Outdoor Spaces - Our Summer Olympics of Building a Deck and Pergola
By Yvonne Perry
While most people were watching the summer Olympics, the Perry family had their own feat to overcome as they worked on a new construction project in their backyard. Read the story and see the photos of their new deck and pergola as it comes to completion.
It's June 2008 and we're at it again! Our family is hosting its own Special Olympics in our backyard this summer.
While the competition rises for swimming, gymnastics, volleyball, and other sports on TV, we are working up a sweat as we design and construct our new outdoor living space. We have demolished our old, dilapidated deck and have started the framework for what will be a 12- by 30-foot deck with a slatted overhead pergola.
After weeks, or should I say months, of planning, drawing, designing, measuring, and re-measuring, we took our plans to an architect to make sure they would meet the building codes established by our county. Then, it was off to the codes department to apply for a building permit. The people who work in the codes administration office are none too friendly, but after being ignored and treated rudely our payment was accepted and our plans were finally approved. No one even glanced at the blueprints, which my husband had spent hours drawing, erasing, scrapping, and starting over.
Under my direct supervision, my husband dug six 1-foot square holes to the required depth of eighteen inches, added the cardboard forms to create columns,and set the wire and rebar in place. He called the codes department to come and take a look. Unbelievably, an inspector came out within 48 hours and approved our preparation efforts and gave us the go ahead to pour the footings.
This is August, and while the temperature is in the nineties with high humidity, our real battle was with the mosquitoes. Swatting with a hammer or screwdriver in hand is not a good idea. We sprayed the yard and ourselves, but to no avail. It does nothing to deter the pesky critters. Bug spray might as well be meat tenderizer on me. It's like putting ketchup on fries-more please.
I allowed my husband to mix ten bags of concrete one at a time in the wheelbarrow and pour it into the holes and forms. Then, as we typically do whenever we are deep into a project, we took a vacation and went out of town for the weekend. I suppose that time away serves as sanity check and gives us a chance to change our minds and make any last minute changes to our plans.
We ordered the lumber and had Home Depot deliver it to our driveway. Our sons, who had been recruited for the job, complied with our request for their help and showed up at 7:30 on a warm but overcast Saturday morning in August. By the end of the day and with the expert stupor-vision provided by my daughter and me, the men had all six, 6 x 6-inch 12-foot long posts stood upright and stabilized with 2 x 8-inch, 12-foot long crossbeams. The midday heat took over at about 3 p.m. and turned the pergola into purgatory, so we called it a day.
Next came notching and carving the ends of the sixteen 2 x 6-inch 12-ft boards that would serve as rafters and provide a slatted shade over the deck area. We measured and laid them temporarily in place sixteen inches apart, but then decided that spacing didn't provide enough shade so we notched a few more boards. After installing them, there was still not enough shade, so we installed lattice on the top. It looks nice and serves the purpose.
Progress really began showing when we began adding the joists to support the flooring. We had to brace them underneath to make the structure feel more sturdy. I'm sure it wasn't going to cave in, but we didn't like the way it bounced when we walked on it so we supported the joists with a few blocks underneath to reduce the flexion. Then, it was cross bracing and adding one-by-six-inch deck boards to cover the area. We have a nice dance floor!
Our next step took much longer than we expected. We had to have a way to get in and out of the house from the deck. We made three boxes and stacked them on top of one another. The top landing is five feet by three feet. The second landing is three by three feet and the bottom step is three feet by twelve inches. The risers are eight inches each. Now we have to put on the railing to keep someone from falling.
The far end of the deck leads to the garden, so we made a regal entry.
The entire structure has been built to allow for later addition in case we, or the future residents, want to enclose it to make a screened-in porch or additional room. See photos of this creation on [http://www.flickr.com/photos/randyvonne/sets/72157606770923661]flickr.com.
While the competition rises for swimming, gymnastics, volleyball, and other sports on TV, we are working up a sweat as we design and construct our new outdoor living space. We have demolished our old, dilapidated deck and have started the framework for what will be a 12- by 30-foot deck with a slatted overhead pergola.
After weeks, or should I say months, of planning, drawing, designing, measuring, and re-measuring, we took our plans to an architect to make sure they would meet the building codes established by our county. Then, it was off to the codes department to apply for a building permit. The people who work in the codes administration office are none too friendly, but after being ignored and treated rudely our payment was accepted and our plans were finally approved. No one even glanced at the blueprints, which my husband had spent hours drawing, erasing, scrapping, and starting over.
Under my direct supervision, my husband dug six 1-foot square holes to the required depth of eighteen inches, added the cardboard forms to create columns,and set the wire and rebar in place. He called the codes department to come and take a look. Unbelievably, an inspector came out within 48 hours and approved our preparation efforts and gave us the go ahead to pour the footings.
This is August, and while the temperature is in the nineties with high humidity, our real battle was with the mosquitoes. Swatting with a hammer or screwdriver in hand is not a good idea. We sprayed the yard and ourselves, but to no avail. It does nothing to deter the pesky critters. Bug spray might as well be meat tenderizer on me. It's like putting ketchup on fries-more please.
I allowed my husband to mix ten bags of concrete one at a time in the wheelbarrow and pour it into the holes and forms. Then, as we typically do whenever we are deep into a project, we took a vacation and went out of town for the weekend. I suppose that time away serves as sanity check and gives us a chance to change our minds and make any last minute changes to our plans.
We ordered the lumber and had Home Depot deliver it to our driveway. Our sons, who had been recruited for the job, complied with our request for their help and showed up at 7:30 on a warm but overcast Saturday morning in August. By the end of the day and with the expert stupor-vision provided by my daughter and me, the men had all six, 6 x 6-inch 12-foot long posts stood upright and stabilized with 2 x 8-inch, 12-foot long crossbeams. The midday heat took over at about 3 p.m. and turned the pergola into purgatory, so we called it a day.
Next came notching and carving the ends of the sixteen 2 x 6-inch 12-ft boards that would serve as rafters and provide a slatted shade over the deck area. We measured and laid them temporarily in place sixteen inches apart, but then decided that spacing didn't provide enough shade so we notched a few more boards. After installing them, there was still not enough shade, so we installed lattice on the top. It looks nice and serves the purpose.
Progress really began showing when we began adding the joists to support the flooring. We had to brace them underneath to make the structure feel more sturdy. I'm sure it wasn't going to cave in, but we didn't like the way it bounced when we walked on it so we supported the joists with a few blocks underneath to reduce the flexion. Then, it was cross bracing and adding one-by-six-inch deck boards to cover the area. We have a nice dance floor!
Our next step took much longer than we expected. We had to have a way to get in and out of the house from the deck. We made three boxes and stacked them on top of one another. The top landing is five feet by three feet. The second landing is three by three feet and the bottom step is three feet by twelve inches. The risers are eight inches each. Now we have to put on the railing to keep someone from falling.
The far end of the deck leads to the garden, so we made a regal entry.
The entire structure has been built to allow for later addition in case we, or the future residents, want to enclose it to make a screened-in porch or additional room. See photos of this creation on [http://www.flickr.com/photos/randyvonne/sets/72157606770923661]flickr.com.
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