Deck Overhaul

 We've always wanted to have composite decking for our back porch, but when the bank only allots you a certain amount of money to build a house, some times get put on the back burner.  We decided to screen in our porch to make it more usable (less bugs and spider webs), so we decided to go ahead and change out the deck boards.  This was a whole lot more work than Marc intended.  

Before

He ripped up the stairs.

We decided to change the footprint of the deck to make it more usable.  It was one of those things that until you have lived with things for a while you start to realize what you might like different. We extended the upper level and added a smaller lower level that we turned into the grilling area.  We'll gain quite a bit of space by pulling the grills down here.

Extension and the lower level (with grills) is now complete.  It has been tricky to figure out how to demo and rebuild while still allowing a way for the dog to get outside.

Most of the stairs are done now.  We'll finish them after the plumber comes and moves our gas line down to the lower area.

Marc got these two to help finish it up.  Taking the old boards up was a ton of hard labor.  Those boards were tornado proof I think.  The new boards run the full 20 feet of the porch, and we love the look of that.

Part of our Christmas gift to ourselves was new patio furniture.  The weather has been nice enough to hang out outside.  We keep a couple of blankets and a space heater out here, and we've already spent so much more time out here. We are loving the final result.

We have a retractable screen, and the girls decided that it was perfect for a friendly limbo competition.

We are looking forward to many more days out here on our porch.