Finished Project

Design

The deck was already built when we moved in. We plan to add a pergola over the top to give some shade.

Construction

In July 2012, I refinished the deck.

In May 2013, we planted two grapevines so that they can get a head start growing before we build the pergola.

Then in April 2015 we actually started construction. We had to remove all the railings so we could replace the 4x4 posts with taller posts. That was kind of tricky.

The new posts are shown below.

Then we cut and stained all the beams, including the decorative ends.

We had to remove the siding from the house to secure the beams to the walls.

Once the beams were all up, we started adding the 2x2 rails on the top.

Because the deck is so long, I couldn't get 2x6s long enough to span the whole length. So we notched the 2x6s for strength.

We hung decorative chains for the grape vines to climb. And we wired 3 hanging lights (piggybacked off our porch light).