Anybody build their own backyard deck?

[Viper98912]

Hello folks!

Spring is coming up soon (or at least we'd like to hope after today's 8" of snow ) and I'm thinking about putting up a deck.

The rear of the house has a daylight basement, so the deck would be about 5-6 ft off the ground. I've personally never built a deck, but like most of us here I've "done a few things" around the house.

Anybody ever tackle something like this? Including design, permitting, putting posts in the ground, building, etc? Any real cost benefits? Or is it just worthwhile to sit back, , and hire it out professionally?

 

[Musicinabottle]

I've built every single thing on my place including my house, and the two additions on my house, my garage, you name it. Entirely by myself. No help. It's super gratifying to do things yourself, and you get it done exactly the way you want it. I'd just start out with photos of the proposed site, and get pointers from those here at this forum. You won't regret it.

I forgot. The original portion of the house which is log, was me and my dad when I was 13. Then everything else was my own doing. I'd post pictures of me as a kid building with my dad, and photos of my additions but it takes a great deal of effort to post photos.

 

[BonzoHansen]

I did. No permits, i didn't bother. I was replacing an old deck that was there when we bought it. I don't think replacement needed a permit.

I did it myself, some help from a friend here & there. This is actually right after I finished that small patio. But before I redid the pond getting all that **** out, new liner, and the water runs out from under he deck now like a small stream.

 

[jumbojak]

I've built quite a few decks over the years and came to see that a porch is superior in nearly every way. If I ever build a house for myself there will be a porch for lounging outside and a patio for a grill. The screen and short roof help a lot with mosquitoes and light rain.

 

[Angelfire]

I did. Had to permit it as well. I read a lot about failures of decks and made sure to avoid the same construction mistakes that they made. Mine is framed using dimensional lumber with a 2 foot overhang but where it got interesting was the fact that I used log siding around the perimeter and built the handrails out of logs. Put down a Brazilian hardwood for the actual decking. Came out really good. Lots of work as this was for a cabin in the woods 3 hours away so it took me quite a while to get it all done.
Cheers.

 

[Whitworth]

If you get it built professionally, it will get built fast and be expensive. But it will be done.

But.... they (the contractor) will build it their way, with the materials and techniques they are familiar with. They will make minimal effort to customize the design, and discourage your input, because that takes up time for little profit. The finished product will look like one of a million other decks. They will not take time to cull out wood with defects. They will bounce-fire the decking with over-driven fasteners (because that saves time.) They will make simple miter joints wherever needed, even though the wood shrinks and leaves an unsightly gap, because that saves time. They will make minimal effort to protect the structure from premature aging, such as flashing where called for, double joists for nailing, sealing the ends of boards, etc. All this takes time. This is a typical deck built by professionals. A true custom deck built to order is out of the reach of most of the middle class.

 

[ItsNemo]

I designed and built this one myself last summer. Took me around 2 months start to finish working evenings/weekends and a few extra days off. Only hired out the holes and concrete...was cheaper to pay someone to do it than doing it myself. I did the design in sketchup. Up in Canada, cost was around $16,000 in materials including permit, holes, frame, trex transcend tropical decking, cedar, glass, gas line for the bbq, LED lighting, everything. I would have easily been another $10k in labor if I had someone else build it.

 

[RWorth]

I built this, we call the Bar Cripple Creek, since we're all old and crippled up.https://www.garagejournal.com/forum...nt.php?attachmentid=735358&stc=1&d=1518232422

 

[Jeremy77]

I built my own deck patio and pergola. I live in a pretty rural area so didn’t bother with a permit (except for the pool). I enjoy woodwork so it was well worth it to me.

 

[Jeremy77]

 

[gahrajmahal]

Awesome deck itsnemo! I have a poste here several years old sadly done using photo bucket, so all the photos are blocked. My suggestions are to build a ground level patio as first choice. Will last forever and does not elevate you and guests to the neighbors view. If you want to build an elevated deck, look carefully at itsnemo's posts and structure. That is what you are going for. On top of all of the joists use self adhesive butyl weatherproofing tape to keep the structure from rotting. Pre paint or stain all of the lumber before building with it. The rot will happen wherever your structure joins together. Keep a small roller and stain or paint all of the cut ends. Use a multi layer strategy of flashing where the deck attaches to the house. Apply self adhesive butyl tape to the ledger board, then use aluminum flashing under the siding. Step up and use stainless screws with torx drive to attach all the deck boards. Buy an extra big quanity. I ended up using 20 lb. Give yourself plenty of time to complete the project. Two months is very reasonable. Buy your lumber from a lumber yard and have it delivered. It will be a better quality plus they will stand behind it.

