How Do YOU Build A Deck

naptown CR

Thought I would run this by all you deck guys. I don't mean to be funny or want you to think i'm ignorant as I have built many many decks. I'm curious how you guys do it as my method is probably differant than yours and perhaps we can enlighten and learn from each other on our technique of assembling quickly. Lets start with this scenario. the deck is 5 feet above grade at the house wall. the overall deck size is 12x18. ( projection x length) The beam sits 10 feet out from the house. grade in the yard slopes away from the house about 2 feet and parallel to the house about 3 feet also from one end to the other. Not to get bogged down in details the framing is 16 oc 2x8 decking diagonal, standard rail. lets break this down into segments. in what order do you- dig footings, install ledger, install beam, square up, install posts, pour footings complete framing.
I am also cuirous as to how you do your footing and post detail and how you mix and pour your concrete assuming that you only have three footings a concrete truck is not an option. I'm curious to see where this goes. I will post my method after a few responses.

greg24k

18' X 12' (WxD)? Post your method first, and if I do it any different, I will show you my method.

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PA woodbutcher

I do these in a little different order. I also come up with more than 3 holes. 2X8 decking? This is the 20th century.

Go ahead and ask....How do I build a deck. No one will laugh.

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neolitic

I was guessing he meant 2X8 joist,
but if the decking were diagonal
they'd be 12"oc for me.

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naptown CR

I do these in a differant order also. I mixed the order up on purpose. The framing is 2x8 not the decking. the decking is 2x6 pressure treated not composite so our local codes do allow 16"oc framng. As far as the holes go I picked three as an arbitrary number Here it could be done with three. Remenber the framing is cantilevered over the beam and i assumed a ledger bolted to the house. This question was not intended to be a code requirement question but rather a survey of how you guys put things together and in what order. Therre is a specific order I do things in and reasons why. My thought is to talk about differant technicques each of you use to speed up the production and quality of a deck. I know this sounds stupid but I have watched some people around here build a deck so a** backwards I don't know hwo they make money.

BreyerConstruct

Don't forget to add Tyvek or some type of membrane behind the delger board, and ledger flashing that won't react with the PT on top of the ledger...

~Matt

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redwood

Dig holes, pour footings, install ledger, erect posts and beams, install joists, install fascia, install railing posts, deck, build steps, and finish railing.

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Morning Wood

If I had all my ducks in an order I would do the footings first. It really all depends on what type of deck. If I was doing 6x6 fir posts scribed to pieces of granite I would probably put the ledger on first so to get exact location for granite and posts. But I wouldn't be using pt joists at that point either. Diagonal decking I would run 12 o.c. joists unless maybe was using 5/4 decking and never ever under any circumstance use pt decking. Always push for wood decking than composite. Ledger would be spaced away from the house with drainage plain behind ledger and properly flashed above ledger. Anything with hangers and pt together gets vycor seperating them. There is more, but why don't you put your method down so we can add on to it.

