Another productive day, as the deck in front of the kitchen is now gone — It was removed all the way to the North corner, where it turns West and runs 36 feet to the steps just off the the entrance to the mud room:

Going...gone!

The photo above also shows the rock- and sand-filled area that will be the patio, just outside the Family Room. The new deck will be extended to completely cover the patio, in line with the concrete deck by the pool; at the near side it will be 16 feet wide, and almost 18 feet wide at the far end. I snapped the photo from the deck area in front of the dining room, where the deck is 11 feet wide, and the only section still standing along the East side of the house.

Today the contractor will not work on the deck if the rain holds off, as he must dig a drainage channel for a new home he was building before he started this job.

— Al Navas

We expected damage, but not as much as shown by the structural parts shown here. The ends of the joists looked awful:

Damage to the ends of joists.

Not to be outdone, the aprons (rails?) between the support posts showed terrible damage. Carpenter ants did their thing, unrelentingly:

Damage to structural aprons.

Many boards showed this damage:

Check it out!

As a result, it was time to consider total replacement. I asked Dave to prepare a new materials estimate, to include a complete wrap-around deck, and a full extension over the patio area that will receive the pavers, in front of the Family Room where he is sitting:

Time for a new estimate.

The additional lumber was delivered yesterday morning (Sunday morning!); it does not include the railings at this point:

New material ordered, and delivered!

The following photo shows most of the lumber that will make up the new deck areas:

Most of the new deck.

Demolition started, with the portion of the deck in front of the Living Room removed first (far left in this photo):

South portion demolished in front of Living Room.

The local dumping area, just outside our new office area:

A part of the old deck removed, just outside the Living Room.

Work will continue today, with the removal of the huge board against the siding just outside the Living Room. Then, install flashing, and felt behind the new board. Then start building the new portion of the deck. We will approach the build in sections, as this makes the most sense at this point.

A note to all my readers: If you have an old wooden deck, please inspect all the structural components.

— Al Navas