Home »
What happened to the backyard extravaganza?
Construction Questions
By Menno Dueck
What father wouldn’t want to make his daughter’s outdoor engagement party something she would never forget? Poor Todd wishes it was something he could forget.
Todd never did anything simple in his life; his motto was “bigger is always better,” and so the backyard extravaganza began. Soon, the whole back yard was a construction site. The carpenter Todd hired began by building the multi-level deck with heaters, then moved on to the gazebo with inset hot tub and wind screens, and finally to the waterscape and fire pit. When it was completed, Todd patted himself on the back for a job well done and was secretly anticipating the accolades he knew would follow at the party.
The engagement party went off without a hitch on a lovely sunny day. Todd basked in his future in-laws’ gasps over his fabulous back yard. What was a few thousand dollars (more than a few, but who was counting today?) to make his little girl happy.
A year later problems started showing up, not in his daughter’s marriage, but the backyard extravaganza.
First, the joints in the hexagon decking started opening up, then the whole gazebo with the raised floor around the hot tub and the hot tub itself began to sag to one side, and the built in waterscape was losing water. When Todd looked for help from his carpenter, he was put on ignore.
The end result was no one could repair Todd’s $55,000 backyard extravaganza. Todd and the carpenter had not had proper drawings done for the footings and support beams. Neither of them had taken out a permit. There were no building inspections done. Some of the materials used were not even the rights ones.
In the end, the backyard extravaganza was dismantled and taken to the dump, except for the hot tub that now resides quietly by itself in the backyard. Todd is still trying to forget about his costly mistake, but he is quick to tell everyone he’s pleased his daughter’s marriage didn’t end up the way of the backyard extravaganza. Yet.
(Based on a true story, name changed to protect the very sheepish Todd.)
– Menno Dueck is the owner of Ask Menno Consulting, Dueck Enterprises Inc.
He can be reached at 250-426-5460 www.dueckenterprises.com
