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.
