Some pre-construction thoughts

I don't know about the rest of you, but this is the time of year that I start to envision my Spring, Summer, and Fall projects. I thought that before you got knee deep in planning, designing, a buying supplies, I might give you some questions to help you decide if this is the right project for you, and the right time.

The first item to consider is whether or not this is what you need or hoping to accomplish. For example, you could spend a lot of time and money building a deck that never gets used. If you were to build that deck off the side of your house and you had no view out that way, or had a really bad view, you probably won't use it. Worse yet would be if that was the area that your children used to play, and now you have taken that away from them.

A garden area may seem like just what you need, but are you going to be able to put in the time to keep it up. Weeding and fertilizing takes time. Is your proposed garden area too big, or not big enough?

A pond with a waterfall may seem so peaceful, but they require some upkeep as well. Are you going to be able to keep it clean so your pump doesn't get clogged up?

A second question would be how much time are you going to be able to put into the initial project? A deck is obviously going to take quite a bit of prep work before you even get to driving screws. A lot of that work needs to be done together. Making sure the early stages are going to give you a level deck, is something that you generally want to do at the same time.

A garden is going to require a lot of prep work, and a pond is going to take quite a bit of up-front work as far as electrical, digging, laying out the liner, etc.

There is quite a bit to consider in addition to these, experience, ability, your willingness to study and ask questions, but most of these will not get you into as deep of trouble as the two above. The top two will get you quickly depressed and often keep you from starting new projects down the road.

Keep working and thinking.

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