Adding to my Resumè ...

We got this swing set last summer!  It's been perfect ... except this area that was meant to be a sandbox bothered me.  I didn't want to fill it with sand ... yuck.  I looked at it & decided it wouldn't be hard to just continue the planks of wood across & make a larger deck!

So I did.  Add "Deck Builder" to my resumè.

Here's how I did it...

Measure the area.  Head to your local hardware store [3 kids are not necessary, but I had them with me] to buy planks of wood to fit.  Oh & use the "calculator" tool on your cell phone to help out with the math.  Come home all excited to start your project!  Realize the wood fits perfectly [good job on the math!] but that no one [not even a 5 year old] can walk on it without each board splitting in 1/2.  Bummer.  Wait a few weeks 'til you're ready to go back to the hardware store & rethink it all.

Once you're there, ask a specialist to help you out with your project.  My specialist's name was Jake.  He told me I needed a joint piece.  I'm sure at 1st he was looking at me in my pink hoodie with my 2 kiddies I brought with me & was sarcastically thinking ... well, something.  But actually, he was very nice.  [I think he took me seriously after the first 30 seconds of our conversation didn't scare me off]  We discussed methods and we decided to get a pressure treated 2 x 4 cut down to what we thought was the right size and he led me over to where the metal joints were.  I bought 2, along with a can of exterior polyurethane and a box of galvanized nails.

The piece I bought for the joint was about 2 inches too long.  Bummer.  So I got out my jigsaw to shorten it.  Next, try not to get this thing in your hair. [See? I'm still a girly girl]

If you have trouble juggling the 2x4 & the 2 metal joint pieces, enlist a brick to help you.  Worked for me.  It became my 3rd hand.

Go crazy with your galvanized nails.

Lay all your boards down & start hammering in to place.  When the boards bounce around, get your trusty brick to help out again.  It's loving its day off from "landscape border duty". [I think I can see it smiling!]

Spray the wood with a can of exterior polyurethane.  It doesn't match the rest of the wood, but maybe next we can stain it or paint it.

Now stand back and admire.  YOU JUST BUILT A DECK.  A ≈ 4'x4' deck for kiddies, but ... YOU BUILT A DECK.

Oh and don't forget when you stand up that this thing is still here.

I know what you're thinking.  "Why didn't you have Kyle do that?"  Well... not only is he out of town a lot, but I've always been a do-it-herself type of girl.  I think it all goes back to Girl Scouts when I would get cool badges for learning how to do things like sew a button on a coat & fix a toilet.

Sewing another badge on my sash, boosting my Resumè ... whatever you call it, I just love learning & doing.  And I love that my kids see me doing that.  I may be their stay-at-home mom ... but I can build a DECK.

P.S. I'll let you know when the "Deck Reno" Party is.  Juice boxes & popsicles for ALL!  I'll try to remember to remove the cicada shell.