ALL DECKED OUT

Well, we’ve been busy in June and I just didn’t get around to blogging.  Early in the month, we had family visits, both here and in the Lower Mainland.  We drove there for an extended weekend visit and it was a nice time.  The weather was decent so we were able to do an outdoor BBQ, a Skytrain trip to downtown, lunch out in Yaletown and a walk along the seawall and then a walk around a small lake in Coquitlam and a quick stop in the Coquitlam art gallery.  Stuart has been trying to find Kaffir Lime leaves in the Asian grocery stores and he finally had success in a large market in Coquitlam Center.  Shopping in that type of store is almost like being in a foreign country.  Anyway, we did lots of things and had really good visits.  It rained hard on our travel days which was unusual. 

The new variable speed limit section of the Coquihalla 

Torrential rains, but speed limit still at the max

So back at home, we finally got out for some golf and have played 3 times.  It’s great to be out there again and my knee is not much of a hindrance anymore.

One of the projects for this season was for me to paint the main deck railing so we pressure washed it in preparation.  As we did that, we discovered a number of rotten boards that needed to be replaced and then decided that putting up aluminum railing would be a better choice.  One thing leads to another, as you know.

The deck boards on the large deck were ready for sanding and staining this year.  We contemplated doing that process every two years, but decided that re-decking with composite decking boards (never needs to be treated) would be a wonderful choice.  Stuart did plenty of research and determined the best product that we could order locally which is called Trex. trex.com

Stuart calculated all the materials that we’d need and placed the order last week.

So we dismantled the deck railing first and hauled the sections into the shop where it was easier to unscrew all the boards.  We actually enjoyed the work and took our time getting it done.

 

The next step is removing the deck boards and we started on that a few days ago.  We are taking our time and salvaging all the boards that we can as they can be used for extra support of the deck joists.  Now the screw heads are all full of stain and dirt so we’ve had to gouge out the dirt to clear the heads for unscrewing.  Stuart rigged screws with the head removed so it can be used in the drill.  It can be pushed into the screw head for cleaning.  Much faster than doing it by hand.

In between removing the deck railing and then starting on the boards, we rented a floor sander and sanded our smaller deck at the back and the front porch.  We aren’t planning to put composite decking there so this is the best thing to do.  We stained both areas and I also painted the wooden railing at the front of the house.  It’s in good shape as it’s under the roof and faces north.

The decking project will go on for quite a while and we are going to continue with golf, boating (when the weather gets warmer again) and motorcycle rides to keep the fun stuff going.  

By the way, the garden is doing well and we’ve been harvesting peas, zucchini, Swiss chard and herbs.  Yum.