Gonna have to do it all over again...
- Thread starter mac.dblues
- Start date
Thanks Kim. I made another blog post last week. First stage of the renovation is almost complete. We finally have the house almost painted. I sprayed the house and Deb has been painting the trim. She would have been done with the trim yesterday, but the red wasps chased her off the ladder once it warmed up. As for the floors, thank you! I sit and stare at them still. They had never been refinished, just well maintained. The guy that refinished them for us said he had never had to use 20 grit sand paper until ours and even broke a drum on one of his sanders. So, I think they will last us the rest of our lives.
Thanks Casey! Good to be back.
Here's a front shot of the paint job. We decided to leave the porch rails unpainted to help set it apart from the rest of the house. The porch is one of our favorite features.
Deck build and pool install are just about to commence down here in L.A. We've already gotten a couple of extensions on the construction loan and the bank really would like us to finish up. We have to build stage one of the deck first so they will finance us in the secondary market. THEN, we can set up the pool and build an extension to the deck to access the pool.
Here is where the deck and pool will go. This door goes into our master bedroom so we will be able to walk out our bedroom door straight to the pool. The first stage of the back deck will connect the kitchen door to the corner where Deb is standing.
Here is a straight on shot of the back of the house. I think we are going to wrap the deck around to the back door and cover the original back porch with the deck.
Mac deck "in kit form." We gonna be busy this weekend!
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Phase one is a 12 x 28 deck off the back of the house. Phase 2 will connect this deck to the pool.
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Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
Sorry it's been so long since we updated. It's been a little hectic here in Lower Arkansas. We spent prom weekend building the deck. Then our daughter graduated from college. Then we had our semi annual camping trip on the Buffalo River in Upper Arkansas. Pool will be coming soon. But first we have a trip to Perdido Key and our annual camping trip on Lake Degray.
Here's our latest update. We got our deck converted from kit form to usable deck. Here is the link to our blog if you want to see the full deck build. http://themacsfixerupper.blogspot.com
This door leads directly into our bedroom. It will be roughly 15 feet from our bedroom to the pool! (There is also a door from the kitchen to access the deck for guests to use.)
Not sure how much beer Daisy had had before this pic... it's a little out of focus.
This is before we finished the rail out for insurance and construction loan purposes. The whole long rail will have to be reworked to accommodate the step down deck which will be the actual pool deck. But for visualization, it will be where the rail is missing in this picture.
Here's our latest update. We got our deck converted from kit form to usable deck. Here is the link to our blog if you want to see the full deck build. http://themacsfixerupper.blogspot.com
This door leads directly into our bedroom. It will be roughly 15 feet from our bedroom to the pool! (There is also a door from the kitchen to access the deck for guests to use.)
Not sure how much beer Daisy had had before this pic... it's a little out of focus.
This is before we finished the rail out for insurance and construction loan purposes. The whole long rail will have to be reworked to accommodate the step down deck which will be the actual pool deck. But for visualization, it will be where the rail is missing in this picture.
Love this deck.. and I love how you can exit into it from the bedroom and into the pool!
Holy Cow! Has it really been 2 years since I started this thread??? Life has been busy. And we have been a bit lazy as well. Since the last update, we bought a new camper and have spent many weekends in it at various campgrounds all over Arkansas. But one of our trips this month got cancelled so instead of rescheduling, we decided it was time for me to get off my butt, quit making excuses and get started setting this old pool up at the new house.
So here goes a 2 year old promise to set up our pool. Last Saturday morning, my dad and I went and moved our old deck that we built on the back of our mobile home and brought it up the hill to the new house.
Using the old deck requires reconfiguring it, so I spent the rest of Saturday morning sweating all the fluids out of my body to make some progress on turning our old deck into a flat deck. The heat index must have been around 110 by 11:00 Saturday morning, so I laid out where I wanted the deck and pool to go and called it a day.
This is about the extent of shade the pool will get until around 4:00 in the evening.
I got up fairly early Sunday morning and set the pier blocks and leveled them. Once Deb got up and joined me, we finished "flattening" out the deck. We had a lot of wood that was still joined together with screws that was used for bracing the posts under the deck. Plus we had to remove the rails and the pool entry step to prepare the deck for use at it's new home.
Finally, by late morning and another heat index near 110, we had it down to a flat deck and started cutting the new angle that will be necessary to position the pool where we want it.
I haven't gotten anything accomplished after work this week. But Deb has been off and has gotten the frame dug out and cleaned up (amazingly only minor surface rust on one or two of the legs) and she has the weed mat down in preparation for hopefully moving the deck into place early this coming Saturday morning. Actual temps are expected to top out around 105 this weekend, so we will do all we can without sending one of us to the emergency room.
So here goes a 2 year old promise to set up our pool. Last Saturday morning, my dad and I went and moved our old deck that we built on the back of our mobile home and brought it up the hill to the new house.
Using the old deck requires reconfiguring it, so I spent the rest of Saturday morning sweating all the fluids out of my body to make some progress on turning our old deck into a flat deck. The heat index must have been around 110 by 11:00 Saturday morning, so I laid out where I wanted the deck and pool to go and called it a day.
