We finished up work today on our deck to fix a problem where tree roots were pushing up on the framing, causing a “bump” around the tree.  We started by re-working the framing for the deck around the tree to give the roots more breathing room and then replaced all of the decking that had been removed for the framing work.  Here are “before” and “after” pictures … it’s a little hard to tell from the pictures, but the “bump” in the deck is definitely gone now:

The "Before" Picture: Tree roots are pushing up on the deck's framing causing a bulge around the tree.

The "After" Picture

We had some trouble getting the old deck boards up in one piece without them splitting or breaking when we tried to remove them, so we wound up replacing some of the decking with new lumber when we put the deck back together.  The new boards we put down are 2″ x 6″ cedar decking.  We aren’t sure if the rest of the deck is cedar or redwood – it’s really red in color when we cut into it and doesn’t smell like cedar, so we thought it was redwood, but the people at the lumber yard thought cedar instead.  Since we weren’t able to find redwood at any of the local lumber yards, though, our only option was to patch it with cedar and hope everything blends ok when we re-stain the deck.

Our next project now is to work on cleaning up and re-staining/painting the deck since it took a bit of a beating over the winter and we need to make all of the new work blend in with the old deck boards.  I’ve done a little reading on the best approach for re-staining a deck and it sounds like we’ll start by giving it a good scrubbing with a deck cleaner and then follow up with a fresh coat of paint in the railings and facia board and a couple coats of stain on the decking.  Since there’s rain in the forecast here every day for the next week or so, though, it’s likely that it might be a couple of weeks before I’m able to really start working on it …

We took a break from our project to fix the deck yesterday and decided to work on running some speaker wire and ethernet cable to it instead.

We usually have an old boom box with us when we’re out on the deck so we can have the radio on in the background.  Since it’s not water-proof, though, it’s kind of a pain to have to haul it out every time we want to use it.  We did some research last summer on wireless outdoor speakers, but the stability of any of the wireless products we’ve ever used is always questionable, so we decided it probably wasn’t worth the money.  Since we have the deck all torn up anyway, though, we were able to get access to the conduit that runs from the house, under the sidewalk and to the deck.  The junction box is in a place that would be impossible to get to with all of the deck boards back in place, so we decided to run some speaker wire while we had everything opened up so we can add some wired outdoor speakers later.

Existing conduit for power and coax runs from the house, under the sidewalk, to a junction box under the deck.

The conduit had power and coax running through it when we started, but we’ve never used the coax on the deck and don’t think we’ll ever really have a need for it, so we unhooked it in the basement, tied some string to it, and pulled it through to the junction box under the deck.  We then tied (and taped) the string onto a 4-conductor speaker wire and an ethernet cable and pulled them back through to the basement.  We were worried the conduit wouldn’t be big enough or we would have problems with the cables getting all tangled with the electrical wire, but it fished a lot easier than we expected.

The service entrance to the house. Contains electrical wires, speaker wires, and an ethernet cable.

Once we got the wires fished to the junction box, we then installed a separate run of plastic conduit under the deck that takes the speaker wire and ethernet cable almost all the way to the far side of the deck where we’d be most likely to mount jacks and controls for the speakers.

Water-proof junction box under the deck. Electrical wires continue straight, into the 1/2“ conduit; speaker wire & ethernet cable go left into the 3/4” conduit.

Our plan right now is to hook up an outdoor volume control to the 4-conductor speaker wire and mount it on one of the deck posts.  Then, we’ll use 2-conductor speaker wire to wire the volume control to speakers mounted just under the deck on either end of it.  Inside the house, we’ll run the speaker wire to the other side of the basement where we’ll set up an old stereo that powers the speakers.  The original plan for the ethernet cable was to provide a reliable internet connection to the deck so we could connect to our MythTV backend for projecting TV/movies on the side of the house, but we’re reading now that it can also be used for more advanced audio controls (that enable source selection, skipping tracks, etc.) in conjunction with a multi-room receiver like what would be used for whole-house audio systems.  We aren’t sure yet how far we want to take this project, but setting up a whole-house system is something that we think would be pretty cool.  I guess we’ll have to do more research to see what meets our needs the best.  For now, though, we have the wiring in place to hopefully support whatever we decide to do.

With the weather getting warmer this week, we decided it was a good time to start the repairs on our deck so it would be fixed by the time we got ready to dig out all of our patio furniture and start using it again.  Our deck is built around a tree that we love because of all the shade it provides, but the problem is that the tree has grown so much since the deck was built that it started pushing up on the deck, creating a “bump” around the tree.  The deck still felt pretty solid from the top, but when we crawled under it, we could see that the tree roots had started pushing up on the deck frame so much that the joists had buckled and started to twist.

