Deck building projects have some distinct advantages compared with concrete slab or stone patios, like deck extend your outdoor living space; warm welcoming atmosphere and relaxing. Your kids can also spend their time playing at your deck. Building a deck is hard work, but it is possible to do it with minimal carpentry skills.
If you are planning on building yourself, using good plans is an inexpensive way to ensure success. By following these steps, you will find that building your deck is a lot easier than you might imagine.
Building Budget.
First thing to consider on having a relaxing deck is to have a budget for the project. To come up with a high quality and well built deck make sure you have the basic tools needed to build a deck including: a framing hammer, shovel, cement hoe, trowel, level, plumb bob, caulking gun, extension cords, power saw, framing square, pencils, wheelbarrow, safety goggles, socket set, saw horses, hand saw and tape measure.
Deck building materials
The materials needed to build your deck includes pier blocks, post anchor, railing stock, joist hanger sealers and nails, string, lag bolts or screw, decking, girder stock, band joist, caulk, brackets, flashing, concrete, post caps, pressure treated lumber, composite material, the silver-white light metallic element called Aluminum, red cedar from the west, mahogany, teak, and other hardwoods and recycled boards or pieces of woods made from high- density polyethylene, polystyrene and PET plastic as well as mixed plastic and wood fiber.
5 Tips for deck building
Some building codes require stainless steel or a specific type of galvanized screw if you are using pressure treated wood. Certain types of metals can corrode the wood and cause joints to weaken. We started by putting in galvanized stainless screw lag bolts. When the inspector came out to see the deck though, he had us change them to stainless steel. Talk about a waste of time and money! Definitely educate yourself about which type to use before you buy and build the deck.
Measure the lumber at the store before you bring it home. We learned this the hard way as well. We bought ten foot long 2 x 6 boards to use for the deck joists and frame. Since they were advertised as ten feet long, we never bothered to measure them. What a huge mistake. Each of the boards was actually 10 feet 1 inch long. After we had the entire frame built, the deck boards fell right through. We had to take the entire thing apart just to cut 2 ten foot board off one inch with a skill saw.
Do you need a building permit to build a deck in your area? Most cities do require this. You should contact your local city inspection office to find out what you need to do. It will be very costly for you if you do not follow local codes. Local codes can be very specific about what size posts you use, as well as what types of fasteners. Be sure to educate yourself on this so you do not need to re-do work you have already done.
When installing your deck boards try to remember the phrase bark side up. For each board you should orient it so that the end grain growth rings curve upward. This will prevent cupping and checking and will also allow water to drain off of the deck board, rather than pool in the middle of it.
All decks should be cleaned and maintained periodically. You can use any general-purpose deck cleaner and let it stand on the deck for at least an hour. Pressure washer can be used to rinse your deck and is very useful in getting rid of muddy footprints.
