Three years ago, we tore down our deck and started rebuilding it. Two years ago, Josh finished the top part and we put a railing around the entire thing because we didn't have the money to do the stairs and wanted to be able to safely use it. Then last year we did the stairs. And this year we finally opened up the top and completed the deck with the railing down the stairs. And although we learned a lot from the whole experience and have the satisfaction of knowing we did it ourselves, if we had to do it all over again, we'd just pay someone to do it. I don't think we saved any money by doing it ourselves and we definitely didn't save any time. It was such a long process and Josh ran into so many difficulties along the way.
We are, however, more than pleased with the outcome. It turned out beautiful and I love having access to my backyard from the back side of my house finally (as do the girls).
