Day six was spent picking out the deck material. I had to comb through a lot of bad pieces at Home Depot. I was originally going to go with a composite material, but I found so many bad reviews on the Internet about the material getting mold and mildew, that I decided I didn't want the hassle. I thought the redwood would make a nice colored texture for the deck, but my wife has now convinced me that we should paint it the same color as the outer concrete deck. I wanted to stain it a deep red, but after thinking about it a while, I agree with her. The goal is not to accentuate the deck, despite the fact that I will be quite proud of it.
I don't recommend dropping a 16' piece of redwood on your foot. I was bleeding through my sock after that (not good, still hurts now 8 days later).
Cleaning up the end piece here, I cut all of the joists off (with my 7.5" circular saw, $60 at Lowes), and complete the end piece. I didn't have too much time to work, but I did have time to lay some of the redwood across and walk on it, so I could get a feel for how it would look, and to also show my wife and Dad some progress.
Photos:
