Nothing is worse than a project that takes longer than expected. I've been staining our decks, and the project is going into its third week already. Now, I've stained decks before, so I have a rough idea of how much stain I'll need, what kinds of brushes to use, what I will need to tape off in order to keep the stain where it needs to be.
Yet this project persists...
The first thing that made a change to the known scope for the project was changing from ugly aluminum balusters to wire cable for the spaces between the railings. It looks easy based on the YouTube videos by professional deck builders, but the cost of the project quadrupled immediately with this decision. The effort remains to be seen, since the installation will be the last step.
The project had other unknown scope that creeped in as well. A thorough power wash took a lot of time, and when that was completed I realized how rough the condition of the wood was. This led to 3 rounds of sanding followed by applying brightener to the remaining wood and another quick wash.
During sanding I discovered some rot in various places. A trip to the lumberyard and I was in for another hundred dollars in cedar boards. The stairs also required some stabilization, so I bulked those up at the same time as replacing the planking. This project has also been delayed by the weather. While I have a deadline to finish staining by the time its too cold (stain should only be applied when the temperature is above 50°F). I still need to contend with fall rain. If rain is forecasted, I shouldn't stair, or it could be washed away, and once it has rained, at least 24 hours of dry-time is required.
Perhaps a better time for this would have been during the drier summer months, but I chose to enjoy that time rather than sweating it away on this project.
Tomorrow, I'll discuss how my deck project is an analogy for the common types of overruns we see in software development.