naptown CR

I do this differantly. remember that this deck at the beam will be above your head. I set and flash ledger first as this is what everything else s=lays out from. I then mark the beam location on the two end joists in this case it is 10 feet out. I will temp up one end joist first and square up and install diagonal brace to hold square. I always use a calculator and the overall dimensions to establish the square as opposed to a 3-4-5 which may be thrown off by a warped end joist. setting the temp post to the inside of my marked beam line I usually will set this first end joist a little low at the end as it is easier to raise the deck than lower it when on temps. I then do the other end joist the same way as the first. I then set the beam the rear or first ply only and tack it to the temp posts I have the overall length marked on the beam so this will by default square up the other end.. Depending on how straight the beam is i may drop another joist or two in to hold the beam paralell to the house wall. will adjust for level and throw a few temp posts in for additional support. Now At this point i plumb down from the rear of the beam to grade to mark the center of my holes and start digging. This will put the center of the hole marked within a 1/4 inch of the center of the post which is usually close enough for me as all posts are 6x6 and notched. I do it this way as my holes are always dead on, I hate digging a hole twice because of layout errors especially on slopes. My layout is only done once and where I have a level surface ( as opposed to setting up batter boards etc) and I do my layout once instead of twice. remember that the beam is at least 7 feet above grade so digging under it is easy. on lower decks I will run a string line and plumb down from that so there is nothing in my way when I am digging. OK holes are dug to below the frost line in the right places now time for the posts. I always notch my posts so I have both mambers of the beam sitting on the notch and nailed together and the tongue so to speak is up behind the beam to allow for through bolting. Measuring posts is as simple as measuring to the bottom of the beam to the bottom of the hole. This is overall post length. The notch depth is the depth of footing and works for average size footings if the footing is large i may cut a few more inches off to allow more concrete under the post ( I usually like to have a concrete thickness at least 1/2 the footing diameter) THE FACTORY END OF THE POST ALWAYS GOES DOWN INTO THE HOLE. This system is for buried posts but can be adapted for you sonotube guys. Now I hang the post from the beam remember it is only one ply. To hang the post I drop it into the hole and screw a cleat across the back about 6" longer than the post is wide in a horizontal position about chest high. I run a ratchet strap around the cleat and over the beam and use the ratchet to pull up tight to the bottom of the beam. ( remember I usually worked alone and trying to lift a 6x6 by yourself is tough this makes it a one man job.) Once the post is tight against the bottom of the notch I put a couple of clamps to hold beam tight to the back of the beam plumb up and brace off and put about 6-8 nails to secure on the outer edges about an inch in from the edge of the post and nailed through the beam and into the post. This keeps nails away from where I am going to put bolts and makes the augers last longer. Once all the posts are set I install the second ply of the beam and nail off and carriage bolt the beam to post connections either 2 or 4 bolts depending on wether the beam breaks on the post or not. next is the footing inspection. Inspectors like this as they can see how much concrete is under the post. Once the inspection happens its time to pour the concrete I usually set a footing inspection for the second day depending on how many footings size difficulty of digging etc each job is different. If I am only pouring ar mixing six bags or so I may use a wheel barrow to mix in but if there are more than 8 bags I usually try to have a helper for the pour. If I have a helper I always mix the concrete in a piece of 6mil poly or an old piece of tarp. I start with a 6'x6' piece of plastic and tie a knot in each corner to create a handle. I dump the dry concrete in the center of the plastic and we each grab a corner. I always measure the water as I found it takes about three quarts to mix a bag (read the bag) I have a 5 gallon bucket filled with water and a 1 gallon with a mark at the height of the required amount. this is fast to add the water and foolproof and I get a more consistant mix. I throw this into the plastic and we mix by alternately pulling up on one corner at a time. Me right hand him right hand me seft hand him left hand. Once you get the rythem it takes about 35-40 seconds to thouroughly mix a bag. another big plus is getting it into the hole which is accomplished by picking up all four corners carryint to the hole and pouring in by lowering one side and creating a chute With a little care and practice there is no concrete poured over the side of the post you didn't have to shovel it out of a wheelbarrow and when done throw the plastic away. no cleaning of tools wheel barrow and getting concrete all over the yard. THE CONCRETE IS POURED TO A HEIGHT ABOUT 3/4 - 1" ABOVE THE BOTTOM OF THE POST. this allows the post to be removed in the future although I have never had to do one and I have decks out there that are over 20 years old. This ties the post to prevent twisting and locks the bottom in place. For you guys in Florida uplift is not addressed however a post base and anchor bolt could be added to the post before pouring to accomodate this. Once this is done I leave the temps in for a few days and finish framing and rails etc. Temps get pulled at end of job or after 7 days which ever is later. I always ran all my decking diagonally. This didn't use any more material and (I know I am going to get some flack about this.) This served Three purposes. 1- I built in rack bracing to eliminate side to side sway each board was a rack brace. On longer decks I rarely had to splice boards to make up a 25' run for instance. If the projection was more than 14' I would put in a herringbone or two to make my spans down to 12' or so available boards would run from one herringbone to the other without splicing. I always used a break board between herringbones to hide the run out of points not matching due to differant size boards etc. I would frame for the Herringbone by putting a joist on each side of the herringbone and block between for the break board. Whenever I had the time to let the deck sit for a week or so if it was pressure treated I would run the herring bone tight and come back when the pt boards shrank some so the joint between the mitered ends and the straight edge wouldn't saw tooth due to shrinkage. This is my personal opinion but I always thought diagonal decking looks richer than straight decking. I would never nail the decking to the end joists until I had snapped a line and cut off first so I could straighten up the ends if necessary. I always wrapped the perimeter with either Azek or rough sawn cedar to cover both the pressure treated band and the end of the decking boards. Railings typically bolted to the outside. Lets tald about this first and go on to rails. Remember this thread is meant to start a discussion of the different methods and maybe someone does something a little differently that may not be wrong but maybe we could learn a few tricks from each other.

Tinstaafl

Good Lord, man! I'd love to read that, but I don't have enough aspirin.

The Enter button is your friend.

master of none

I dont want to read all of that but did pull this little bit out....VA beach isnt the toughest place around(as far as codes go) But if I put the post 1" in the concrete they would tell me to try again.

[quote=naptown CR;673729]THE CONCRETE IS POURED TO A HEIGHT ABOUT 3/4 - 1" ABOVE THE BOTTOM OF THE POST.[/quote


I think the post should be ether deep in the concrete or installed with a hanger........

John Hyatt

Woooooooooo Nap!!! total bad ass. Dont know about the other Guys but I printed that off and started to study it right away. Man I learned all sorts of stuff!!!! I really liked the part on the Temps how you just left them alone to finish things up.Bang Bang!!! why dident I think of that???

I sure wish we had got together 25 years ago Dammmmm I would have stoped all the useless things I go thru with the crew way back then.
One thing I dont put the posts in the hole I put them on top of the hole.

John Mon

neolitic

Are you guys still getting ACQ
back there?

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naptown CR

Sorry got carried away

naptown CR

[quote=master of none;673732]I dont want to read all of that but did pull this little bit out....VA beach isnt the toughest place around(as far as codes go) But if I put the post 1" in the concrete they would tell me to try again.

read further I address this

naptown CR

Mostly around here it's CA but same problems with galvanic action

neolitic

CA?
What's that?
Around here, it take an act of god
to get anything but MCQ or MCA,
mostly MCQ.
But hardware and flashing is same
as old fashioned CCA.
http://www.treatedwoodtruth.com/pdf/...heet_02.09.pdf

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mmike032

I build the frame ,put some temp braces to hold it , square it and then dig holes

genecarp

Thanks for the post Nap, Are you a professional typer?

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DavidC

Redemption is only an edit away. The enter button is your friend, the edit button is his brother.

My old eyes simply refuse to read a post like that.

Good Luck
Dave

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