Deck

Question: Eight seasons ago, I had a cedar deck built on the back of the house. I went with cedar because I was told that its life expectancy was greater than pressure-treated pine. The deck was built in April and allowed to cure and dry for a year, as directed by the builder, before staining. The following spring, I had the deck painted with a semitransparent stain - it allows the grain to show but looks like paint. Several months later, the paint began to peel. Large flakes were lifting off the wood.

Here they go again out in the National League West. The San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks continue their joust for the division lead in a three-game series that begins tomorrow in Phoenix. The teams met four times last week, with San Diego taking three of four. Also, 11 months after shoulder surgery, Pedro Martinez is scheduled to come off the disabled list and make his season debut for the New York Mets tomorrow at Cincinnati against the Reds.

Steve Franck is a rock climber, and he's climbed trees in his job with Plant Place. For this job, though, he rose to new heights.

When city crews arrived at the That's Greek to Me restaurant on South Street yesterday morning, they weren't there to ask questions. Jim Pender fired up a propane torch and began cutting the sidewalk seating deck into pieces that his partner, Henry Tucker, threw into a Streets Department truck. By noon, the deck was gone. After three years of complaints from civic groups, Licenses and Inspections officials finally tore down the deck, which they said was illegal. "It's been a long time coming," said Gray Smith of the South Street Neighborhood Association.

A Devon Square resident who built a back-yard deck without a permit will have to dismantle the structure after losing an application for a variance before the Radnor Township Zoning Hearing Board. Though calling the absence of a building permit an honest mistake, the board voted 4-1 Thursday night to reject the request of Henry and Marilyn Sommo, of 120 Eaton Drive, for other reasons. The Sommos' attorney, Nicholas Caniglia, said his client was undecided whether to appeal the decision to Delaware County Court.

There's nothing like adding a deck to transform an ordinary home into a home attached to a mass of inexpertly nailed wood. And just imagine the family fun you'll have this summer with a deck! "Come on kids!" you'll call to your children. "Let's go out on the deck and have some fun!" "Shut UP," they'll gaily reply, because they are engrossed in a Sony PlayStation video game that they've been playing for 11 consecutive weeks. "OK then!" you'll say, stepping out onto your new deck.

Looking for a good excuse to whoop it up tonight? Here are two: it's Saturday, and it's Independence Day. And if Mother Nature decides to smile upon us, you'll be able to take advantage of the Shore's many alfresco nightspots, where you can enjoy fresh bay or ocean breezes - and fireworks. One of the best vantage points can be found on the upstairs deck at C.J.'s Key West Bar and Grill, 939 Bay Ave., Somers Point - the newly renovated former site of Crazy Jane's dance club.

The Lower Gwynedd Township Zoning Hearing Board denied a variance Wednesday night for a deck on a one-year-old house that was sited incorrectly as the result of a surveyor's error. Because the house on Tanglewood Drive in the Gwynedd Knoll housing development was built 23 feet closer to the rear property line than it should have been, a variance was required to permit construction of the deck. The owners, John and Ruth Dalina, had argued that they should not be held responsible for the surveying error made by Toll Bros.

The Aldan Zoning Hearing Board has granted the appeal of Ralph D'Orazio to allow a sun deck in his rear side yard on Laurel Avenue. D'Orazio had begun construction of the sun deck in the fall without first obtaining a building permit from the borough. The borough's building inspector discovered the construction in progress and refused to issue a permit because the deck did not conform with borough setback requirements. According to the borough zoning ordinance, the structure would have to be 8 feet away from D'Orazio's property line.

I was looking at my home's back steps, constructed of pressure-treated wood, and decided it was time for the annual get-rid-of-the-mildew-and-seal-them program. For some reason, they aren't looking as green as they were last year, so the job will be a snap. It has been a long time since I discussed deck cleaning in this space, probably because these few steps are all I have since we sold the house with the deck 12 years ago. But because the summer entertainment season is coming, it might be appropriate to run through deck-cleaning 101 before the arrival of hotter weather, when things dry too quickly or not at all. If you don't want to do the job yourself - especially if it has been a while since the last cleaning - there are companies that will do it for you. Go online or ask your friends and neighbors.

FOR MOST of the night, a palpable feeling of discontent radiated from the otherwise frigid stands. Citizens Bank Park is a great place to play when you are a member of a winning team. But when expectations are not being met, the frustration in the stands can create some cringe-worthy moments. In the fourth inning on Sunday night, a boisterous section in the leftfield seats zeroed in on 25-year-old rightfielder Domonic Brown after a blooper fell a couple feet in front of him for a base hit. At first there were boos.

