Skirting and the Back Deck Part 1

So I never posted about the skirting. After the house was leveled I had the floors insulated and the skirting replaced as intended.

Much better than this.

Trench dug and mesh up

3 coats plus placeholder for vent

In order to reskirt the back of the house, my back deck had to be partially disassembled. It was going to cost about $200 to have it reassembled. No problem.

The back deck was in pretty sad condition. It was saggy, missing a lot of pickets, the rail wasn't regulation height and was twisted and warped.
 

Sad, saggy deck

Apparently, unbeknownst to me, it was also in imminent danger of collapse. Once disassembled, it was clear that whoever built it was completely clueless. Most of the posts didn't even touch the ground and some were spaced four feet apart. There were no posts at all at the corners next to the house and the entire deck on that side was "supported" by the three nails attaching it to the house. My $200 turned into a $3,000 problem.  I had the whole thing rebuilt salvaging as much of the wood as possible.

 

Notice the post stops at the deck surface level. Nothing supporting this corner at all.

Nothing supporting this corner either. Just those 3 nails holding everything up.

What the heck is going on here?

I'm a Tree Killer

Notice anything different? Look at this old photo.

I had a couple trees removed. I couldn't help it. One was lifting my porch and the other was lifting the slab the A/C sits on and was damaging my roof. The porch column on the right is a good 8 inches higher than the one of the left. It's not going to settle back down, but at least it won't get any worse. They make stump removal products, but I need to look into them. I don't want to pour a bunch of harmful chemicals in the ground.

I now have a clear view of the street when sitting on my porch.

Yes, I know. My rail needs to be replaced.

Here's where the big tree was. I lost a rose bush in the process. I'll plant a new one. It'll probably do much better now that it will get full sun.

Lotsa saw dust!

Here's where the smaller tree on the side was.

Check out the new skirting!

This is what's left by the stump grinder.