The owner of this log kit home called me and said guests were complaining about uneven boards on the large deck. It’s a vacation rental on a steep hillside in Grand Lake with a tremendous view of Shadow Mountain Reservoir. When I visited, I discovered the developer had built up enough fill to extend the deck over the steep hillside, but in the twenty years since, the fill was seeing significant erosion and the outermost concrete footers had become partially exposed. Further investigation showed the footers were beginning to slowly slide down the hill, taking the deck with them. I began the rebuilding process by demolishing the old deck:

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I rebuilt the deck using an unconventional cantilever system to retain as much of the original size as possible. I used double Doug Fir joisting anchored to the house with 6″ screws and joist hanger hardware. The framing material was painted with Behr stain and sealer:

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The finished deck turned out well. I used Trex decking and a sturdy hog wire railing system with pressure treated Southern Pine:

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But there was still something missing. The house had been built with economy grade clad windows that were not standing up to the test of time. Here’s one of the larger double hung windows that faced the deck:

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I replaced it with a premium quality eight foot wide Pella sliding door with transom window above:

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Here’s a photo of the original deck door and dining area window:

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I replaced the rotted door with a Pella fixed glass window and replaced the six foot pair of double hung windows with a new Pella too:

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Here’s another one of the old double hung windows that faced the deck:

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I replaced it with a Pella picture window to take advantage of the outstanding view:

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Here’s a shot of the improved deck:

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I replaced all of the main level windows with new Pellas. We’ll do the lower and loft levels at a later date. More pics to come!