Day 1: Monday (5/19)
It took longer than I thought for the plans for the new deck to get approved by the HOA. I'm not entirely sure when FA Outdoor Spaces submitted it, but they let us know when it was approved and how they planned to start shortly after.
Not long after hearing about the approval we got a letter in the mail from the HOA. From what we can tell, it got mailed out the same day we got our approval. It said we had made external changes that had not been approved of. We were trying to guess what they meant. My best guess was the shrubs we took out when they needed to fix the pipe from the previous project. Bill looked at our HOA agreement and it said that landscaping didn't need approval. It would be silly to have to get approval if you wanted to plan daisies instead of tulips.
Bill sent them an email to ask them to clarify what they meant. We were told to ignore the letter because they saw we had the county building permit in March and they hadn't gotten any requests from us. We send them the request in February. They assumed that since we had gotten the permits that we just built it. No one took the time to drove by our house, which would have shown them that we hadn't started anything. We had also submitted it in February, which by their laws, says we could have just built it because we hadn't been denied within 30 days. They also claimed that they never received it.
Not long after 7am a large truck dropped off building supplies and a little before 8am they let us know they were here to work. Since the interior job wasn't done, we wouldn't have a place for them to easily use the bathroom.
I would have thought that they would have dug the holes and put the posts in with the cement for it to set overnight. They left having only dug the holes. I found out later that the holes needed to be inspected.
Day 2: Tuesday
They showed up bright and early to start working. Lots of power tool noises were happening. They asked if we had a power outlet in the back, and we do not.
At one point I saw a guy trim off part of a board to make it level by using a circular saw with the board braced against the top of his knee. I'm definitely not brave enough to use a circular saw just free-floating in the air.
They were checking if things were level at every step. They would add a perpendicular board and then make sure all the ones attached to it were still level.
It only took one Miss Spud nap for it to go from a frame to something that was starting to look like a deck.
Day 3: Wednesday
They didn't start work as early as they had previously. I don't know if that's because they had to wait for another delivery of materials or because it was raining in the morning.
They didn't get a lot done because they are getting an inspection tomorrow. They got some parts reinforced and a layer of mesh down for the enclosed part of the deck.
Day 4: Friday
They laid down the Trex Enhance flooring in the color Coastal Bluff. They had the previous day off of our job because on Thursday they needed to get what they had gotten done inspected.
They stayed really late to get a lot done. They stayed until some point after 6:40pm.
Day 5: Monday (5/26)
We weren't there while they worked, but they got started on the roof of the enclosed area of the deck. I had thought they weren't going to be back until Wednesday, but I guess I was wrong.
Day 6: Tuesday
They came by while we were out and added more posts on the side where the door will go. I think it's interesting that they keep stopping by for quick things when we aren't looking.
Day 7: Wednesday
The electrician from Jireh Electric Inc showed up and Bill had to show him what he was working on. He showed the guy where the plans for the deck were and told the guy to call FA Outdoor Spaces for any other questions he may have after answering a few the best he could. Bill also pointed out that there was a light back there that we couldn't use anymore, so that might make his job easier.
They wanted to see many options on how they were going to do this job. They wanted to see in the garage, which made sense. When they said they wanted to see in the bathroom above where the porch was going was where it was getting weird. They apparently decided to go upwards from the basement. I'm glad Bill was here so I only had to keep track of Miss Spud and Tank.
At one point Bill asked if I cared about the porch having a ceiling fan. Though all the pictures show one, it turns out they didn't actually plan for one. I was surprised by it in the pictures, so I didn't care about it existing or not.
At some point the inspector, SF snuck in and gave an inspection. Seems we failed some things.
Day 8: Thursday
I wasn't sure if they were going to work or not. They didn't show up until after 1 pm. I first saw them show up, grab their lunches, and walk down the street. Once they were done with that they came back and got to work.
They capped the poles that will make up the railing and covered the poles that will make up the walls. They installed the stairs too.
Day 9: Friday
One set of people showed up in the morning and started working on the railing for the deck. Another guy showed up at some point after lunch and put the shingles on the roof.
We didn't have a lot of options for the posts and the railing/infill. I do think that we picked the right combination. It is looking really good so far.
Day 10: Saturday
I got woken up by what sounded like someone sawing into the side of the house. We were wondering how they were going to handle the sides of the enclosed area. They had taken the gutters off of the small roof on the bump out. They solved this by just cutting off the extra on the sides.
I saw them measuring the top section of the walls a few times. They put some Tyvek siding up to help protect the wood.
Day 11: Tuesday (6/3)
On Monday the inspector was out and we failed again because they covered up where he said they used the wrong connectors the last time he was out. I don't know how they are going to coordinate taking the covers off and him seeing it.
Yesterday morning a guy showed up to do some drywall. Bill told him that we weren't scheduled until Thursday. He was like "I have you right here for today, the Stevensons" and Bill had to tell him that we aren't those people and pointed to our name on Thursday. Seems Veronika told him the wrong place to go to.
They got a lot of the sides done on the top part of the porch. It also looks like they cut squares off the bottom of the supports so that they inspector can see the connectors.
Day 12: Wednesday
I was once again woken up to the sounds of someone sawing into our house. I thought they had removed all the extra roof from the bump out, but Bill said when he last checked they still had one side to go.
At one point the guy was knocking on our back door to ask us some questions, but Bill was on a work call and I was upstairs. Luckily my mom stopped by and relayed the questions to me. He wanted to know where we wanted to put the spring on the door and if we wanted a screen door or glass door. We went with top spring and screen.
Day 13: Thursday
It was our day with the drywall guy. He used a heat tool to help dry out the mudding faster. While he was working he saw the square Bill had cut out from the ceiling. He was able to spot where the very small leak was coming from so we called a plumber out. Bill felt bad for the guy because one of the spots he had to work on was right next to a toilet.
I'm looking forward for everything to be done inside so I can set up Tank's food and water in the kitchen again and not have to hide it on the couch in the game room. I don't have the crochet mat I want to use made yet, but we can put down a towel or something until I do.
They got the connections approved and could keep moving forward. They laid down the tracks for the screen and started to frame out the area that will block the roof on the bump out. I didn't pay enough attention to the lights before I went to knitting on Wednesday, so I don't know if they installed them today or yesterday.
Day 14: Friday
We had thought they were going to be done by end of the day today, but it sounds like they will be back tomorrow to finish some things and then the final inspection will be on Monday.
They got the screen in pretty quickly. At one point Veronika stopped by and asked how we were feeling about it and if we had any concerns. I thought it was looking really good.
Before leaving for the day they shoveled some of the dirt to make it a bit more level. They also power washed everything. I'm not sure what they still need to do tomorrow before the inspection on Monday.
Day 15: Saturday
They needed to add a gutter to the enclosed part of the porch. The guy was in and out so quick I almost didn't notice him. Tank has tried it out and approves of the screened in area.
Day 16&17: Monday/Tuesday
The inspector stopped by and gave his approval of the job. Bill moved most of our outdoor furniture to the deck. Both Tank and Miss Spud have been out on the screened in area a few times and I think they approve of the job.
On Tuesday Veronika stopped by. She checked on the inspection and to check in with us again. This time she got to meet Miss Spud. She told us to keep them in mind as we live with the deck for the next year. Experience it over all the seasons and see how we feel about it. I don't know the usual time frame it takes to build a deck, but I think they worked pretty quickly.
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