The Deck

With the front of the house looking in good shape, it's time to turn attention to the rear. Following construction, the back of the house is in a bit of a mess and the thick clay soil and recent rain doesn't help matters.

First step is to grade the area by calling on the services of The Dingo! The Dingo is a mini hand operated bulldozer and should make the work a lot easier.

At first things go well...

But then the thick, cloying clay soil starts to take it's toll...

Despite the caterpillar tracks, the Dingo starts to get bogged down...

Until it finally digs itself in too deep and gets stuck. One dead Dingo.

After attaching chains to the Dingo and hauling it out, progress is more rapid on leveling the ground. Next the posts for the deck need to be set:

And then the deck can begin to take shape:

It's quite a complex structure as Julia had the vision of no visual barriers when looking out into the oak grove from inside the back of the house.

So, given the height of the back door above grade level, Richard and Diane designed a cascading set of steps that negated the need for a safety barrier between the house and the trees.

Clay continues with the work...

The decking is made out of cedar.

There haven't been any pictures of the back of the house, so here's one of the deck construction from halfway down the back garden.

 And here are the finished steps which turn out to be great just for sitting on and admiring the wooded surroundings:

And the view from the upper side. The deck is about 20 feet by 12 feet and provides ample space for a table, chairs and so on.

We also wanted to add a small enclosed play area for Molly down slope of the deck. This involved extending the downhill fence out to the back and under the nook windows and connecting it up with the deck. Here's Molly playing ball in her newly completed play area:

The addition of bark dust helps get the clay soil under control and makes for a nicely finished area from which we can enjoy the oak trees and Molly can enjoy the squirrels.

Idyllic isn't it!