And photos when you are done. Good luck!

 

[ItsNemo]

Awesome deck itsnemo! I have a poste here several years old sadly done using photo bucket, so all the photos are blocked. My suggestions are to build a ground level patio as first choice. Will last forever and does not elevate you and guests to the neighbors view. If you want to build an elevated deck, look carefully at itsnemo's posts and structure. That is what you are going for. On top of all of the joists use self adhesive butyl weatherproofing tape to keep the structure from rotting. Pre paint or stain all of the lumber before building with it. The rot will happen wherever your structure joins together. Keep a small roller and stain or paint all of the cut ends. Use a multi layer strategy of flashing where the deck attaches to the house. Apply self adhesive butyl tape to the ledger board, then use aluminum flashing under the siding. Step up and use stainless screws with torx drive to attach all the deck boards. Buy an extra big quanity. I ended up using 20 lb. Give yourself plenty of time to complete the project. Two months is very reasonable. Buy your lumber from a lumber yard and have it delivered. It will be a better quality plus they will stand behind it.

And photos when you are done. Good luck!

Thanks.

I overkilled the structure...all 2x10 on 12's or smaller, lots of bracing. Beams are triple 2x10's with 1/2" PT plywood between the layers to build it out to a full 5.5" and also lock together each of the beams on the big run (slotted in extra pieces after the beam was up and nailed/glued) sitting on top of the 6x6 posts with lateral bracing sitting on 14" and 12" x 4.5 feet deep footings and rebar. Used lots of the butyl tape and caulking, silicone in the 1/2" x 10" ledger bolts, hurricane ties and joist hangers on every joist. Every cut soaked in end cut sealant and also used it where I planed some of the joists flat on top (there's always a bit of variance joist to joist).

Some more structure shots while in progress:

And gosh the decking is beautiful...was so much work doing the double borders, but the look is incredible:

 

[MushCreek]

Once you get more than 30" off of the ground, the rules change, and they are pretty strict now days. Mine is about 9' off the ground, and it is pretty beefy. I built mine to the 2012 prescriptive deck building code, and it's an eye-opener. The way it's attached to the main house, and how railings are attached are particularly important. There have been a lot of deck failures over the years, hence the strict rules. A big part of the problem is that a deck may start out plenty strong, but wood deteriorates outdoors, and the deck gets weaker and weaker. Don't be afraid of it, though. Look up the rules, and abide by them.

 

[Outlander]

Nice decks guys. Here's mine, I built the ground level one with a friend, doubles as a dock for my paddle boat & jon boat. Hope you like it.

View media item 80609
Well, maybe this would help

View media item 74883
I kind of wish the snow would melt and I would be out there smoking a cigar right now........

 

[Citation]

I've done two. One was something like 16x12 the other was just a landing by the back door (about 3' up plus stairs). No permits but I did look at the various how to build a deck books to get some ideas. The first one was only roughly designed out before hand. The second time I took advantage of CAD access and did every wood part in the computer. That really helped when doing the steps since I could mark the step cuts and angles etc based on a drawing vs the carpenter rules of thumb I never learned.

In the case of the first deck it wasn't actually attached to the house, just next to it. The landing was because I could attach where the old back steps attached to the house.

Both were fun projects. I agree with an earlier comment about the screaned porch. My current house has that. Given the bugs around here I like it better than an open deck. I also like the shade in the summer.

 

[Boomer343]

Being 5 or 6 feet off the ground adds a lot of time to a deck build. If you don't have much experience it probably isn't the best project deck to learn on.

Couple things I like to do is put the joists on 12" centers. Last one I did the owner had a service come in that augers in a steel support instead of sonotube and concrete piles. Real slick and quick plus you can get an engineers report if need be.

If I was you I would decide what I was after, understand your construction method options and talk to some specialty deck builders and get a cost.

