Outdoor

I have a note on my phone called “PATIO (CONCRETE?)” and it’s mostly me writing the same sentence over and over:

“Why are these numbers so different.”

A concrete patio is deceptively simple. It’s a flat rectangle that you walk on.

And yet quotes will come back like:

• Contractor A: $4,800
• Contractor B: $11,900
• Contractor C: $19,400

…and they’ll all be for “a concrete patio.”

This post is me trying to make that sentence stop lying.

I have a note on my phone titled “DECK” and it reads like a person slowly learning that “a deck” is not one thing.

It’s a bunch of separate purchases wearing a trench coat:

• a small amount of demolition (or a large amount, depending on how rotten your old one is)
• some holes in the ground (footings)
• a lot of labor (framing + decking + railing + stairs)
• and then the accessories that turn “platform” into “finished deck” (rails, stairs, lighting, skirting, waterproofing, staining)

And deck quotes are famous for hiding the important parts inside one line like: