Continuing Saga

The new decks are coming along well. All the framing was finished today. Here's what it looks like from the far east end of the back yard. You can see the slope of the yard and how the two deck levels are situated on the hill.

From the top of the hill on the north end of the house, it looks like this.

This last panorama image was taken from our kitchen. Those boards in front look curved due to the nature of panorama photos. All the dark wood you see was from the old oval-shaped deck. The lighter wood will support the new rectangular shape of the upper deck. On the left is where the upper deck will step down onto a lower deck.

Our new configuration will add a considerable amount of square footage to the upper deck, while the lower deck adds another seven feet from the old deck to the corner of the house. We've given up very little grass area for all this extra usable space. I'll finally have a place to hang my hammock!

Click for larger image

This evening, Dale and I bought some gray paint to cover the spots where the old railing was attached to the house. (Can you believe this house used to be a brick red color before we moved in!) We'll also paint the vertical boards that will show on the sides after the deck floor is installed. That installation should happen tomorrow!

We're enjoying working with this contractor and his sons. They are troopers for working in this 95 degree heat and maintain a great sense of  humor!