Hit The Deck

This house and the deck are close to thirty years old.  The house has held up well; the deck has not.  The south end in particular has taken the brunt of the weather, but the entire surface is in bad need of replacement.  I don't go out there anymore, and don't want anyone else to put themselves in danger on those rotten boards, either.  When Mouse was here, I asked him if he knew anyone who did such work.  I respect Mouse's work ethic and thought I could depend on his recommendation.  He said he did and would talk to him.

Mouse came back yesterday to pick up his trailer and introduced me to Mike (there are a lot of Mikes out there).  Carpentry is this Mike's profession.  He recently moved to this area and is looking for work.  My first two questions:  are you licensed and are you insured?  When the answer was yes to both, "Okay, let's talk."  Mike walked the deck and made his calculations.  We agreed that the covered portion by the dining room did not need to be replaced, but the rest is a disaster waiting to happen.  He came up with an estimate that (gulp!) was half of what Home Depot would charge and we shook hands.  Then he said, "Okay, I'll get started on Tuesday."  Omigosh, so soon!  These guys don't mess around, for sure.

I've got my work cut out for me.  All those pots with dead plants have to be emptied and disposed of.  Robert the Raider will have to find fodder elsewhere, ha ha!  The table and chairs and other furniture must be moved, to where, I'm not sure.  I did explain to Mike that some of the big pots, etc., would be too heavy for me to manage and he said not to worry.  I'll take him at his word.

This is pretty exciting stuff for me.  What with the repaired driveway and now a new deck, this place will be looking good again.