Paint the Fence...err...Deck

It's too bad that Mr. Miyagi wasn't the one in charge of our deck painting experience. Things probably would have gone a lot smoother...but alas, I have good news to report. Mow Cow actually showed up the morning and this time they brought both the paint AND the rollers - HOORAY!


I have to say, I felt kind of bad for the 2 guys that were tasked with this project. It is about 95 degrees today with a heat index of over 100 so the conditions to be outside all day were not ideal. It took a good 7 hours to get 1 coat of paint on the entire deck and I have to say, they did a good job.


Because the previous owners chose to use an opaque stain on the deck, we were very limited with the paint colors we could choose. We have rather used a semi-transparent stain, but we would have had to sand the entire deck to get every speck of old stain off which was a close to impossible task. So we chose to go with a Cedar opaque stain color and I have to say that it ain't half bad.


We have to wait 24 hours for it to dry and then will probably have to do some touch up work, but after that we will FINALLY have a completed back yard that we can enjoy this summer. It kind of feels like when Danielson kicks Johnny's butt at the big tournament and wins the big trophy. Thinks of us as Danielson and Mow Cow as Johnny!

Tuesday Afternoon Venting

Our lovely, beautiful, homey deck has gone from this...


...and this...
to this again:



Boo.

The ongoing saga with Mow Cow continues. The final project on the list is for them to stain the deck. We were told that they would call us the night before the crew arrives in order for us to clear everything off the deck so they could get started first thing in the morning.

Not so much.

At around 10 am this morning 2 guys in blue shirts were poking around our back yard. Not just around the exterior of the fence...but actually inside the property. Hello! Ever hear of ringing the door bell to let us know you are here?!

Well, it was Mow Cow and they were here to stain the deck. Did we receive a call? No. Were we ready for these guys to get started? Absolutely not. Very typical of this company (whom we do NOT recommend anyone use EVER!) but still totally annoying. I was in the middle of my work day and Ed was about to head out the door in his fresh, clean clothes when we had to stop the presses and get everything off the deck.

Just as we finish moving everything indoors, one of the guys breaks the news to us that they don't have all the correct supplies to do the job. Apparently, they didn't have any rollers. Seriously?!! What kind of paint crew doesn't have any rollers?!! They had planned on spraying the deck, but when they saw that we lived in a town house and that our neighbors were so close, they thought better of it (thank God!). So now the inside of our house looks like this...


...and this...


...and the deck stands bare with no stain. They are supposed to come back tomorrow to do the job. Hopefully they won't forget the paint.

Finally!!

Guess who finally showed up today? That's right...Mow Cow. They are only a day late, but better late than never I guess. Today's project: Fix some of the wonky boards on the deck and replace all the top rails. Seems pretty simple...and thank god it was. I don't think we could have taken any more hiccups with these guys.

The team of 3 arrived around 9 am and got started removing the bad news boards. It's amazing how many tools accumulated so quickly!


With the old boards removed, it was off to Home Depot to pick up some new, fresh wood. Lucy and I took advantage of checking things out while they were gone.


The deck looked so weird without top rails, but soon enough the crew was back and installing the new stuff. It didn't take long for the new rails to be in place...and boy did they look awesome! It's amazing how a few pieces of wood can make a 10 year old deck look like new again. :)


Next up...replace 2 of the floor boards. These two boards were pretty scary in that they were almost translucent. Never a good thing for the boards that you walk on. Check out this amazing before and after:


It was more like during and after, but you get the idea. The job was done by 4pm and I'm happy to report that Ed is very pleased. No angry phone call to Mow Cow today! Since Adriana and John are currently in the car on their way down for a visit, we took the opportunity to put the new patio furniture on the deck. Remember this post? Well, those boxes had this stuff in them:


We christened the deck and ate dinner out there tonight since the weather is finally bearable. I have to say...it was worth the wait. I'm IN LOVE with our backyard!! Lucy is a fan too ... especially since she got a new outdoor bed. :)

Oh My Sod!

