Deck: Bomar Residence
Our new favorite client, Mr. Bomar, had us design and install a deck to replace his old one. He has lived in the house at least 50 of his 93 years; the deck was dilapidated and unsafe to walk on, much less spend a nice Austin afternoon drinking coffee on, enjoying his amazing view.
Besides reminding each of us of our grandfathers or great uncles, Mr. Bomar is the spryest 93-year old I’ve ever seen. While we were out there over the past 3 weeks, Mr. Bomar was up on a ladder no less than three times. Matt saw him torching and welding to repair this and that around the outside of his home. He also made sure he offered our whole team any of the beautiful pots going unused around his greenhouses (both of which he built, of course). I graciously took four of them. He was aghast that I carried them to the truck instead of letting Matt do it for me. I assured him I’m stronger than I look and it would hurt my pride to ask my husband to carry my new pots. [Side note: I carried 35-lb dog food bags while 9 months pregnant, so besides being strong, I’m also stubborn.] Mr. Bomar greeted me outside each time I walked up on the occasions that I stopped by with Ansley to take pictures of the progress. He always had a story to tell, including when he served the country in WWII as a fighter pilot. He made sure I knew that he was responsible for placing all of the stones used as edging and rock walls on the property, and I was obviously impressed. The biggest compliment a client has paid us thus far came from him: “I probably shouldn’t be telling you this until the boys finish, but I’m really pleased.” It was a pleasure making the trek out to west Austin to build this deck.
This is a cedar deck with steel and bull panel railing. In the design, we adjusted some of the previous angles in the new deck to make it more modern and orthogonal, and gave the tree plenty of room since it had grown into the deck space. During the construction phase, Mr. Bomar decided to go ahead and cut one of the large branches back, so we responded to the installation of the railing accordingly. We sealed the cedar planks as well as sealed the steel railing to keep the rust from getting on the wood. The stairs are made to look weightless, floating at the entries. The bull panel provides safety without obstructing the view.