 

[850xpeps]

Thanks.

I overkilled the structure...all 2x10 on 12's or smaller, lots of bracing. Beams are triple 2x10's with 1/2" PT plywood between the layers to build it out to a full 5.5" and also lock together each of the beams on the big run (slotted in extra pieces after the beam was up and nailed/glued) sitting on top of the 6x6 posts with lateral bracing sitting on 14" and 12" x 4.5 feet deep footings and rebar. Used lots of the butyl tape and caulking, silicone in the 1/2" x 10" ledger bolts, hurricane ties and joist hangers on every joist. Every cut soaked in end cut sealant and also used it where I planed some of the joists flat on top (there's always a bit of variance joist to joist).

Some more structure shots while in progress:

And gosh the decking is beautiful...was so much work doing the double borders, but the look is incredible:

Trex is a nice product but I don’t think I’d rush to put it on my house. It’s slippery as death in the winter. And expands and contracts too much. I imagine all your mitres open up on a cold day?

 

[ItsNemo]

Trex is a nice product but I don’t think I’d rush to put it on my house. It’s slippery as death in the winter. And expands and contracts too much. I imagine all your mitres open up on a cold day?

Not too much, maybe 1/8" variance between 0c and 30c...and I don't really use the deck in the winter (since I'm up in Canada where it's freakin cold)...but when I've been out to shovel it off, I haven't had any problems with slipping around. There are different lines and the transcend stuff has a bit more texture to it than some of the lower lines which probably makes a difference.

 

[850xpeps]

Not too much, maybe 1/8" variance between 0c and 30c...and I don't really use the deck in the winter (since I'm up in Canada where it's freakin cold)...but when I've been out to shovel it off, I haven't had any problems with slipping around. There are different lines and the transcend stuff has a bit more texture to it than some of the lower lines which probably makes a difference.

Boxing out and not having more mitres will keep it cleaner looking. The last deck we built for a customer on the house were building is trex front and rear. Right now we’re doing pine on the underside of the deck ceiling and we gotta be careful on it. In Canada as well. Manitoba. We noticed while laying it as the deck is 44’ long, that when the sun hit in the boards would grow upwards of an 1/8th inch.

 

[Hollywood D]

I was going to replace the boards on ours with composite decking this spring but after seeing some of these I might expand the deck. Damn you garage journal

 

[Git]

Do a google search for you location looking for something like 'deck handout'. A lot of building departments have them and it will usually have a diagram of what is required in your area (whether you getting a permit or not it would be to your benefit to at least try to comply)

Here is an example - I am not in San Diego but when I google 'San Diego Deck Handout' for an example - here is a link to a pdf file that actually has a lot of good info

https://www.sandiego.gov/sites/default/files/dsdib211.pdf

Here is another for the City of Vista
http://www.cityofvista.com/home/showdocument?id=348

 

[Mikeske]

I did not build mine but I had ideas and but the contractor I had to do it did it well. I actually wanted an covered porch/deck. 6' X 60'. Since we have a manufactured home in Washington state on the west side of the mountains we get lots of rain weather so covered it was. There was a 8' X 10' open deck that we hardly ever used in the winter in this location before. Now we use it year round and it is really nice for us.

The 2nd requirement was that it be free standing from the home and that it use a metal roof. The thing is I did not want a aluminum style and this is a modified pole building style that has the poles sunk 5 feet down with 6 of the poles had to be hand dug due to telephone and water lines in the area.

 

[larry4406]

ItsNemo - you did an excellent job on that deck!

Looks like you used concealed fasteners on the decking? What style did you use?

 

[fordkid88]

My dad was a do it yourself type of guy and I was free labor so I started learning basic home construction when I was 11, almost 20 years ago with building decks. The first one I worked on was a massive wrap around deck that went probably 14×30.
I've built a handful since then for friends and family, its not that difficult as long as those that your doing this for listen to your demands/ideas. My best friend didnt want to dig footings for the supports and concrete them in, he just wanted to level it with gravel and throw down a concrete support blocks on a design that looked like it was attached to the house but was really floating next to it. Even with all the weight of the floor boards railings and spindles it still swayed and he was confused....I had to concrete the stair stringers in place once they were attached to the deck to keep the deck from swaying.

