I created a plan in Google's SketchUp (that went through several iterations with the design approval committee).
We started last year with a small inner square that was functional but wasn't the final look that we were going for. . .
Step #1 - Kill grass - Somewhat ironic after all the trouble we went through to actually get grass here.
By July of 2010, we had veggies and flowers. . .
This year, we enlarged the garden from 16' x 16' to 27' x 27'.
Purchase five tons of crushed Pennsylvania redstone, 300' of edging material, and add labor. Keeping the edging in place before the stone and dirt were added took over a hundred wood stakes.
How things are currently looking as of this rainy morning.
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2 comments:
Hey Ken,
Love the blog! I just found it from an old Timbertech Earthwoods forum. I just read through most of it today in my research deck materials. I know it's been a couple of years now since you built your deck with TT Earthwoods Teak. I was wondering how it's held up. How much maintenance has it required? Have you dealt with much scratching, fading or mildew/mold issues?
I put in an order last week on what I thought was the new PVC capped Earthwood Evolution Teak, but was informed today that it is the previous generation stuff (the exact stuff it looks like you used). The sales guy of course told me it was still great stuff, etc., but I know the sample scratches pretty easily and there's mixed reviews online. I'd love any insight you could offer.
Thanks!
Ryan (coincidentally I live in SE PA too!)
Hi Ryan,
Thanks for the comments! It's been three years since we built the deck and we have absolutely loved it. Regarding the decking, it has held up very well.
Maintenance - we cleaned it this past year. Other than that, we haven't had to do any maintenance to it.
Scratching - Very resistant to scratching. We have a 60 pound dog that we let out via the deck to do her thing several times a day. There are a couple of light scratches on the steps area from her, nothing that I even noticed until I went out and looked thoroughly just now. The faux wood grain grooves in the decking tends to hide the scratches.
Fading - Compared to a piece of scrap I had in the basement, not much - about 5%.
Mildew / Mold - Had some mildew that had built up over the three years in darker areas that washed right off. I can't blame the product on this, you are going to have to clean any decking material.
The only issue that I am having - There are some very light mold spots that washed off in June but have returned. They are very small spots in the field of the deck and are not noticeable given the wood grain appearance of the material unless you are looking for it. Given that I can stay on top of it with regular cleanings, I'm not too concerned at this point, though I obviously wish it didn't happen.
Overall - The deck material has met my expectations. After having an ipe deck that required annual staining and sealing, I wanted something that was maintenance free which is exactly what I got.
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