Deck is done - Who's ready to party????

After the pressure washer incident and injury, Phil finally got us on track after two - count 'em - two 60 mile round trips to get it fixed. 

What about those nasty furniture covers? Generic spray mildew remover, soap and water, scrub brush, elbow grease, some sunshine and see what happens...

Before

After

And that mildewed, disgusting, "maintenance-free" composite deck?

Before

 After

We may have a pressure washer, but cleaning this massive deck and all the items on it was still back-breaking work. Take a look and see if it was worth it! I think it looks pretty damn good!

Before (mid- April)

After

Before

After

Before

After

You probably think I'm crazy to have white cushions outside. Even though we keep them covered, they still manage to get dirty. Actually, going white was one of the smartest things I've done. When we bought the furniture about nine years ago, the cushions were a dark, burnt sienna-type color. After 4 years, they naturally faded and looked worn. I bought white, sunbrella material online and took the cushions and material to a guy that makes custom cushion covers for boats. It wasn't cheap (about $700) but he did a fabulous job. With white I never have to worry about fading and can use the mildew cleaner that contains bleach. They are now 5 years old, and I bet I can get another 5 years out of them.

P.S. Phil's arm finally stopped bleeding with the help of a gazillion butterfly stitches and gobs of gauze and bandages. It's a tough contest as to who, between the two of us, is the most clutsy - we both seem to excel in this area.

Next project -
Take a look at our lower patio.

Shameful. We were perusing the clearance section in Lowe's tile department and lo and behold...cheap (really nice) indoor/outdoor tile! At $.63 each we (meaning I) couldn't pass it up. Phil is probably saying to himself, "Do I have to have another hernia operation to get some rest around here?" Well, after lifting twelve boxes of these tiles he may need another trip to the doctor!

Stay tuned. Where Patti and Phil renovate or revive - shisnick follows!