 

[PurdueSD]

Im curious if anyone has any input. I built a nice pressure treated deck at my last home, used aluminum rails similar to these but square. I moved before the deck needed power washed and restained. How would one go about restaining with these? Go around every one?... seems like a nightmare.

Trex is a nice product but I don’t think I’d rush to put it on my house. It’s slippery as death in the winter. And expands and contracts too much. I imagine all your mitres open up on a cold day?

 

[MikeF2316]

I prefer a patio to a deck as others do. But some situations call for a deck. I have a 16' by 20' patio, but my brother has built or expanded a deck at 3 houses. He uses Home Depot's design software all 3 times. It's free, and you don't have to worry there's going to be a weak point that fails, and they even send you on your way with a materials list.

 

[flat tire]

I built a deck all the way around my house

 

[John T]

Hello folks!



Spring is coming up soon (or at least we'd like to hope after today's 8" of snow ) and I'm thinking about putting up a deck.



The rear of the house has a daylight basement, so the deck would be about 5-6 ft off the ground. I've personally never built a deck, but like most of us here I've "done a few things" around the house.



Anybody ever tackle something like this? Including design, permitting, putting posts in the ground, building, etc? Any real cost benefits? Or is it just worthwhile to sit back, , and hire it out professionally?

I built a 16x30 about 15 years ago

I used concrete filled lolly columns to support the beam
They are sitting on 3 foot concrete footers

also use them on the house side only because I am an overkill maniac.
The ledger board is also lag bolted to the house.

A couple rainy day pictures







Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[ItsNemo]

ItsNemo - you did an excellent job on that deck!

Looks like you used concealed fasteners on the decking? What style did you use?

Thanks.

Yes, mostly used the trex hideaway fastener system:

And some of the surrounding boards where I couldn't use the grooved boards, I used the cortex system with matching plugs:

Was tough estimating material for the trex since it's so expensive ($80-120/board up here) and had to make sure I got the precise amount of grooved vs solid boards in the right colours. Part of modeling it in sketchup was so I could literally count each and every board I needed. I ended up with just one leftover 20' grey board since estimating the angled sections was tough and it's not so bad having a spare kicking around. Also, since 12', 16', and 20' boards are all the same price per foot, I was careful about picking divisible sections where I could (ie if I needed an 9' board, I'd get one 20' board instead of 2 x 12' boards).

 

[THE RIP]

I've rebuilt a few decks and I would suggest using some sort of joist protection.

 

[Pathfinders]

I've rebuilt a few decks and I would suggest using some sort of joist protection.

Good tip. Looking into rebuilding my deck this summer.

 

[shedfullatools]

I've rebuilt a few decks and I would suggest using some sort of joist protection.

Didn't actually do it on the one we built as it was pressure treated, however I replaced some completely rotten boards on my aunts likely 30 year old porch. The boards were so rotten I could take my framing hammer and cut them, the joists they were nailed to weren't treated wood but had the tops wrapped in tar paper. The joist were still as good as new and hard as a rock from age even after having the deck boards themselves rot through after all those years. If building with untreated lumber I would definitely recommend some protection on the joists.

 

[Parrothead]

I built my own deck at our first house because the builder wanted an insane amount of money for what was in essence a step. lol. If you could fit 4 people on what they built that were over the age of 12, that would have been a small feat!

Mine was very simple compared to what was posted here, but it was a decent size for my small 1,500+ sq. ft house. Mine was a ground level, so after reading my local laws, I did NOT require a permit since it was only so many inches off the ground.

The one thing I did not do, is have a ledger board attached to the house!!!

No matter how good you flash it, caulk it and seal it up...eventually you will get water behind it and it will cause issues. That could be 25 years from now, but it's a matter of when, not if. Did it require some more thought when making the blueprint, but well worth it in the end. Additionally it's close enough to the house that you could slip a piece of cardboard between the deck and the sliding glass door, but that's about it. perfectly even transition and it looks good! Because mine was ground level, I had a 4x4 post in every direction. I also love to overbuild. How about (16) 4x4 posts for a 16'x16' deck no higher than 2 ft off the ground. Haha. 2x10 joists 16" on center. You could park your car on it, easily.

