Progress...

Thought it was time again for an update to what's been happening at hudsons house... 

About 2 weeks ago we decided to take the plunge and start work on the resurecting the front butterfly stairs and building a back deck.  They had always been high on the agenda, and with Christmas fast approaching we thought why not! 

We decided to put a slab underneath it as we use that area to gain access to the laundry, and we hated that the last house had dirt under the deck esp when the puppies wee'd on it - not a pleasant door :-/ 

Once we had the slab down the blocky cane and built a retaining wall so that we could defer the water away from running under the house when it rains.

Next we ordered the timber, as we were doing the stairs as well the cost was quite high but after sourcing many quotes maxum was the best.  I found the easiest way to source quotes was to email the cut list to the suppliers and wait  for the price to come back - then haggle :-) 

Next the work commenced.  The idea behind doing both jobs simultaneously was that whilst the boys had down time waiting for posts to set (on the stairs), they could work on the deck. 

Hudson loved having a front row seat to all the action everyday.

We are not totally done still have to pop stringers on the sides of the stairs and then balustrading, the end product should look something like this 

We received a number of quotes ranging from 8.5k to 14k to make and fit the stairs inc balustrading, but we managed to be given enough 2nd hand treds from friends and our amazing house raiser to do the job.  After cleaning them up they were in really good condition so all up saved us about 2k.

For the back stairs we decided a really wide set like this would be best.  I have become obsessed with these stairs ever since I saw them on fun & Vjs blog.  Jeff wasn't to keen cause if the price per lineal meter of treds but I think it will be worth it in the end.

We also managed to get a bargain with the balustrade for the back deck. I won around 12 lineal meters plus gate of very good condition hardwood balustrading for $150 on eBay. 

Again it requires a sand and paint but u defined can't argue at that price! Here's what it looks like up so far - only half is installed... This is the view from my parents 

Funny I took a similar photo 6 mths ago when we were moving in - looks so different! 

Hopefully I can share some completed deck and stairs pics in the coming weeks ...