Shown below are some pics of my most recent project that I completed in Oak Orchard.

I built an 20' x 24' addition to my existing 10' x 38' deck which faces the water in the front of my house. Total square footage of entire deck is now about 860 square feet !!

I did ALL the work myself with some occasional help from my wife Nancy (holding ends of boards, string lines, carrying pieces of decking, etc)

1. Shoveled and moved by wheel barrow 25 Tons of fill dirt. (about 150' from the back to the front of the house.)
2. Hand dug 40 holes for support posts.
3 Built four 4" x 8" beams 20" long and one 24' long beam.
4. Nailed and bolted all joists and support member together - used 40 lbs of nails and around 80 - 3/8" x 8" carriage bolts.
5. Installed 50+ pieces of Trex decking 6" wide by 20' long.
6. Used over 1500 2 1/2" stainless steel screws to attached the decking.
7. Built a block retaining wall 20' long.
8. Shoveled and moved by wheel barrow about 8 tons of landscaping stone.
9. Racked and leveled the ground around the deck and installed a set of stairs.

It took me about 3 weeks altogether to complete this project. The final step in the project will be to connect an existing landing and ramp between the house and the shed to the new deck.(SEE LAST SCAN) This addition will be 4 1/2' wide and 32' long when completed.(another 150 square feet of decking) I have all the materials for the new ramp on hand and I will be starting the "next" project tomorrow. I enjoy doing these "little" projects around the house and I am so glad that I did NOT have any lasting effects from the strokes that I had in March. I may be a little slower and a little older but I am still out and working - which makes me very, very happy !!
Take care,
Jerry