Starting the Deck

Last Saturday, Aaron and I started the prep work for our new deck! We were limited as to what we could actually do because our building permit wasn't approved yet. Aaron decided that our first three tasks were to:

1) Head over to Home Depot to purchase the first round of supplies,

2) Attach the ledger board to our house,

3) Dig the holes for the deck posts.

I let Aaron know that I really wanted to help as much as possible throughout this whole process, so he passed on the tasks to me that I could manage.

The first thing we did was remove the siding from the house in order to attach the ledger board. It went quite smoothly. After a few measurements, cutting, and drilling the board was in place.

It was my responsibility to screw the board down tight. I never would have guessed how much work it was! I broke a sweat and got blisters on my hands!

Next, we started digging the post holes. Our township requires the post holes to be 44 inches deep (apparently frost doesn't settle that deep). Aaron with the post hole digger and myself with a shovel, set to work. Let me remind you that topsoil or sand does not exist at our lot. Nope, just rock solid clay! After an digging for an hour, Aaron was down 40 inches, but I only made it a bit past 30 inches. We decided to call it a day, but not until I had a little fun with the holes!

We had a great time working together...Unfortunately, it occurred to Aaron on our way home from church on Sunday that we dug the holes in the wrong spots!