Deck building skills
Elise and I like to entertain. We’d like to entertain more frequently. In the year and a half that we’ve lived in our house we’ve had a good number of get-togethers. When the weather is nice and we want to be outside, we’re limited to a 10-foot by 8-foot concrete patio. One of the things I noticed when we first looked at this house while house shopping was that it needed a good deck.
So I designed a deck. It’s a great design, too. Multi-leveled, built-in benches, railings, rafters. I found myself at the HoPot early this morning picking out lumber for my deck. I came home and dropped off my lumber and started laying out my framework. I found myself at the HoPot shortly after to exchange the screws that were too short. I found myself at the HoPot shortly after that because I realized that screwing the frame of my deck would work better with nails.
Six hours later I had a dilapidated frame, two busted toes from a falling 2×4, a broken flower pot, a sunburn and I was pissed.
So I did what any downtrodden deck builder would do. I threw my hammer across the yard, threw my hands to the skies, yelled f***, s***, a***, and then called my dad and requisitioned his infinite lumber wisdom and deck building skills. He and Mom will be here on Friday night to help build my deck next weekend.
Somewhere between f*** and s*** I went inside and made a great roasted turkey, aioli and avocado sandwich.
In my many years in college I wondered what the hell I wanted to do with my life. I made it through college and now maintain a good job. For many, many years I tried to find my niche. What is it that I’m good at? I have an air pocket in my tear duct that squeaks if I press on it. Poking myself in the eye to make a sound is cool and all, but it’s not really a skill; more like a devine gift. Look for my country & western CD in September: “Josh Janicek: Beer Drinkers and Tear Squeakers”.
So I’m not carpentry inclined. It took me six hours to figure that out. I can cook like a tear duct squeaking madman though. I’m confident in that. I have that skill that I’m proud of.
Deck building – I’ll see what I can pick up from Dad this weekend.
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[...] The weekend before last I attempted to start work on my deck. This weekend the family helped set posts and frame our entire deck. Dad, my brother Keith, John and I did the majority of the work. Elise shed a little sweat herself when she wasn’t at work.Building a deck in central Texas sucks. We had to set ten 4″x4″ posts 2-feet into the ground. That meant digging through rock. It was so bad that John and I drove over to the HoPot and rented a jackhammer and an auger. We used the auger to dig an inch into the ground until we hit rock. Then the jackhammer. Then the auger. The jackhammer worked great at breaking rocks, but it’s not fun to lift out of a hole while standing under a Texas sun. [...]