This is about the extent of shade the pool will get until around 4:00 in the evening.
I got up fairly early Sunday morning and set the pier blocks and leveled them. Once Deb got up and joined me, we finished "flattening" out the deck. We had a lot of wood that was still joined together with screws that was used for bracing the posts under the deck. Plus we had to remove the rails and the pool entry step to prepare the deck for use at it's new home.
Finally, by late morning and another heat index near 110, we had it down to a flat deck and started cutting the new angle that will be necessary to position the pool where we want it.
I haven't gotten anything accomplished after work this week. But Deb has been off and has gotten the frame dug out and cleaned up (amazingly only minor surface rust on one or two of the legs) and she has the weed mat down in preparation for hopefully moving the deck into place early this coming Saturday morning. Actual temps are expected to top out around 105 this weekend, so we will do all we can without sending one of us to the emergency room.
I was just in your fine state and cannot believe you got any work done in the heat!! The nightly storms did a good job of knocking it back down though.
I am glad to see you are moving forward on this! You NEED a pool for the times you are home!
Kim
I am glad to see you are moving forward on this! You NEED a pool for the times you are home!
Kim
What a lovely weekend to do deck work in preparation for the pool! The high temp Friday was 104 with a heat index of 115! Saturday was cool by comparison, just 103 with a heat index of around 112. We got started early Saturday morning, cutting posts to support the deck beams and attaching the beams to the posts. I was suffering a sinus infection and didn't have much to give, and we needed more lumber to tie all the posts and beams together. So we called it a day after we got the posts and beams set.
A buddy called Saturday night and wanted to know what time to be there Sunday morning. He showed up at 7 a.m. and we got going. We tied all the posts and beams together with 2 x 4's then lifted the old deck off the trailer onto the frame we'd built.
I still had to change the angle on the pool side of the deck in order to line up with where we want the pool. While I worked on that, Odie and Deb built a gate out of a section of the deck rail.
Deb thought this little frog was interesting.
We put the rails back on the old deck and put umbrella holders on.
And voila, pool deck ready for a pool. Well mostly. I still have to remove and replace about half of the 5/4 deck boards, but that shouldn't take more than a couple of hours.
Deb spent almost all day Monday pressure washing the sun bleached and mildewed decks while I was at work.
A buddy called Saturday night and wanted to know what time to be there Sunday morning. He showed up at 7 a.m. and we got going. We tied all the posts and beams together with 2 x 4's then lifted the old deck off the trailer onto the frame we'd built.
I still had to change the angle on the pool side of the deck in order to line up with where we want the pool. While I worked on that, Odie and Deb built a gate out of a section of the deck rail.
Deb thought this little frog was interesting.
We put the rails back on the old deck and put umbrella holders on.
And voila, pool deck ready for a pool. Well mostly. I still have to remove and replace about half of the 5/4 deck boards, but that shouldn't take more than a couple of hours.
Deb spent almost all day Monday pressure washing the sun bleached and mildewed decks while I was at work.
I am surprised you even got that much done being sick. Hope you are feeling better!
He called to ask when to come help be the HULK?? Good buddy to have there!!
You two picked that up???
HULK and SUPERMAN=power!!!
That froggy is a little over grown there! He sure looks happy there.
Deb and Odie do good work. That gate look like it will hang straight for a good long while.
Deb is a beast! I bet she was a sweaty, stinky beast when she got that done but man it sure looks nice! Well done! Guess you will be keeping her around for a while! LOL
Hard work done right! It is nice to see when things start getting done. Getting very close to having your pool back up and running!
Kim
He called to ask when to come help be the HULK?? Good buddy to have there!!
You two picked that up???
HULK and SUPERMAN=power!!!That froggy is a little over grown there! He sure looks happy there.
Deb and Odie do good work. That gate look like it will hang straight for a good long while.
Deb is a beast! I bet she was a sweaty, stinky beast when she got that done but man it sure looks nice! Well done! Guess you will be keeping her around for a while! LOL
Hard work done right! It is nice to see when things start getting done. Getting very close to having your pool back up and running!
Kim
Thanks Kim, I'm feeling much better. Deb is a beast, she just doesn't realize it. More pics coming soon.
Deb is a little excited about the dirt work... We borrowed a backhoe from a cousin down the road. Made the dirt work quicker and a little more accurate. I grew up on a farm so I kinda understand equipment and have a decent hand operating it. I'm no professional by far but if I take my time I can get it done.
Dig a little while, drag loose dirt away, repeat, repeat, and repeat. WAIT! STOP! What is that black water pipe doing there????? Phew... nothing spewing out, we're good. Dig on.
Annnnnnd repeat until you have a nice flatish surface to build a sand containment frame to set the pool on.
Dig a little while, drag loose dirt away, repeat, repeat, and repeat. WAIT! STOP! What is that black water pipe doing there????? Phew... nothing spewing out, we're good. Dig on.