Sophomore Lauren Weidler gave up five runs, three hits, and a walk and committed an error - all in the first inning of a nonleague game at Morrisville - but Christopher Dock coach Wayne Benner kept his pitcher in the game. He said he had no choice. "I stuck with her," said Benner, who coaches a softball team with an 11-girl roster. "I need her to pitch well and continue to pitch well. " Weidler held Morrisville to one more run over the next five innings, as Christopher Dock came back to defeat Morrisville, 18-6, Tuesday in a game stopped after six innings because of the mercy rule.

Top seed and host Delsea advanced with a 51-12 win over Barnegat in a South Jersey Group 2 semifinal wrestling match on Wednesday night, but it was Bryan Dobzanski who stole the spotlight. Dobzanski won a major decision, 4-0, at 285 pounds. The win marked the 100th of his career. The Crusaders established an early lead by winning the first six matches, including four consecutive pins from weight classes 160 through 195. David Gresk pinned in 27 seconds at 160 pounds to begin the streak.

If you can make it past the pizza counter at FrancoLuigi's without succumbing to at least one slice (I had two, pork and broccoli), you reach the door of the High Note Cafe, where chef Franco Borda is finishing a salad of shell-like pasta, beans, and vegetables. I'm not at 13th and Tasker Streets to eat, although sojourns into traditional South Philadelphia at Christmas transport me to another Italian neighborhood, one my grandfather helped create at the turn of the 20th century, when he left his farm in the mountains of Benevento to seek his fortune in America.

With the help of six pins Friday, Mariana Bracetti cruised to a 45-29 wrestling win over Martin Luther King in a Public League match. Carlos Rosas-Morales, Kyle Mallon, Donald Harrison, Edwin Morales, Felix Cabrera, and Pedro Rivera each won by pin for Mariana Bracetti. Rosas-Morales, who needed only 23 seconds to get the pin at 106 pounds, improved to 11-4 on the year with seven pins. Rivera earned his win in 24 seconds at 195 pounds and moved to 10-6 this season. Isaiah Estrada won by forfeit for Mariana Bracetti at 138 pounds, and Ronald Palmer picked up a win by decision at 145 pounds.

Connor Joyce's 21-second pin at 120 pounds highlighted Pennsbury's dominant showing at the lighter weights Wednesday night as the host Falcons downed Suburban One National wrestling opponent William Tennent, 45-27. Joyce's pin of Tennent's Josh Troy was one of eight Falcons victories of the lightweight classes between 106 and 160 pounds. Dominic Martocio landed a pin in 1:21 at 113 pounds, Luke Kowal scored a decision at 152 pounds and 160-pounder Alex Cwenar had a pin in 4:51. Central.

With the way La Salle's defense regularly stormed in on him, Parkland quarterback Tim Baranek did more dodging, most times in vain, than throwing. The Explorers, with an impressive effort from their front four, sacked Baranek an astounding 11 times and cruised to a 28-7 victory Saturday in a PIAA Class AAAA state quarterfinal at Northeast. "We just came out firing on all cylinders," said senior defensive end Jon Naji, who registered a team-high five sacks. "A lot of credit has to go to our coaches.

THE SWANKY AFFAIR that developer Bart Blatstein put on Wednesday to unveil his plans to seek Philadelphia's second casino license seemed finely tuned to create an air of inevitable success. The usual Democratic suspects from City Council and the state General Assembly were there. But it was a trio of Republicans who stood out to Clout. Attorney Bill Sasso served as master of ceremonies while John Brabender and Brian Nutt roamed the crowded venue. This trio is super-tight with Gov. Corbett . Sasso served as co-chairman of Corbett's transition team when he moved from state attorney general to governor.

The New York Times reports that, despite a sellout crowd of 36,067 on the season's final day, and despite an outcry from fans seeking playoff tickets - including the website removethetarps.com - the Oakland Athletics are keeping the tarps on the seats for the playoffs. After finishing fourth-from-last in major-league attendance in the regular season, the A's decided to maintain intimacy in the postseason. They will be keeping 20,878 upper-deck seats at the Oakland Coliseum - a number greater than the team's 20,728 average attendance - under wraps through the AL Championship Series, should the A's make it that far. In the meantime, they hosted Detroit on Tuesday night in Game 3 of their best-of-five division series, which the Tigers led, two games to none.