Progress! Progress! Progress! I am happy to report that our back yard FINALLY looks like a real yard rather than a gravel pit in a quarry. That's right...the lovely people of Mow Cow showed up unexpectedly this morning and graced us with the green stuff. It only took a few hours to install and I have to say it makes the place look 100% better. It's amazing what a little grass can do.

Before...

...during...

...half way there...


...Lucy checking on things...


...almost done...

...watering...


...and after!

The yard finally feels like a place that we want to spend time. And with the addition of an adorable bistro set and pillows, some fun lanterns and 2 hanging ferns, it is a regular oasis!


I must say, we have been very skeptical about the work we hired Mow Cow to do. I don't want to bash anyone, but they are not the easiest company to work with. We actually had convinced ourselves to cancel the remainder of the job over the weekend because of all the frustration, but after spending WAY too many hours outside sanding the deck (more on that later), we decided to give them one last chance to redeem themselves. Their showing up this morning made way for a check mark in the "Pro" column.

There is one last job in the backyard and it is a doozie. We have hired them to fix some broken floor boards, replace the top railings and stain the sucker. Over the weekend we had the task of choosing the stain color and while you may think that sounds easy, it is not. There aren't a ton of colors to choose from...that is not the problem. The problem is that our deck was once stained using a solid color resembling paint. We were told that after a good power-wash, all that color would come off and we could use a semi-transparent stain.

Not so much.

The power washing did take a lot of paint off, but there was still a ton left which would have made a semi-transparent stain look awful. We actually bought some stain and did a test run. Results = not so good. We were so annoyed that we didn't even snap a photo so you will just have to take our word for it.

We then thought...hmm, why don't we try to sand the paint off the deck which lead to many hours of this...


...and this...


...and this...


In the end, we threw in the towel and picked the solid stain color known as Cedar. It's not ideal, but we know it will look good. We just want it done already!

We are told they are coming this Thursday to do the work so everyone please keep your fingers crossed that they actually show up. If they don't, I can't be responsible for what might come out of my husband's mouth. God love an Italian from New York ~ these people down here won't know what hit 'em!

Dinner Done Up Right

I'm feeling a bit under the weather today so please excuse the short post. I started feeling the twinge of a sore throat yesterday afternoon so I reached for my handy dandy Zicam swabs and thought to myself...this time I got it. It's early enough ~ no WAY I'm getting sick. Well, not so much. I woke up this morning with a full blown sore throat, nasal congestion and an ear ache. That Zicam stuff doesn't work!! (sorry if any readers work for them!) Thank God for Sudafed.

But I digress...yesterday was one of the warmest days of the season thus far so Ed and I took full advantage of it by dining on the newly power-washed deck. It was a simple meal of tacos, but we decided to do it up. We whipped out the trusty folding table and chairs (since we have yet to purchase patio furniture), threw a tablecloth on top and voila ~ dinner in great outdoors!




Lucy is a big fan of tacos...well really anything that Mommy and Daddy are eating. She joined us on the deck and was a good girl. We are always nervous that she will slip through the railing on the deck since she is such a small nugget, but her interest was solely focused on taco meat...yum!


It was a lovely meal that we thoroughly enjoy...even if it was only tacos. Our goal is to buy some patio furniture soon so that we can have a proper deck dinner. We have a lot of work happening on the exterior of the house including the deck (power wash, sealing, staining, board replacing), burying of the drain hoses in the front and back of the house, a new fence so Lucy girl can run around in the back yard with ease and new sod to replace the gross old slate.


We will also be tackling our biggest landscaping project to date since we've known each other - The Front of the House!!! I'm really bad at plants...I have a black thumb if that gives you an indication of my track record with living plants. So our taking on this project without any guidance is very risky...but we are up to the challenge. Stay tuned for before and after pics coming soon!

Wow...not so short a post after all!!! :)