in the front yard where we have two trees, next spring. But alas, I digress. Anywho, it is done! The deck took hours and hours, week after week, of mostly Colby's sweat and bruised fingers. I helped as much as I could, but it was more important to keep the kids out of the way, and keep ice water coming. The longest part was, of course, sanding the entire thing. Then we prepped with sweeping, a good wash, and taping all around the house and bars. Colby and his brother did the staining. We were disappointed when the color he and I chose at Lowe's was not what was on the wood when work started. It's a lot darker than we wanted, but we can't do anything about it until next time. We had a few kinks with the sprayer he was using, along with a bunch of wasp nests under the deck in different areas. The over 100 degree weather slowed us down, but helped the stain dry quicker. All in all, we are so grateful that this project is over and done with. We really wanted to get it done before our vacation this week, so that when we get back we only have to worry about: a birthday, our anniversary, school starting, a friend going through the temple for the first time, a friend's baby shower, an upcoming wedding, visitors in town, doctor's and dentist appointments. Phew! Yes, we are glad THIS is done.

Colby using an orbital disc sander, after the belt sander broke, and we found out that a large rental sander is only used for wood floors. (We sure learned a lot.)

See the difference in the sanded and not-sanded, it looks and feels a lot different.

Tyson staining the railing by hand with a brush.

Colby using his dad's sprayer.

The finished product.