House
Deck and Outdoor Living Areas
I am just beginning my biggest backyard project of all (see plan below): I am rebuilding the deck and creating an outdoor living area. The original deck was pretty rotten when I moved in . Despite this, it has held up well and even survived Hurricane Rita. When I tore it down this past weekend, much of the wood was still good, but it was rotten enough to be dangerous. The new deck will have three sections: a 16'X16" center section with a 12"X10" wing on each side. The stairs will be on each end. I want a sitting area under the deck. To do this, I wanted to lower the dirt level about 1 1/2 feet on the seawall to allow the top of the deck to be level with the top of the seawall while giving at least 7 feet of head room underneath. The Corps of Engineers would not allow this, so I have to bring in fill dirt to level the ground and the top of the deck will be above the top of the seawall. I have to build a retaining wall for this project and I started this project last weekend. I am also going to build a cooking area. This will be on a slab and will include gas and charcoal/wood cooking equipment. I am also going to build a wood-fired pizza oven similar to the ones in fine Italian restaurants. These make the best pizza ever. Go to Traditional Oven.Com for information about these pizza ovens. I am also going to add a firepit to sit around and I will eventually add a water fall with a stream that ends in a small pond. Between the greenhouse and the seawall I am going to have a small vineyard. I like to make wine and I have a few grape vines that I obtained from Messina-Hof Winery in Bryan, Texas. Each vine will produce about 55 pounds of grapes, or about 5 gallons of wine each.
Tearing down the old deck.
Digging base for retaining wall.
Retaining wall mostly complete. Five loads of fill dirt and counting....
Retaining wall complete except for steps in the open section. Eight loads of fill dirt were required. Actually, I'll need a little more dirt, but I'm going to let this settle for awhile before bringing more dirt in. The dirt was packed with a tractor, but it always seems to settle a little more after a few rain storms.
The plan. Rough and corrected several times, but you get the idea.
Updated January 24, 2006