Building a Deck

So you've decided to build a deck. There's not a lot of things you can do to your home yourself that will give you as much pleasure and use as a deck can. The first thing you have to do is decide where you want the deck and how big to make it.

Next decide how you want it to look, such as rails or not, where to put steps if you need them and what to use for the deck surface.

Yes you have a lot of choices for the deck, such as synthetic, red wood, and my personal favorite treated wood. But even on treated wood you have choices such as 2x6 or 5/4 rounded edge deck material, which is what I like to use. The rounded edges give the deck a nice finished look and the 5/4 thicknesses holds up well.

Now you know how you want the deck to look lets decide what to build it on. You want to use treated lumber for all your post, stringers, and joist, you wont really see these when the deck is finished but you defiantly don't want these boards rooting with time. Usually you will use 4x4s for the post to build the deck on and you can put them into the ground like a fence post or us deck bases that you can buy at any of your home improvement stores like lowes or Home Depot.

I recommend using galvanized joist hangers for your framework, they're also available at any home store, and they are really inexpensive but will make the job much easier. If you use the 5/4 deck material you can have your joist on 24 inch centers and the deck will do fine but if you use the synthetic decking your joist need to be closer together, you'll have to check on the specks for the synthetic material if you decide to go with it because different makers recommend different spacing. One thing to remember is the synthetic wont give you splinters, always stays true without cracking, but will cost you 2 to 3 times more to use.

For building the joist framework you can use nails, but make sure they are for treated lumber. But for the deck I would really recommend Phillips contractor grade exterior screws for exterior Pressure-Treated wood projects. They tend to hold better than nails and typically wont rust or cause staining or streaking on the deck.

Before screwing the deck make sure you put the board down with the grain curved like an umbrella, this will help keep the boards from cupping as they age. To avoid splitting the wood try to keep the screws at least 1¼ inches of the end of the board. If you have ends that need cutting let them overhang until all the boards are installed, pop a chalk line and cut them off after they are all installed. For a more finished look, let your boards over hang about an inch and quarter and use a piece of the decking as a fascia board when finished.

Well you have an idea what you want, make your material list get the lumber and lets get it going. This can be a really great project for the whole family to help with.