A New Deck

One of the things I've written about in the past is that the deck on our house is perfect for the two (or three) of us, but not really big enough for a full table. When we've had friends over, our table is darned close to the house's glass on one side, or a drop off the deck on the other. I really should have specified a longer deck when I built the house, but I couldn't have gotten everything right, I guess!

I looked into ways to extend the deck, but, frankly, everything I thought of disturbed the look of the house too much for my tastes.

This spring, I hit upon the idea of building a deck in a different direction, not in the front of the house, but along the side. The wide steps Janne built lead down to the rocks below. That area gets a good amount of sun (handy for Sooz to work on her tan), and it's large enough area to fit a full table. On those days we have a lot of people over, it'd be easy to put the table there, and everyone can move around freely.

So I measured out an area of 4 by 5 meters (about 215 square feet) which leads out from the steps, and over the rocks below.

In the past, Janne and Olle have ordered my lumber for me, but now it's time for me to handle those things myself. Olle told me about the archipelago's lumberyard, Vindö Byggvaror. I called them and was connected to Jocke, a nice gentlemen who recently moved back from living in the US for 20 years. I think his English was better than mine!

We talked a few times, and I sent him photos of my ideas. Jocke put together a materials list for delivery to the midsommar dock on Aspö on July 16th. I sent that list to Olle, who reviewed it and suggested a few changes. Olle even drew a sketch for me!

So the plan is for all supplies to be on the dock when I arrive Friday and I'll carry it up to the house for a deck-building project. Deck-building is one of the top pastimes on Aspö, for the menfolk at least. I expect I'll be able to access lots of experience and advice from my fellow residents. I will of course update the blog with my building exploits.