Demolition Day

Whew it's done! Yesterday we lucked out with some perfect weather and some wonderful friends and family to help us demo the deck we have to redo before we move. I first mentioned it last week HERE that we had hoped to get most of the demo-ing done this weekend, and thankfully the stars aligned and we were off!

So first off, I'll share a couple before pics of what our deck looked like. This first one is facing our front yard and driveway,

And this next one is taken from the driveway, looking up. As you can see, there is a carport underneath, and you can sort of see that wall on the right how the concrete is leaning in, well that is not a good thing and that is one of the major reasons why this had to be redone. There is also some of the wood that is starting to rot through as well.

You can see in this picture below where the hubby started a bit of the demo last week. The wall underneath was covered in plywood and those two squares (rectangles?) had windows in them. We might change this set-up a bit, but we still have to discuss with the contractor.

Also, notice how the concrete is sloped? Apparently that is not the proper way to build a concrete retaining wall!? From what we gather, it is much better (and easier) to have the wall come down in steps and 90 degree angles to make it easier to build on. We figure whoever built this was a bit of an amateur :)

Progress! The railings are down...

You can see a little better in the picture above how much the wall on the right is leaning. Then, we (and by we, I mean the hubby and the other four big, strong men who generously gave their Sunday to help us out!) started prying off the top layer of decking etc etc.

(Hubby and his dad, aka Grandpa working together)

I enjoyed watching this big strong man at work ;) I think he was the cutest of them all :)

Gabe was right in there as much as he could be (and as much as mommy and daddy would let him :)

Then came the rest of the deck, piece by piece...

The guys sure seemed to enjoy breaking out the tools, especially ones that made lots of  noise :)

 We are very lucky to have friends with some big machinery at their disposal to help us with the really big heavy stuff (thanks Al!) and Gabe had a grin on his face the whole day as he got to go for a ride in it :)

Then the boys had to show off their muscles for awhile :) My mom and I hauled a bunch of that wood out of the way (had a nice picture of you with the wheelbarrow on here mom, but I didn't think you would appreciate it :)

We were trying really hard to not break or crack the concrete floor as it was fine and we didn't want to replace it, so Al did a great job with the backhoe of being very careful and delicate (or as delicate as one can be with a backhoe :) He did a fantastic job and I'm please to say that we shouldn't have to replace the concrete floor.

Next, we decided to break up the concrete the old fashioned way (with sledgehammers) and haul it away in a couple pick up trucks. I'm not exactly sure whose idea that was, but it was sure a lot of hard work and heavy lifting!

 

What started out like this...

Ended up like this....

And demolition is done! 

It was a long day, but I can't believe we got it all done. We never could have done it if it weren't for some very special people in our lives. So, thank you again, Mom and Al, Dennis, Al F, Kevin, Sheldon, Sam, Nora and Griffin. We owe you big time!

Once again, before...

and (8 hours) after...

Feel free to ask any questions and have a great week!