Annnnnnd repeat until you have a nice flatish surface to build a sand containment frame to set the pool on.
Deb SOON! Soon you will have a pool to jump into!!!
I am guessing you know to dig down to virgin dirt instead of building up as the built up dirt may get smooched down by the weight of the pool.
Kim
I am guessing you know to dig down to virgin dirt instead of building up as the built up dirt may get smooched down by the weight of the pool.
Kim
Last weekend was spent camped at the Gilbert RV Campground on the Buffalo National River. We had a great time, but didn't get any pool work done...
This weekend however, Deb cracked the whip. We got a good start on the frame that will contain the sand foundation under our pool. It will be almost identical to the one we did our first pool build on.
I got the first landscape timber set Saturday afternoon after I got off work. As I left work, I thought I should go buy a new shovel but decided otherwise, so I get started digging and broke the shovel handle, so back to town to get new shovels I went. Things went pretty good aside from being 95 degrees with 95% humidity. I got the first timber down right below the deck and decided it was too hot to dig around out there anymore that day.
Yesterday morning went a little better. Aside from working in some sticky red clay.
We decided to go ahead and use all new landscape timbers instead of trying to reuse the old ones. The timber opposite the deck leveled up nice and easily. Then the next two gave us fits trying to get them squared up with the other two.
Once we finally got them in the correct position, leveling them went pretty quick. Then we were onto tying them together.
We still have to finish the base row which will be about 52 or 53 inches below deck height. With our ladder, I want the top of the pool to be an inch or two above deck height so it should work out perfectly after the sand gets washed (packed) into the frame. Once the base row is complete all the way around, we will add one more row of landscape timbers all the way around the base and build up to create a retaining wall where we had to dig down next to the deck.
This weekend however, Deb cracked the whip. We got a good start on the frame that will contain the sand foundation under our pool. It will be almost identical to the one we did our first pool build on.
I got the first landscape timber set Saturday afternoon after I got off work. As I left work, I thought I should go buy a new shovel but decided otherwise, so I get started digging and broke the shovel handle, so back to town to get new shovels I went. Things went pretty good aside from being 95 degrees with 95% humidity. I got the first timber down right below the deck and decided it was too hot to dig around out there anymore that day.
Yesterday morning went a little better. Aside from working in some sticky red clay.
We decided to go ahead and use all new landscape timbers instead of trying to reuse the old ones. The timber opposite the deck leveled up nice and easily. Then the next two gave us fits trying to get them squared up with the other two.
Once we finally got them in the correct position, leveling them went pretty quick. Then we were onto tying them together.
We still have to finish the base row which will be about 52 or 53 inches below deck height. With our ladder, I want the top of the pool to be an inch or two above deck height so it should work out perfectly after the sand gets washed (packed) into the frame. Once the base row is complete all the way around, we will add one more row of landscape timbers all the way around the base and build up to create a retaining wall where we had to dig down next to the deck.
NICE progress! Got to hate when one or two decide the be brats and not easy to work with!!
LOL on the STICKY mud Yeppers that is STICKY! Those shoes are not even allow you her nice, clean deck!!!
Kim
LOL on the STICKY mud
Yeppers that is STICKY! Those shoes are not even allow you her nice, clean deck!!!Kim
A little off topic, but that frog looks like a Cuban tree frog. They have been in Florida a while and last I read, which was a couple years ago, they had expanded up about 3/4 of the state of FL. They are considered an evasive non native species and they have a huge appetite and eat anything. Many people say they slowly see the native frogs, lizards, and various little critters start to disappear once they show up.
They can get really big and to identify them they have rough, bumpy skin like a toad, really big toe pads, and the best way to verify is that if you catch one, the skin on their head is attached to their skull and doesn't slide around like most frogs.
Unfortunately, the best thing you can do if you see them is to (humanely and quickly) kill them. Just thought I would point it out because they are becoming a big problem here in Florida.
They can get really big and to identify them they have rough, bumpy skin like a toad, really big toe pads, and the best way to verify is that if you catch one, the skin on their head is attached to their skull and doesn't slide around like most frogs.
Unfortunately, the best thing you can do if you see them is to (humanely and quickly) kill them. Just thought I would point it out because they are becoming a big problem here in Florida.
Next step... get off lazy butt and finish building the sand retaining frame. Haul in sand. Level it fairly well. Let rain pack the sand in nice and tight. Cover with weed barrier/rolled roofing. Order more sand...
No rain in the immediate forcast???? Artificial Rain will have to work!
That trailer load of sand? Yeah, that's two yards, about 3 tons that we unloaded by hand.
Nine 20' rolls of rolled roofing down for weed barrier.
View from Deck.
Order and receive more sand.
No rain in the immediate forcast???? Artificial Rain will have to work!
That trailer load of sand? Yeah, that's two yards, about 3 tons that we unloaded by hand.
Nine 20' rolls of rolled roofing down for weed barrier.
View from Deck.
Order and receive more sand.
Well when you do something you do it right!!!! Getting closer to getting the whole thing up and fill with water!