Disclaimer: We are NOT deck building professionals. This deck was built by us with guidance from construction workers. Additional work done on the deck was done by a professional company for the vinyl and railing in which we received a discount for work done.
Our DIY Deck – Patio Renovation!
We aren’t construction workers, however my husband was excited to take on this build. Lots of research, designing and planning went into this. We did get a quote from one company to do the entire thing and then we decided to do the build ourselves. The vinyl and railing was done by a local company.
We got 2 word of mouth recommendations for the vinyl and railing for Pheonix and Ediger Sundecks.
BEFORE – The old deck
Let’s be real, we bought an older house. When we moved in the deck caught our attention with how bad it was. It was growing mushrooms!
The deck wasn’t a builder grade and was patched and held together by many materials not suitable for decks. Roofing shingles belong on roof’s not stairs.
The wood was fencing boards and super slippery when wet.
I bought several rice mats over the last couple years and stapled them down to make it somewhat bearable to use.
I resorted to blocking the stairs for the kids safety sake. I have no idea how my piano made it up these stairs.
FYI – My garden hose was under those stairs. I had many bruises on my back hitting the stairs to turn the water on and off.
I shudder looking at this.
I was running Foam Fest last year and my husband started sending me pictures of a destroyed deck. Where he stood to BBQ, his pry-bar slipped through like butter when he let go to TEST how rotten the deck was.
AFTER – Our new deck
If you look at the staining on the patio tiles you can see how small the old deck was.
The basement bedroom has so much light now. It has a full view of the backyard. We will be building a storage shed in the future to replace the storage we lost from underneath.
We spent so much time designing: Where the stairs should go? How far out we wanted it to be?
We took our existing table and BBQ and set it out in the grass and laid out several scenarios. Then the right one clicked.
View from our patio sliding door to the stairs.
View from the stairs coming up. Made sure there was lots of space for sitting around the table and the BBQ being a good safe distance from the table.
Our youngest and our puppy are on the deck ALL the time. Kona is constantly sun bathing on the deck. Or she’s often found looking for scraps after a meal.
We can’t wait to host BBQ’s again. We are always outside. Our house needs lots of work, we’ve done most of our Reno’s for outside. We still have a stucco repair to do, stain the stair tread’s, landscaping and paint.
If you planning a deck renovation and looking for a company, I encourage you to contact Pheonix and Edigar Sundecks.
We are excited to finally do a big change for our property. It’s already changed how we live in our home. It’s like an outdoor dining and living room.
Are you planning a deck Reno?
It’s April 21st. I don’t always keep up with all the “days” of the year where there’s something to celebrate. Earth Day seems like an important one to highlight this year.
I thought I would take a moment and share a past project. This one was HUGE. We bought our townhouse in 2010 and moved in January 1st 2011 and the renovations began the NEXT morning!
Spring is in full swing here at our house. I hope these pictures are an inspiration for your own home and garden.
It’s the evening of Good Friday as I write this. I’ve been thinking as we are going into this Easter weekend not being able to be with Family and Friends. There’s no Easter Egg Hunts put on by my mother in law or coloring eggs with Grandma.
It’s April and planting season is here. In the Fraser Valley it is anyways.
Well, This should be the LAST of my shift from my regular content. BUT, Everyone is going through uncertain times. When I said I cried in my last post. It was because of the school closure announcement here in Canada. It’s been heavy on my heart to home school and now I know why.
Art
I cried today. 
I have to pause from the Gardening posts. I recently shared that we got a new puppy. You can see my Picking a puppy post here. Sometimes I share Kona on my Instagram.
Notefull Living 