The "Hump" In the Deck

Tree Roots Pushing Up on the Deck

To make more room for the tree roots, we decided to cut out the old joists and cross beams that were resting on the tree roots and replace them with new framing that gives the tree more room to breathe.  Because the deck is so close to the ground around the tree, we had to start by pulling up the deck boards around the tree to expose the old framing.  This turned out to be a bigger job than we expected since the boards were about 16′ in length.  After prying a couple of those up, we decided a more efficient approach would be to cut the boards in half, making sure to stagger the seams, and remove smaller sections instead.

With all of the decking around the tree removed, we then installed a new joist on either side of it, with notches in the appropriate places to leave plenty of clearance around the roots.  Since we’d had to notch the 2″ x 8″ joists for the roots, we reinforced each of them with a 2″ x 4″ attached with carriage bolts for a little extra strength.  With the new joists in place, we then cut out the existing framing and let the deck relax so that there wasn’t a “hump” around the tree any more.  We wound up having to notch a few more of the existing joists than we expected due to more tree roots, but once we cleared all of the places where the tree roots were supporting the deck frame, it pretty much flattened itself out within about a half hour so that we could complete the framing around the tree and add some cross beams to support the existing joists we’d had to cut out.

Removing the Old Joists

The New Framing Around the Tree

The new framing leaves at least 3″ between the top of the tree roots and the bottom of the joists and about 9″ around the base of the tree, so we’re hoping to not have to revisit this project again in the near future.

Now, we’re starting to work on replacing the deck boards we had to take up to install the new framing for the deck.  We’ve been able to replace most of the boards we removed, but a few of them were damaged, so we’re piecing the deck back together as best as we can.  We’ll wind up needing to buy a few replacement boards, though, and we’re finding it impossible to find a lumber yard that carries redwood decking.  Looks like we’ll probably have to use cedar for the last few boards we’re missing instead and then try to stain the whole thing to match after the fact.

With the “hump” around the tree fixed and a fresh coat of paint & stain, it’ll be like a brand new deck by the time we’re done!

I always seem to struggle with picking a paint color from the small samples you get at the paint store.  Once I pick one, it seems to always happen that it looks so much different on the wall than it did on the sample.  More than once, I’ve wound up re-painting the room because of it, which is a lot of extra work.

For our next project to pick paint colors for our dining room and foyer, I wanted to make sure I got the right color the first time, so I started looking on the Sherwin Williams website to see if I could order the larger paint samples you can get from decorators to get a better idea of the color ahead of time.  It turns out that anyone can register as a DIY decorator on their site for “Professionals” and order 3″ x 4″, 7″ x 8″, or 8″ x 11″ samples of any Sherwin Williams color … for free.

I signed up and ordered 8″ x 11″ samples of about 12 shades of tan I was considering for our entry way and also the samples for a couple of colors we already have in some of the rooms in our house so I could get a better idea of how everything would look together.  My top color pick for the foyer before ordering the samples was Softer Tan (SW 6141), which I’d read online had a bit of a green cast, but I just couldn’t see it from the small sample I’d gotten at the paint store.  Once the larger sample came, the green tone was pretty evident.  Now, I’m debating between Nomadic Desert and Latte, which are two really neutral tans from the same paint card … I just haven’t decided how dark of a color to use yet.

The color we chose for our powder room a couple of weeks ago was another case where I wished I’d have had the larger paint sample to start with.  We painted the walls Techno Gray (SW 6170), thinking it would be a light gray color, but it turned out to have so much green in it that I would describe the walls as more of a sage than a gray color.  We like the color just fine, but it definitely wasn’t what we were expecting when we picked it.  After seeing the larger sample, it was pretty obvious it was more of a green color than a gray.

Considering how easy it is to order the samples from Sherwin Williams and how quickly they come (ours arrived in just a couple days), the larger paint samples are a huge help for visualizing what a new paint color will look like.  Definitely something we’ll be doing again …

From the first time we walked through our house before we bought it, we’ve never really been fans of the green floral wallpaper and matching curtains in just about every room on the main floor.  Last winter, we started removing the wallpaper on the main floor when we  redecorated the sun room, but the dining room still has some very green wallpaper from floor to ceiling and our foyer is well coordinated with the matching border along the chair rail all the way up to the second floor.

Dining Room Wallpaper

We probably would have tackled the project to remove the wallpaper a lot earlier if we’d had good ideas for what to replace it with, but I’ve been pretty challenged at picking out paint or replacement wallpaper that I think would look good on my own.  I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t be hard to improve on what’s there, but I want to make sure we pick something that’s going to coordinate between all of the rooms on the main floor since they’re so open and I’m pretty bad at visualizing what the whole space could look like with all of the green gone.  Our carpet and some of the existing paint also has kind of a pink hue that I want to be careful to not draw out, which has been an additional challenge.

