Outdoor deck and roofing are complete.

It was quite a challenge to get much work done during the summer heat. But working under the covered deck sure helped. Arguably one of the scariest moments was renting a ladder to go up on the roof from the outside to secure the last panels. I did it in the morning before the roof got too hot, but anytime I’m that high in the air, it sure feels hotter and sweating on sloping, plastic roof panels doesn’t make it feels any better. I was able to get drip rails and flashing around the roof with a combination of ladders.

With the roof all secured, it was time to get the boards down on the deck. While it is not a difficult task, getting 2,000 lbs of wood down to the house, unloaded, up to the second floor, and secured in place is not the quickest task in 100+° weather. But I sweated through it and got it done.

I was either smart or lucky with how the deck lined up between the containers (I’ll go with lucky). The end container is the standard height that I already owned, incorporated into the design, and was damaged during stacking. The other two are HC. So when I repaired the standard one’s roof damage, I built up the roof. I did calculate but it doesn’t always work out to be exact. I built that roof structure quite a while back. The good news is that the decking lined up almost perfectly. The dog sure likes it. Railing needed to be added for safety reasons but at that point the deck was fully functional.

Since the roof panels are translucent, I tried to keep the structure simple, so I didn’t want to put any visible light fixtures. I decided to go with linear outdoor lighting that I could conceal within the roof structure channels. I used Savant since I’m also using it indoors too. That allowed me to use their Daylight mode to automatically mimic the color temp of the sun outdoors. The result is pretty impressive, if I do say so myself.

I added some string lights, some solar powered lanterns, a sink, speakers, and a couple of fans. None of that is groundbreaking, so I didn’t document too much of that. The sink will be nice for grilling though. With all of the amenities on the deck, I can safely say that is the most used aspect of the lake house.

I’m finally at the point where all of the functional items are complete. Even though I’ve been living in the house on weekends for months, it is really starting to feel like a home. Cosmetics are the last part, so I went ahead and tackled exterior painting. What a difference it makes. The sides visible from the neighborhood are complete, but I’ll wait for the less visible sides until the heat subsides. I also ran 200’ of string lights from the top of the hill to the house. It makes it nicer waking down there at night.