Wednesday, May 26, 2010

deck the halls...i mean courtyard

CLICK ON ABOVE PHOTOS FOR GALLERY
trying to wrap up the outside. we have graded the site, and now working on installing the deck. the deck was not originally planned, however, due to the elevation change of the main house foundation, it made for an 18" difference between the home and grade. originally we were just going to have large concrete slabs, but due to this change we are installing a deck. we looked at composite decking materials, pressure treated lumber, but at the end of the day we decided to go with ipe. a Brazilian hardwood, that if went untreated could last for 50+ years without treatment. installation is hard work, as ipe is one of the hardest woods in the world. these carpenters went through several drill bits and blades to install this deck.