Now 6 or 8 ft up in the air, I'd really have to think about making it completely freestanding. I probably would, but might hire an engineer to verify what I was thinking would work. I suspect it would.

 

[Citation]

I built my own deck at our first house because the builder wanted an insane amount of money for what was in essence a step. lol. If you could fit 4 people on what they built that were over the age of 12, that would have been a small feat!

Mine was very simple compared to what was posted here, but it was a decent size for my small 1,500+ sq. ft house. Mine was a ground level, so after reading my local laws, I did NOT require a permit since it was only so many inches off the ground.

The one thing I did not do, is have a ledger board attached to the house!!!

No matter how good you flash it, caulk it and seal it up...eventually you will get water behind it and it will cause issues. That could be 25 years from now, but it's a matter of when, not if. Did it require some more thought when making the blueprint, but well worth it in the end. Additionally it's close enough to the house that you could slip a piece of cardboard between the deck and the sliding glass door, but that's about it. perfectly even transition and it looks good! Because mine was ground level, I had a 4x4 post in every direction. I also love to overbuild. How about (16) 4x4 posts for a 16'x16' deck no higher than 2 ft off the ground. Haha. 2x10 joists 16" on center. You could park your car on it, easily.

Now 6 or 8 ft up in the air, I'd really have to think about making it completely freestanding. I probably would, but might hire an engineer to verify what I was thinking would work. I suspect it would.

The first deck I did (with a friend on his house, I was living there at the time) was done as you suggested, free standing, next to the house. Well my friend decided he wanted to do it on the up and up so he called the inspector out. We got dinged for something like three things. One was that our top step had less rise (about 1.5" less) than the rest of the steps. That was a choice we made to ensure a stronger joint between the steps and the main deck. Next we were dinged for not using flashing where a 1x1/2" trim bit was against the brick exterior of the house. The final one was we didn't use through bolts to attach the deck to the house (code did not allow lag bolts). Well the trim bit was just because some of our angled deck boards weren't perfectly aligned so the trim hid the issue. No flashing since the trim was the only part of the deck touching the exterior. He was right, we didn't use through bolts since the deck wasn't attached to the house. After a second round of this **** we just didn't bother getting the deck inspected again. Almost 20 years later it's still on the long since sold house.

 

[Viper98912]

Lots of great ideas in here guys! I like the ideas, although the Trex @ $100+/sq ft is pretty hefty...

 

[ItsNemo]

Lots of great ideas in here guys! I like the ideas, although the Trex @ $100+/sq ft is pretty hefty...

Not per square foot...per board.

Cost per square foot is something like $8-12/sq ft depending on which type of trex and design pattern.

 

[Miss the Pontiacs]

Some great decks here. One thing might depend on where you live. My first deck had 2 cement walls on on 2 sides. To make it look finished off I capped one of the remaining long sides with cedar. These were placed edge to edge that didn’t allow any air movement. The end was left open to push the mower under and some additional Store age. One far end was raised and had indoor outdoor carpet on it. The lower portion was done in fir with a four foot square planking and then a four foot square turned perpendicular to the first. Gave it a kind of giant parquet floor look.
But what I am getting at is with little to no chance of air movement the sub structure rotted out prematurely. So if you have no roofing to divert rain or a dryer vent under your deck you will have problems sooner than later. So allow for some air movement!

 

[Slednut]

Built this cedar deck 32 years ago.

The second pic is after I used a floor sander on it. The deck boards were 5/4 now they are around 3/4" thick. Have sanded it every 4 years.

 

[willymakeit]

Flashing and connection details at building are big items to watch, missed by pros and amateurs alike, Framing member sizes,spans and footings play into this. If elevated add stairs and railings. Lateral bracing and dependent on height and area wind uplift.
Still very do able if details are watched.

 

[Viper98912]

Before I start calling around for estimates, can someone give me an idea of the price increase % of using Trex (or similar type material) vs wood? After thinking about it, I really should just build a simple wooden deck, and add black aluminum spindles in the railings to dress it up some. Perhaps do what was pictured above and angle some of the boards with a "trim" board, and I can stain it myself with two different colors to give it effect. Then add lighting afterward myself.

It's kind of to the point where I'd like to have it structurally designed and put into the ground with the posts and joists, and I can do the rest in terms of the boards and railings. But I need to start somewhere first...