Decking DONE....almost...

[Tatooed_Lady]

My husband and I busted our buns (with some help from my son) today and finished our deck! Well, ALMOST....but when I remind hubby that we still need to consider the privacy screen, he just gives me "the look"...
I figure on getting some privacy lattice all along the one side, planting 3 rose bushes (bought other 2 today, middle one's gonna be a climber) to give some natural purty to it, along the second side I'm guessing we could get away with a more open style lattice, a little more planting...3rd side is the main deck side which I've NO CLUE what to do with yet, and the last side faces our bedroom, which has a lock on it, so if we're not inside, the door's locked. No worries there...
I LOVE seeing other projects, as it gives me something to work with. And we found out in the last several days that making this style deck isn't as hard as we were afraid it'd be. The step was a pain in the butt, though...
Project difficulty on a scale of 1-10, considering we were green in carpentry skills: 5.

[galen]

Don't worry about what anybody else thinks. You only have to please yourselves.

[Tatooed_Lady]

worried about what someone else thinks? Naw....I just want for US to be happy with what we've got, and I can be really picky, especially if I've gotta keep looking at it day in, day out, after spending a lot of time/money to make things nicer.

[SurgTec]

Congrats on your deck - it looks awesome!  I wouldn't even know where to begin to build one - and you've gone and done it!  (I tend to hire someone to do things for me - and then think - gosh for what I spent I should have figured out how to do it myself!).

Your 'payoff' is getting closer and closer!  Sounds like you've got it all figured out - how to screen the view for your privacy, etc...  

I love seeing the 'in progress' pictures!  We're all looking forward to seeing your 'spatopia' in place!

[Tatooed_Lady]

Thanks, SurgTech!
actually, looking at the deck plans before the first board was laid down really made me think this was out of our league.....I almost chickened out, but figured that we could muddle our way through this one...once we got rolling, it turned out to be easier than we first thought, and we had a great time hammering screws (pilot hole anyone? *LMAO*), using the new cheapo miter saw, slingin' dirt, etc...
We're waiting on the 2 calls now....one to tell us a date for the electric, the other the tub.....
Woo-hoo!

[TN__HOT_TUB]

Congrats on your deck - it looks awesome!  I wouldn't even know where to begin to build one - and you've gone and done it!  (I tend to hire someone to do things for me - and then think - gosh for what I spent I should have figured out how to do it myself!).

Your 'payoff' is getting closer and closer!  Sounds like you've got it all figured out - how to screen the view for your privacy, etc...  

I love seeing the 'in progress' pictures!  We're all looking forward to seeing your 'spatopia' in place!

Regarding building a simple deck....think 2nd grade popsicle project only with larger sticks.  If it's too complex, hire somebody (wood is way too expensive to do too much experimenting).

Sometimes the hardest part is deciding what to do and organizing your efforts.

[galen]

I don't know Tattoo Lady,  I would want at least an eight foot privacy fence on the side that faces the neighbor. It would bother me them looking over all the time unless they are good friends.

[TN__HOT_TUB]

I don't know Tattoo Lady,  I would want at least an eight foot privacy fence on the side that faces the neighbor. It would bother me them looking over all the time unless they are good friends.

No need for a complete 8 foot fence if you don't want to. We're thinking of adding a windbreak sort of enclosure to add a bit more privacy.  

I think your idea of growing the roses on some sort of structure will work. You might want to use elevated planters the first year or two and then transplant them to the ground once they've grown a bit (otherwise you may not have enough height from the roses).

[Gomboman]

Very nice Tatooed_Lady.  Does anyone know why most folks build decks in the midwest and we use concrete on the west coast? Maybe it has something to do with the weather? I'm just curious. I don't think I've ever seen a wood deck in my neighborhood--it's all stamped concrete where I live.

[GoBlue]

Concrete patios crack and shift around here and end up looking ugly.  Then it is very expensive to have them removed and replaced.  I'm in the middle of replacing the patio and deck around the pool now.

[anne]

What about a gazebo, since you have three sides you want to "hide"? Or do you want to see the stars? (i know I do)

And nice deck!!!!!!

[Snowbird]

I figure on getting some privacy lattice all along the one side, planting 3 rose bushes (bought other 2 today, middle one's gonna be a climber) to give some natural purty to it, along the second side I'm guessing we could get away with a more open style lattice, a little more planting...

You might want to get in the tub to think about privacy.  A fence of any kind too close to the tub might make you feel claustrophobic.  Maybe it would work better if you put the fence some distance away from the tub:  Maybe 10 feet or so.  This would still give you privacy while not making you feel closed in.

[Tatooed_Lady]

Here are my thoughts on the fencing at 730 am CST on 3/20/06 (subject to change in 5 minutes as usual).....
1) the neighbor on the side away from the main deck won't be a problem for the most part....the house has NO windows facing our yard...weird.
2) whatever we (see: I) choose for the fencing, I'd like to have some availability of sunlight "dappling" in....otherwise between a solid fence and the trees above, the tub would always be in shadow.....very gloomy, IMHO.
3) I'm not going to worry about raising the rose bushes at this point in time....they're bare root going into the ground, but I figure that all they'd cover is any area below the fence line (if we have it raised instead of sitting flush with the ground), which would be the side of the tub, for the most part.
4) I'm seriously considering keeping the fence raised about 3' off the ground, as all anyone will see is the side of the tub, and legs.....plants (hostas, maybe....) can camoflage that well, and this way there'll be access to ALL sides of the tub without having to tear out fence panels.
5) I recall one member on here had a really nice, smaller deck surrounded by lattice posts, and used shower curtains.....that's an option I'm considering, reworked to provide a ledge around the tub to set things....
6) I LOVE some of the gazebos I've seen, however, I really want to try out the 'no ceiling' approach first......right now we can see some sky through the tree branches, come late spring, summer and fall, though, the leaves may be enough trouble that we need a seasonal roof...
7) I found that after having SO many ideas, that I had to get moving in a forward direction, just so I could STOP WORRYING! *lol* Sounds goofy, but my husband is SO happy to NOT hear "we COULD pour concrete and cut the edges........." anymore.

By the way.....this won't fit into OUR plans, but I was sent this really cool link on how to build Chippendale railings.....
http://pages.areaguides.com/ubuild/FancyDeckRailingChippendale.htm

EDIT: Has anyone ever done a removable/movable lattice privacy panel? I was thinking that it'd be great to have the posts up, then be able to raise the panels or lower them as we feel the need for more or less privacy......

[Ruby]

Very nice Tatoo Lady!

I see some large potted plants (palms?) or large artificial plants in each of the corners were the bricks are by the step.

And then maybe your towel warmer, cooler or small decorative table on the step in front of the rail.  You could even add some hooks on that rail to hang your towels and robes.

I think the fact that your neighbors are also in a rambler with no windows on your side (at least that I can see) is nice.  If you had your cover open to that side, it will provide the majority of the the privacy.  I think the lattice with climbing stuff is a great idea.  Or you could put in some Pyramid Arborvidea for some natural and year round
privacy (unfortunatly, it will take a couple years to be tall enough to do the job!)  Good Luck!  It's exciting isn't it?

[bob5820]

Great job on the deck. The lattice work sounds like a nice idea, but will the roses give you year round privacy? Winter is my favorite time for the tub, but its not always the best time to be relying on nature for you privacy. I ended up going with a pergola, and some heavy out door curtains. I've been meaning to post some pictures, maybe I'll get to it tomorrow. Good luck on your project and keep the pictures coming.