How to build a Deck

   As a proffesional contractor in the construction industry, I have come across many jobs where people have attempted to build decks themselves and have gotten fed up with the challenge, and those whom have completed albeit not to there complete satisfaction solid and esthetically pleasing decks.

  There is one key which rings true when building your project and that is to just keep it simple. Where as it may be that you would like a fancy intricate deck with many tiers or shapes, you would do well to first consider the purpose of your deck. The reason many people want a deck is for recreation purposes, enjoying a cooked meal, entertaining friends and family, sunbathing, or even for the winters enjoying a relaxing sit in your hot tub. This among many others reasons points to function over form. More often than not a simple square or rectangular deck will do just fine.

   While this article will give you the basics of building a simple square deck, the principles found within can be readily expanded upon to build a more intricate deck. My further articles will elaborate on additional deck styles and building principles.

   To start we need to first consider our deck piles, that is what within the ground is going to carry the load of our structure while not permitting it to sink over time. A piling is commonly used to refer to the cement column which is dug into the ground, this column will typically be dug just below the frost line, if you do infact live in an area where your ground does freeze up, otherwise, the standard depth is four feet down and 12" wide. The piling serves the purpose of supporting the main beam wich in turn supports the end of your joists. When designing your deck, take into consideration that your deck joists may not sit over your beam any distance greater than two feet.

   You will first locate the position of your piles in relation to your main beam, this will be in refrence to distance away from your from your house. After having located the distance away from your house which your beam will begin, mark this line with a string from end to end. Upon laying out your line you will now calculate where your piles will be located in relation to the ends of your deck. when doing this keep in mind that you must not have a pile any further than two feet away from the ends of the beam. Your span between pilings may not be any greater than eight feet. Mark your piling locations with a stick or spray paint.

   Upon having located your piling positions you may now begin to dig your hole in the ground. As mentioned previously you must dig your hole down to the frost line, if you have one, or as a standard minimum of four feet deep. Your hole must be at a minimum 12" wide. After digging your hole it is now time to fill it with cement and rebar. I would reccomend using a sono tube and placing this in the hole. You may mix your own cement or have it delivered. After you have put your cement in the sono tube you will now put two pieces of rebar in your cement piling. It may also be usefull to put a post bracket in your cement as well depending on how high your deck will be from the ground.

   Now that you have poured your piling and have waited the recomended five days for your concrete to cure it is now time to assemble your deck. For this example of deck construction we will be building a standard 10' by 10' deck with 2x8 joists and 2x6 decking. You will need to calculate your materials. For this deck we will need 1 2x8 joist for our ledger board, one 2x8 joist for our rim joist at the end of the deck, nine 2x8 joists, one 2x8 joist to cut up and use for bridging and three 2x8 joists for our beem. All of our lumber will come in ten foot lengths.

   To start the deck building process we will first need to attach our ledger board. we will cut our first 2x8 joist down to 10' exactly. This board will then be attached to the house at four inches below the threshold of the door. if you need to cut into any siding or stucco you may do so. You will center this board to where you want it. From here we fasten our board to the wall with nails or screws or lag screws. whichever you prefer. If you are going into concrete you will need to fasten your ledger board on with lag bolts. See your local hardware store for fastening instructions.

   Our ledger board is now fastened and we are ready to do a joist layout! From left to right you will mark every 16" for the center of the joist. you will then put the joist hanger bracket center to the line and flush with the bottom of the ledger board. After fastening the hangers in place we will build our beam.

   The beam is made up of three ten foot joists nailed together from both sides. you will lay this on top of your concrete piles. To set up your beam, my prefered no hassle method is to first, set up your two end joists. This requires one person to hold the end of the joist away from the house while you set the joist into its joist hanger. You will now learn a quick way of squaring joists to your house. If you remember from school in geometry, pythagorus theorum where a2+b2=c2, this is the method you use. You simply take 3-4-5 and use that. sometimes you'll double it for longer spans. That being said, mark your ledger board at the 6 foot mark from the inside of your joist, then mark 8 feet on your joist from the begining of the joist on the edge that is in towards the deck. If you find this method complicated, just look up my other article on "Methods of Squaring". Now that you have those two marks you are going to take your tape measure from either of the points and align your joist until your mark is on the ten foot line. After that has been done you will need to tack it in place by running a board on top of your joist and tieing it back to the ledger board. this will keep it square until our beam and posts are in place. Repeat this method for the other side of your deck.

 It's time to level the joists which you have put in place. This method is simple, you will first take your level and place it ontop of your joist, then lift your joist until it is levl. Take a piece of lumber and run it from the ground up to your joist. There you will tack your joist in place with one or two screws. Repeat this with the other joist as well.

Now that our joists are in place we will tack our beam to the bottom of our joists with screws. You can do this by toe nailing from the bottom of the joist into the beam or you can toenail the beam into the bottom of the joist, whichever is easier. Take your 4x4 posts now and cut them down to length over top your pilings. After you have put your posts in place you will now toe nail your post into your beam. You will need to cross brace your post into your beam to hold your deck from going out of square while you  lay in your joists. Do this by taking a ten foot 2x6 and running it end to end and top to bottom for the bottom of your post to the top of your beam.

   By this point your beam should be securely in place. You will now make marks on your beam every 16", transfering your layout on your ledger board to your beam. With this complete you can now lay your joists into your joist hangers and on top of the marks on your beam. Tack all your boards into place with nails or screws.

   You are now ready to put your last rim joist into place. This is the board that caps off the end of your deck and and holds your joists from twisting at the ends. Take a chalk line and run it over top your end joists on either side. Measure in 1 1/2" from the end and snap your line over top all joists. Take your square and transfer your chalk line from the top of the joist and make a line on the side of your joists. This is the line you will follow to cut off the ends of your joist. With your joists being cut you will have now a perfectly straight line with which to attach your rim joist, so that there are no waves or wows in the board. You can attach your rim joist with nails or screws to the end of your joists. I prefer screws because the finish look is much nicer.

   From the house you will measure five feet on either end, make a mark and snap your chalkline. This line will serve as a guide for a set of bridging, which is used to stiffen your deck and ensure there is no wave in  your end joists. to cut your brindging you will take the in between measurments for the joists from the ledger board. Cut your bridging out of a full joist. when installing your bridging you will need to stager it by placing it on either side of the line. This will allow you to be able to screw or nail the ends with ease.

   It is now time to put on your decking. This process is very straight forward. Ensure that your 2x6 boards are cut to length at exactly ten feet. Place them on your deck starting from the rim joist and working your way into the house. Ensure that there are two screws per joist per 2x6, one inch from either side of the 2x6. You may wish to use a spacer in between your 2x6 boards. this can be done by cutting down a piece of lumber to your desired thickness. Your final board will likely need to be cut down widthwise, a table saw is highly recomended for this, but a skillsaw will also work.

   Now your main deck is complete. In my other articles I will show you how to build different styles of railings and other intricate decks along with stairs.

   Check back for other articles and tips on how to build!