Deck Rebuild--10-11-2010

October has been designated as "DECK MONTH" here at Little Falls Farm. Why you ask? Simple. The deck needs a rebuild/renovation and October begins the cooler fall season here in the south allowing a more comfortable time to work outside!

What to do? We first thought a new floor with planks made out of that expensive composite would be of order--expensive--but of order in the sense of it's no maintenance and longevity. However, the more this was discussed, the more it was felt that a simple repair of the floor planks that needed replacing with similar treated inexpensive planks would be in order. We did know however, all the railing would be replaced--never liked the cheap look that was there to begin with and most had rotted anyway!

With a game plan in tow, off to my favorite Lowe's--in Madison--and materials were purchased with a $500 budget in mind. Started work on posts support under the deck on Monday Oct 4th. Continued with railings on the 6th (Carol and I had a fun day on 5th with Mattie spending night in Doggy Day Care) and worked more on the 7th most of the day until cousin Gary Willard arrived in later afternoon to spend the night.

I continued working on the deck Friday and Saturday --October 8th and 9th with almost completion. The project BTW included a porch swing and new light fixture. Because I am using new and uncured treated lumber, as son Joe points out, it will be about 6 months from now (May 2011) before the new wood can be painted. The floor will be painted a gritty grey as matches front porch, the railings will be a white, and the hand rails will be the forest green that matches the shutters of the house.

While I do have areas to tweak--here are some photos of the almost completed/renovated deck! To see the new porch light fixture and to enjoy the swing (this is the older swing from the front porch--new chain added)--you must come and see us at the farm! BTW--call first so we can open the gates--LOL!

As I mentioned earlier--my budget was $500. As of today--realizing I must still buy paint--I have spent $709. Keep in mind, this has included floor planks, posts, rails with stringers, handrails, and support joists/posts/concrete slab, chain, fixture--along with three (3) pieces of 4 x 8 lattice for the portion of deck support. I do feel good that while I am over budget slightly, this $709 pales in comparison if I had gone with entire floor replacement with the very expensive composite flooring!

John--the Deck builder--LOL!

Classic Car Show--Covington, Georgia

(Scan of my event tee shirt)
It's that time of the year! Fall! Let me say that again as it sounds to me as the perfect weather season of the year--FALL!!! Many things and events happen during fall here in the south. Two that come first to mind are: Craft shows --especially for you women; and Car Shows for us men--and women!!
Having said that, each year my sweet wife Carol and I usually attend a few car shows and try not to miss the 250 + cars at the Classic Car Show held on the square in Covington, Georgia. This was their 18th year in a row.
The weather was perfect at a mild 68 and very sunny. Did I mention perfect sunshine? Perfect for using the Polarizing filter on my trustee Nikon D40 Digital SLR camera. Notice how blue the sky is!
The car show is held the first week-end of October each year. This year we noticed two things. More cars for sale than ever in previous years. Yea, there's always a few up for grabs where the owner may be looking to upgrade. This year however, there was more of a sense of "urgency" to sale and many, many more on the old auction block. The other thing noticed was there were less number of cars. Even with a local Chevrolet dealership taking up 8-10 spaces to market new 2010-2011 cars including the new Camaro, there were at least 20-30 spaces vacant. Both issues may be a direct influence of the struggling US economy.
On a bright note, a local jewelry store just happened to be open allowing us to stop, browse, and check on a security chain for Carol's Pandora bracelet that was back ordered. To our surprise, the shop owner just happened to find one where others had overlooked. Voila--we all were happy--especially Tutz as she will add the chain once we return home!
After a couple hours of enjoying many "Kodak" moments--a few are below, we left the show and ate a great (but somewhat expensive $30) lunch at Longhorn. As creatures of habit--we ordered our usual--Tutz gets the kid's portion of shrimp with baked potato and I my usual chicken tenders with rice and steamed veggies--all was good but way too much--as we brought several chicken tenders home for my evening salad and a shrimp with the bread Carol loves!
What a fun day. Me, my lovely wife, muscle cars, great fall weather, and good eats! Hard to beat but we'll keep trying--LOL!

In the shop where we buy Pandora charms and accessories.

BTW--this car produces 703 horsepower at rear wheels!

Covington, Georgia old Courthouse on the Square

Carol loves the Camaro

One of my favorite muscle cars--Olds 442.

Beautiful black Chevelle SS with 454

Beautiful black Camaro--either black or red--no other colors--LOL.