This Redwood deck
won 2nd place in the national Vermont
American Built-By-Hand Contest recently (April '03). The company that
sponsored the
contest makes the blades I used for my saws. I was very surprised to learn
I had made it to the semi-finals because
of the competition
I was facing...much less to place second.
The deck was built
in November 2001 with Construction Heart Redwood from Lee
Roy Jordan Lumber Company here in Dallas.
The house is in
the Swiss Avenue Historic District and the deck was built to conform to
the landscape architect's plan for the couple's
backyard (which
I modified to go around the original step out of the back door, therfore
keeping the back door area original). I also
built the deck
without attaching it to the house...a requirement of the Historical District
building code.
The benches were
my creation and were designed while working on the deck and a matching
birdhouse near
the back door
was a gift to the owners from the only piece of Redwood left.
