Outside Living

Part of Jim’s day off was spent beginning to read a book about deck building that he got last Christmas. The deck is shaping up to be the major house project of 2009 and I was surprised to hear he wanted to start it as soon as April/May.

We’re in agreement on several design elements – we want it to provide

• an open view of the back yard,
• be lush with landscaping,
• have multiple levels and
• include several functional areas.

So far we have a basic sketch of what we want and it incorporates three main areas: a place for grilling and eating, a hot tub, and a reading nook (think swing and wicker furniture for lounging). While our perfect house would have allowed for things like a covered area with ceiling fan or potentially even a screened in section, the way that the windows are placed in the back of our house makes it (completely impossible?)… difficult to do this. Goals for the retirement house 30 years from now….

While this is certain to be a five digit project (largely driven due to our decision to use synthetic wood and get a hot tub), we estimate that even with this addition and the eventual finishing of our basement (YEARS down the road) our house still won’t be the most expensive in the neighborhood though it will have the most custom add-ons. We’re [too?] mindful to keep our house reasonable with our neighbors’ prices even though with the recent purchase of the back lot we’re in the top 20% of expensiveness. Like I mentioned, we expect to be here for decades so cost-basis isn’t an immediate concern.