5 Days to Design, Mill Lumber, and Build an Epic Outdoor Living Space To Surprise Wife

flip the level end by end to chaeck accuracy of level. it should be the same either way

Great series Troy! What a great surprise for Kelly. I absolutely love working with white oak. I hope you'll do a follow up or two, to show us how well the green decking turned out after drying, and to see the sanding and finishing process.

I’m liking the longer video, I’m not as carpentry savvy but your videos are always helping me with ideas and technical difficulties

What a great surprise for Kelly. We will be married 29 years on June 24th. I am not sure when you filmed this video, but we got married around the same timeframe.

You messed up! Now anytime Kellie leaves you alone she is going to expect a big surprise when she gets home, probably even start leaving you a long list of honey do's. Bad move my friend.

Best to do nothing and live in squalor, a huge mess when she gets back. That way you keep expectations really, really low and it's a surprise if one time she gets back and you happen to clean some of the dishes you used.

But good job nonetheless 👍

Great video Troy deck looks great knew Kelly was gonna like it take care👍

At first look when you were cutting those 4x6 posts it looked like you were cutting them on one of those wavy glass top tables and I was thinking that Kelly was going to be mad at you but as the 2nd one got cut through and fell to their respective sides I realized you were cutting them on your wheel barrel 😂

Great video Troy. Liked the longer video. Looks like the new deck is really a major win with the wife.

Troy, when I installed my flooring with a 'short clamp's method '. I reversed the end of the bar clamp and it became a spreader and installed a 2x4 parallel to the flooring screwed to the open joist that was exposed. Worked well for me.

Would have been a good time to try composite deck boards
I understand that you want to use your own stock but
1 it’s faster
2 we’re getting older and no maintenance with that stuff
Down side — it’s stupid expensive

Nice work Troy and Troy's dad. Curious how much you think the decking would have cost if you had to buy it at the box store?

Troy, nuthin better than surprising your wife (in a good way!) Appreciation definitely works!

Would have been a good time to try composite deck boards
I understand that you want to use your own stock but
1 it’s faster
2 we’re getting older and no maintenance with that stuff
Down side — it’s stupid expensive

Awesome job after completion

Looks like a great space!

You are a good man Troy. Good man.

Wow what a wonderful surprise! You’ve upped the ante for all the husbands out there lol.

Good job Troy. Great video too!

The decking looks AMAZING! I am currently working on an outdoor kitchen, and we may have to look at something like this for an outdoor dining area. Beautiful job!

Wonderful and inspiring! Happy anniversary! Always good to see such great family dynamics in action. People at large really need to see relationships that work. Bless you all for sharing an example of a truly loving family. Cheers and hope for 29 more!

Loved the long-form video. Would have loved to have seen the trees coming down off the hill with the pulley and chain.

Troy, we used a fabric called Coolaroo for providing shade for our deck, it’s got a sunscreen rating and it lasted over 10 years + in northern Illinois year round. Good luck with your project…I’m sure Kelly will love it.

Great video. Nice that you could post it on Fathers Day and end by saying how your Dad is always there for you! Happy Fathers Day !!

They left you unsupervised

Hi, Troy. The deck looks great the only thing I would have done is seal the ends of the oak. It is a good thing you have a good long cable to pull logs with. A little white lie to the wife is a good thing when it is something for the wife.

super travail et super video 👍

Troy, if you start to have difficulty with the deck boards cupping when they dry, you could easily remedy the problem by renting a floor sander and leveling the deck all at one time. (Sorry for the superfluous comment about a sander, but I commented prior to watching the entire video. My bad)

I'm glad to hear that I'm not the only stubborn bloke who doesn't like to ask for help. Good Job Mate.

What a beautiful sitting area, nice job, years of good use,

What a wonderful gift for a beautiful family! I love that you can all sit together now and just enjoy the peace of your property or gather with friends and family. You all certainly deserve it. Troy, you did a beautiful job, absolutely gorgeous. Kelly, I'm so glad you're feeling better. You'll have to bring us along as you add any finishing touches. Thanks so much for sharing. May the Lord continue to shine His face on you all. Love, hugs, and blessings ~Lisa

Ps. Happy Father's Day to you Troy, your Dad, and all the Dad’s who may read this.

Thanks for videoing this and you gave me a lot of ideas.. Great project and I love the outcome

Help ? What is this Help thing you were talking about ?
Never heard of this help idea.
lol
looks very good, but everything even over here is just stupid expensive these days

one of the best videos I have ever watched !

Fantastic!!! I know Kelly LOVES it! Good job, Troy!! And great timing ..... on finishing and for her to have a nice place to recuperate from the flu! 🥇

I am glad you put this all in one video. Also, AWESOME!!! I welled up at the end when Kelly said how much she liked it. I am the same way, not asking for help, so I know how you feel. I know, too, the awful feeling when you have to lie so as not to give away a big surprise. I have done that, too. Love you videos!

Excellent job and documentation, love it!

Nice video, I watched it in about 4 sections. How are you going to get the eggs when your chickens find that great spot.

❤❤😊 great gift 😊

Great job

Beautiful deck Troy I know you are going to need a vacation. Congratulations on your anniversary

How many Troys does it take to screw in a lightbulb........😊

Pressure treating on timbers doesn’t seem to penetrate all the way through the timber. Thus when putting the cut end of a timber in the ground one has untreated wood in ground contact, which can lead to failure. I always put the uncut, treated end of a post in the hole so all wood in contact with soil has been treated.

Looks good. Nice you didn't use any of the vinyl planks. The promise of looking good and maintenance free is just not real. They sag, they are super hot in the sun, very slick when wet and crack relatively easy if you drop something on them when frozen. At one time I was going to get it and then looking at it in the store, and reading reviews convinced me otherwise. There is no grain strength to it.

Wow Troy, what a wonderful surprise! You and Kelly will enjoy that for years and years. Thanks for bringing us on this adventure with you. While all of us who did NOT marry YOU become more and more jealous ;)
You are a lucky girl Kelly. God Bless you both.

Looks great but I am still concerned about wracking of the pergola frame. It can move laterally in and out from both walls with no resistance to oppose the motion. Since you have the side wall of the existing porch which is framed with siding, presumably you could put a small ledger there and maybe build an open ladder trellis over the open space and attach to the top side rail of the pergola. Thus something will be holding the unit from moving left and right and perhaps this strength in that corner would keep in and out movement minimized. While not aesthetically pleasing, some sore of cross bracing may be needed in each of the sections.

I bet you slept good each night, all that work you done.