Progress as of Thursday. Tomorrow is the end of week three. Today they got a lot of the cabana structure finished and the folks from Holland Home Leisure came and removed the old coping from the pool. The time is going by quickly it seems but, then again, some days it feels like there is still so much to do, we'll never get through everything. Patience is a virtue...I'm told.

You can see the slanted roof and the two end-rooms. The one on the right is the washroom (you can see the door frame) and the one on the left is storage. There will be an outside shower, for rinsing off after a dip in the pool or the hot tub, on the exterior wall of the storage room.

This close-up shot of the cabana gives a different perspective and you can a good look at where the transom windows will be along the back wall. The outside of the cabana will be covered in cedar shingles like the rest of the house as well as red shingles. The idea is that the cabana will simply look like an extension of the house.

The first wall goes up.

The first wall goes up for the cabana. You can see where the two transom windows will be in the center section as well as the transom windows in the washroom (on the right) and storage room (on the left)

Week 3 begins. After finding out we need a new pool liner we finally decided which one we want and, the more difficult choice, which pool coping we want. We opted for something called "invisible coping" which is virtually exactly that. A very thin piece of coping holds the liner in place and the decking will actually run right up to the side of the pool. We think this will be a very slick, clean look for the new deck.


All four posts are now up for the roof support for the Gazebo.

We chose the liner pattern in the center. It's actually called Bourbon Street but they omitted the word Street in the brochure. We thought the design along the edge of the liner sort of looked like the design in the stained glass windows that overlook the deck.

The Cabana base shows how the center part of the cabana will be raised a bit more than the two ends (a washroom on this end and a storage room on the other)

This will be the storage room eventually.

Here we are at the end of week 2. Although still a long ways away from the deck of our dreams,  there is a hint of what is to come. Mike went to Halifax today and ordered the iron fencing that will enclose the back half of the yard as well as the iron arches that will top the privacy fence around the rest of the yard. They ran the electrical for the cabana and hot tub today so everything is starting to fall into place. If there were no more financial surprises that would be good but I guess that's just part of the beauty of owning a 100-year-old house.

The pool used to be at the far edge of the deck. Now, with the new cabana, it looks like it's going to be more in the centre of the deck than at the edge. We're starting to get a feel of just how large this thing is going to be.

The first two beams that will hold up the roof of the gazebo that will cover the hot tub. If you look closely you can see the strings that mark the top of the deck. The far edge is almost to the Yew bush.

Another view of the framework that was finished as of the end of the week. Mike was going to order an outdoor dining table today but wasn't sure there was going to be enough room for a 90" table. I think he would have been okay.

The black and green lines you see trailing through the water are the high voltage electrical that will power the hot tub. I'm not sure I'm comfortable with them going through water like that but the electricians didn't seem to be panicking so I'll assume everything is fine. But I might let someone else be the first person in the hot tub. Just in case.

We're closing in on the end of week two with this project. It's beginning to take shape but the surprises also keep coming. Today we were informed that we probably should have a new pool liner - our old one is almost 20 years old. The one we have might last a while longer (with some patches) but now would be a good time to change it while everything else is torn apart. It will look nice to have a new liner with everything else new. But still unexpected. I don't have any pictures but the electricians also arrived this week and have been busy doing stuff in the basement. They're running lots of new wiring and installing a new box to upgrade the electrical from 100 amp to 200 amp. Here are some pictures taken yesterday.

Rick, from Holland Home Leisure, inspects the pool steps (that were thankfully fine). However, the coping (the white edging that holds the liner in place) is old and needs to be replaced along with the liner. In the background and next to the pool you can see the framing for the deck as it begins to take shape.

Here is the first beam going into place that will form the framework of the cabana. The actual Fiberon decking hasn't arrived yet but all of the framing needs to happen before we're ready for the decking so we still have several weeks ahead of us. Matt is also going to replace that old door on the pump house. That little Rhododendron squatting in the corner is actually going to be  inside the new fence - tucked in that corner. We're hoping it survives all the construction going on around it as it will be a great feature in that corner

Week Two. I never got around to posting anything yesterday so I'll just post two days in one today. I'll let the photos do the talking.

Day 1 of week 2 - The cement is poured into the sonotubes in the holes. These will support the new structure. Their depth will mean no chance  of anything shifting or heaving due to frost.

The supports along the edge of the deck.

Day 2 of Week 2 - The pressure treated lumber that will make up the "bones" of the new deck. There was pressure treated lumber under the old deck. Some of it was still in pretty good shape after over 20 years of service but parts were rotted and there was a small ant colony that had to be dispatched. Since we're covering it out with Fiberon decking we thought it would be prudent to put something under it that would last as long as the decking. Fiberon has a 25 year warranty against fading and limited lifetime warranty for performance. Although in good shape, it was unlikely the old deck supports would have lasted another 25 years.

The holes are all filled in and it's starting to slowly look more like a back yard again and less like the surface of the moon.

There is a definite "dip" when you get to the deck area from the back yard but, when everything is done, the deck will be close to level with the yard - maybe a step or two down.

The last hole to be filled - as soon as the severed pool line is repaired.

The Cement Truck Arrives

The guys begin the first of many wheelbarrow loads of concrete destined for the back yard.

Concrete bases are poured. These will be the bases of the sonotubes that will be filled with concrete and be the foundation of the new deck and the structures that will be on it.

This will, sort of, be our view of the back yard from the deck - hot tub area - once it's complete. The wrought iron fence in the back part of the yard will offer a much less obstructed view of the "back 40".

In this shot I'm standing approximately where the new fence will be erected. This is just to get a sense of how much larger the usable part of the back yard is going to be.

Matt (our contractor) and his lovely assistant (Liz) help to measure off the length of the new privacy fence that will follow along this line.

This is the end of the first week. All of the holes are dug and the casts (molds? - whatever they call them) for the footings are in place. The cement truck arrived this morning and got as close as it could get. From there, the guys took wheelbarrow after wheelbarrow load of cement back to the footings. A long day's work. Once those footings are all set, I think things will really start to take shape.