I continue adding deck boards.

Meanwhile, Amáda starts preparing the earth for the stair footing.

Amáda finishes preparing the earth for the stair landing, and places the concrete form.

Meanwhile, I add most of the remaining deck boards.

Fireworks burst all around us as we work well into the night, pouring concrete for the stair landing. We place the J bolts into the concrete just as midnight tolls.

We trim the excess deck boards on the angled edges, and add cladding to the stair framing.

I also make some brackets for anchoring the stairs framing to the concrete J-bolts and install them.

I add the rim joist skirt cladding and the stair treads. The railing is on back-order, but we can’t resist putting some furniture on the new deck.

I begin assembly of the railing posts by attaching angled brackets.

I also assess the need for blocking on the deck framing.

I attach blocking to the framing beneath the deck to support all of the railing posts.

I attach the first stair railing post. This one was custom-made to accommodate both angled railing and stair railings.

Weather prevented us from continuing work on the deck, so instead we completed final installation steps for the security system.

I install the remaining deck railing posts, and begin adding a few sections of railing.