A brief but effective railing completes the new patio treatment.
A main patio deck, with wraparound stairs and railings on either side, provides an inviting outdoor space at the back of the home.
Main deck with wraparound stairs, a slightly higher tier at the patio doors and brief but effective railings on either side.
Main deck with wraparound stairs, a slightly higher tier at the patio doors and a brief but effective railing.
My favourite aspect of the client-contractor relationship is the development of trust — which sometimes allows the evolution of a friendship.
Because much of the work a contractor completes occurs during regular business hours on weekdays, it is necessary for the client to allow a contractor to be home alone, while the client is at work. This often entails house keys to be exchanged, alarm codes to be divulged, and an overall ease and comfort with a contractor’s manner with pets, while the client is absent.
A client of mine, Don Kennedy, took the aspect of trust to the next level. During the summer months of 2016, Kennedy had hired me to introduce a fully renovated 1,500-square-foot lower level in Sage Creek, in a house he had purchased for work-related visits, while in Winnipeg and away from his main residence in Kelowna, B.C. As the process had progressed into the second month, I recall having seen him only a couple of times — we had laboured over the details of the job prior to the start date, so much of the process had been predetermined.
On his third visit, Kennedy had mentioned he noticed I also built decks, and inquired whether I’d be interested in providing a quote for a deck he wished to have built along the backside of his house. We quickly reviewed his deck "wants and needs," and later that Sunday evening, I was able to forward a deck design and quote to him. As Kennedy was set to depart for Kelowna the following day, he quickly responded to my emailed quote with an assertive "Looks good, let’s do it." He forwarded a deposit and I slotted his build in for the following weekend.
During my lower-level activities during the remainder of the week, I was able to contact and co-ordinate with the landscaping crew at Ron Paul Garden Centre — Kennedy’s house had just been built in a new section of Sage Creek, and much of the area’s landscaping had still not yet been completed. By mid-week, the landscaping crew began leveling the backyard, and spreading the requested six inches of three-quarters-down gravel to serve as the solid foundation, below the footprint of the planned deck. While I was hard at it in the rec room area of the lower level, I could see the Bobcat through one of the many lower-level windows, systematically pulling forward, and reversing like a pendulum. By the end of that day, the ground was ready for a deck.
On the Monday that Kennedy left, I also contacted Dave Wyllie at McMunn & Yates Building Supplies, to place an order for the decking materials and set a delivery date for the upcoming Friday — the weekend had been booked for this deck build, and the weather forecast looked good. Late on the Friday afternoon, the McMunn & Yates delivery truck showed up just before I left the property for the day, and the guys hand-bombed the materials into piles, just close enough to the impending deck’s footprint without being in the way (proper proximity saves a lot of time while building).
On Saturday morning, I set out at 9 a.m. to get going on the deck. The design called for a three-foot-high main deck in brown pressure-treated lumber, 30 feet long and 16 feet deep, with a slightly higher localized tier to match the height of the patio sliding doors on the one side of the deck. Wraparound stairs would cover most of the outer perimeter of the main deck, with only a few feet of railings on either side of the deck adjacent to the exterior of the house.
The deck pads were set into place, the lower support beams were constructed and set atop four-by-four posts that sit on adjustable deck jacks, which sit on each of the individual deck pads respectively. The joists of the main level were aligned in a perpendicular manner from the backside of the house, and secured to the main ledger that was firmly secured to the house with TimberLok lag screws. The higher tier was quickly framed along the bottom edge of the patio door, roughly 15 inches above the frame of the main tier. The final step that afternoon was to prepare 24 stair stringers (there’s a pun in there, I think), each cut on site. Once secured to the main frame, it was time to call it a day.
The next morning, the final tasks were at hand — top decking, tops of the stairs, fascia on both tiers of the deck and on the rise of every stair, and finally the short railings on either side of the deck. The top decking is standard two-by-six brown treated lumber, staggered in a non-pattern way on the top of each tier. The tops of the stairs came next — two parallel two-by-six boards along every run of each stair. Before installing the two-by-eight lumber fascia, four-by-four posts were secured for the installation of the railings, which consist of two-by-four top and bottom horizontal supports, and a two-by-six cap. Two-by-two balusters were then fastened within each section of railing, evenly spaced at four-inch intervals. The deck was complete — two days!
I snapped a few pics, and forwarded them to my client, who was still in Kelowna. He simply responded with, "Wow, that was quick! Looks good." It is a large enough deck enough to satisfy my client’s every entertaining need, also sized accordingly to not overpower the house, or backyard. With this deck under my belt, I continued with my interior lower-level duties the very next morning.
It wasn’t until a few weeks later that Kennedy returned to Winnipeg on business.
When I finally did run into him at the house in the afternoon on the same day he arrived, we quickly reviewed the progress in his lower level before I left for the day.
I was just about to leave, when he grabbed my arm and stopped me from leaving. I quickly turned, and asked, "Forget something?"
Kennedy said, "No, just wanted to tell ya…" as he began to shake my hand, "Great job on the deck — it’s exactly how you explained it would be."
With a big grin on my face, I drove home that night quite content. It always feels great when a client is pleased with my work, especially when my client trusts me enough to get ’er done in absentia.
bossenterprise@outlook.com
