The back deck was one of the first projects on our list for two reasons: safety & insurance requirements. Let me show you why...
First, it's HIGH up off the ground and the rails were too far apart (a little baby could easily roll right through them!! eek!!)
... and the steps/landing platform had absolutely NO railing before we moved in!
So this has been a high priority since we bought the house. Thankfully, the steps/platform issue was solved when my mom and stepdad visited us to help us prep the house for move-in day. They stayed around a week, and adding railing to the steps and platform was one of Craig's first projects. You can see his handy work below...
SO much safer!!
Then Hugh and a friend added all of the 2"x2" horizontal boards to fill in the gaps between the 2x4s (They technically did this in the photo above as well since my stepdad only added the 2x4s to make it the step/platform railing look like the other because we weren't sure yet how we would address the large gaps.)
Here's one to scale so you can see how much safer it is for little ones:
I absolutely love the way this project turned out! The narrow 2x2s add safety yet didn't sacrifice the "open" feel of being able to see through the deck railing (something I did not want to happen!!).
The other deck project that we just completed this weekend was fixing 3 holes in the deck floor. The holes were there because of burns.. probably from a charcoal grill. They weren't large enough to be a concern for adults, but they were certainly big enough to catch a small foot and cause trouble (see below).
So we decided to cut out the area around the hole and patch it. Ideally, we would have used some aged wood (to blend better with the existing wood), but we didn't have any, so we bought some treated lumber and made due. Hugh did all of the cutting and most of the drilling (he's becoming so handy!!) while I helped here and there. We put a 2x4 under the deck for support beneath each side of the patch that didn't already have an existing support running below it.
After screwing the patches in place, it feels so sturdy and much safer!
And now Enoch can run and play out on the deck as much as he wants!! I'm so thankful because it'll probably be one of our new favorite ways to spend the afternoon (since it's shady in the afternoon back there). :)
The only other thing we have left on our project list with the deck is to add a gate at the top of the stairs, so for now I just position myself there in a chair with some sweet tea and enjoy watching my little man play. :)
1 comment:
Great job, you guys! I like the open feel. You didn't have to box it in too much. I'm glad the deck is shady in the afternoons, too! That will be a great place to let Enoch play. Looks like he really enjoys being out there, too. Good job, Hugh!
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