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.