To help work through my indecision, I started working with a decorator a couple months ago for some help picking out paint colors and coming up with a furniture layout for our very long and narrow living room.  She had some interesting ideas, but I think we just have very different tastes in colors, so I decided to give it a try on my own after all.  The one thing the decorator picked out that I think I do kind of like is some new wallpaper for the dining room.  I wasn’t really thinking about putting up new wallpaper and this is a little bolder than what I might normally choose, but I can see how it would look good in the dining room and provide a very earthy color palette that I like for the rest of the main floor.  My only concern is that it might look dated in just a few years too ..

Paint & Wallpaper Samples

The decorator’s idea was to paper the wall above the chair rail with the brown wallpaper in the picture.  It has some green and a red-orange color in the flowers, but mostly it’s brown and cream with a little bit of gold foil outlining.  The bottom of the wall would be a paint color about the same as the background for the wallpaper so that it blends in, but has no pattern.

The paint samples on top of the wallpaper in the photo are some existing colors we have in the house and some new ones I picked out for the foyer and other rooms that can be seen from and will need to coordinate with the dining room.  The one on the left is Sherwin Williams “Sand Dune” (SW 6086).  This is the color our living room is currently painted and it’s a color we’d probably choose to keep if it turns out to match everything else ok.  The color in the middle is Sherwin Williams Nomadic Desert (SW 6107).  I’m thinking this color or maybe Latte (SW6108), which is just a shade darker) for the foyer adjacent to the dining room.  The dark brown color is Sherwin Williams Nuthatch (SW 6088).  This is the color we painted our sun room, which is (barely) visible from the dining room, so we want to make sure it doesn’t clash horribly.  The final paint color on the right is Sherwin Williams Techno Gray (SW 6170), which we painted our powder room just a couple weeks ago.

I haven’t been brave enough to start removing the wallpaper and go buy paint … I’m still struggling with whether or not to commit to the wallpaper selection.  I think my biggest concern is probably how dark the room would be with that wallpaper if we decide to remove the carpet and refinish the hardwood floors with a darker stain at some point in the future.  Although redoing the dining room walls would definitely make the biggest difference as far as updating the main floor, I’m thinking I might start with the foyer since it’s an easier decision for me.  I found lots of comments on this blog that all of the colors on the paint card containing the Latte and Nomadic Desert paint colors I’m considering for the foyer are pretty true tans with no undertones.  I’m hoping these will help neutralize some of the pink tones elsewhere in the house and provide a good starting point for the redecorating project …

It all started a couple weeks ago when we decided to replace the whole-house shut off valve for our water service, mostly as a precautionary measure since the current valve is old and the handle is missing.  We wanted to make sure it would be functional in case we ever needed to use it … namely, when we install a new faucet for the sink in the powder room we’ve been working to fix up.  So, we called a plumber to have the valve replaced.

In order to do the work, we needed to have the water shut off to the house.  So the city came out to locate the curb box  and verify that it would shut off water to our house to make sure everything was in place for when the plumber came to install the new shut of valve.  It took them a while to find the shut off since it’s located in the bottom of the ravine rather than somewhere near the street, but once they found it, they were able to shut off our water without any problems.  The problem came when the valve broke in the “off” position so that they weren’t able to turn it on again without replacing the curb box, which is buried about 4 feet deep.  Probably the most frustrating part of the whole thing was that this happened at about 2:30 on a Friday afternoon and we weren’t able to find anyone to come out to work on it before Monday, so we spent a weekend with no water service before a plumber showed up on Monday morning with an excavator to dig up and replace the curb box.

Installing a New Curb Box

It took the better part of the day for our plumber and the city water department to decide that they needed to shut off another valve that supplies water to our house and a neighbor’s house in order to complete the repair, but the sewer department wasn’t available to clean out that shut off for another few days.  So the plumbers were able to dig up the old curb box, tighten the nut that had caused the old valve to leak, and turn the water back on to our house (without replacing the valve) on their first visit, but it took another week for the city to get the second curb box cleaned out so the water could be turned off and our curb box could be replaced.  The crew came back a couple days ago to finally replace the shut off valve and finish the job.

As of now, we’re back to where we started, with a working curb box, but our original shut-off valve in the house.  The biggest thing we’ve learned from all of this is to never start a project like this at the end of the week.  It’s definitely a relief to have everything back in working condition, but I think we’ll wait a few weeks for the memory of this adventure to fade a bit before we tackle the project of replacing the whole house shut-off valve again.