Now that we are all up to speed, I'd like to welcome you to Round 2 of the Decking Extravaganza! In the recent past, we decided it was probably time to finish our porch/deck project once and for all. And so we started refinishing the deck. The following picture is the "before" photo of the deck (which you may recognize from the linked blog post above).
We started by sanding the steps and if I may say so myself, they look pretty darn good right now. We also decided that we should further inspect the little bit of old termite damage we had in a couple of the deck posts. What we found...not so old termite damage.
We found damage in 3 out of 4 posts along one side of the deck and damage in 3 posts under the screened porch, including the corner 6"x6" post which is about 75% gone at the base. I will note that we only found active termites in one post and one board. We have actively been gathering quotes for someone to replace the affected posts/boards.
For Jessie's sake, I will also mention that we had a "pest control" company out several months ago to see if we had too much old termite damage (i.e. were the boards still sound?). Jessie brought the guy around to the specific area we were worried about and he told her it was earwig damage. She was too nice to pull entomology rank on the idiot.
We also decided to remove the useless bench that was built into the deck. Here's how the deck looks now...
I have been telling all the contractors that have come to the house that we will dig the posts if they will replace them. We have time to dig and the first contractor told me most of the cost would be in the digging. As it turns out, I don't like to spend said time digging, but we're making good progress.
Stay tuned for "Can you dig it? I knew that you could."
1 comment:
so much work, and the termite thing is always a worry when there is lots of wood around. I always think we hve termites...but you are making progress! nanci
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