That week last summer when I built my own deck and everything went perfectly

I decided to build a 12x16 deck behind my house in Portland and planned it for months. The lumber delivery showed up on a Tuesday and not a single board was warped or split, which I still can't believe. Every post hole lined up on the first try and I finished the whole thing in 5 days without a single trip back to the hardware store. Has anyone else had a project where nothing went wrong? I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop.

2 comments

2 Comments

quinnperry9d ago

That phrase "not a single board was warped" sticks with me. Reminds me how we plan for things to go wrong, brace for the worst, and then real life just... works. I've noticed that the smoothest moments happen when we stop waiting for the shoe to drop and just get on with it.

joseph489d ago

Absolutely. That's exactly it. I had this project last summer building a little shed, and I spent three whole weekends checking lumber for twists and cracks. I was so sure half of it was going to warp after the first rain. Bought the expensive sealant, the right nails, the whole deal. Then I just got tired of worrying and started nailing it together. Finished the thing in two days, and it's been standing through storms for a year now without a single board so much as cupping. The effort I put into worrying was ten times the effort of just doing the job right the first time.