Built two decks this weekend

[LD1]

Decks # 6 and 7 are under my belt.

New front and rear deck on my house. Old ones were original to the house in 1988 and never stained. Not in savable shape.

So I tore them off last weekend and ordered material, which showed up friday.

Friday I got the post holes dug and ~6" of concrete poured in the bottoms

 

[LD1]

Day two was a rainy crappy day and I had some brushhogging and gravel to spread in the morning. Got started around 1pm and managed to get the front framed.

 

[LD1]

Day 3 (sunday) was a better day. Had help in the morning. Dad, friend, and FIL. Made it nice working with 6x6's, 2x12's and an elevated deck. Got the back framed by ~2pm, then worked on decking.

 

[LD1]

Monday I finished up decking and mostly finished handrails. Only had about an hour left of work this morning that I buttoned up. Then got the yard mowed as it was neglected all weekend since I was building the decks.

 

[Luke'sScreenName]

That alot of work accomplished mostly by yourself in a short amount of time. Well done. :thumbsup:

Something always hangs me up and keeps me from getting a project done that quickly.

 

[LD1]

Something always hangs me up and keeps me from getting a project done that quickly.

Not me. I do procrastinate a bit. But once I start something, I cannot seem to stop until its done

 

[hawkeye08]

Nice work, I will likely borrow some ideas to do my decks. thanks for sharing.

 

[teg]

Nice decks... (edit: last two attachments are now fine )

Are you planning to stain or protect them?

 

[LD1]

Borrow away Hawkeye.

Pics fixed.. I hope

 

[dstig1]

That's a lot of work (mostly) solo in that that amount of time. Impressive. Are both of them free-standing? I see the back deck does not appear to have a ledger. Curious why you did that???

 

[newbury]

Heck, I could have gotten that done by myself in 6 months

LOOKING GOOD.

 

[DT86]

Very nice!

I could never get the work done that quick.

 

[LD1]

Thanks for the compliments.

Yes, both are free standing. Just don't like a ledger board on the house.

 

[joefromga]

Thanks for the compliments.

Yes, both are free standing. Just don't like a ledger board on the house.

Looks good. Also, in some areas not attaching to the house structure makes it not part of the house and less trouble with permitting, taxes, etc.

 

[LD1]

Looks good. Also, in some areas not attaching to the house structure makes it not part of the house and less trouble with permitting, taxes, etc.

Which is why every other deck I have built has been free standing.

I removed two existing decks that were attached. So I doubt permitting would have been any issue. Just don't like putting a ledger board on the house with a bunch of holes through the siding. Or removing siding and having to worry about sealing around. And if the house ever needs resided, it can be done without complete removal of the deck

 

[Luke'sScreenName]

With boards running perpendicular to the house, do you bild in a small slope away from the house?

 

[LD1]

With boards running perpendicular to the house, do you bild in a small slope away from the house?

Yep. Eyeballed about an inch of fall over the 10' back deck and same on the 12' front.

I like running deck boards this way, cause there is no seam where two ends meet on the deck boards. Looks better IMO, and reduces the chances of a split or warped board causing a little trip hazard.

1" of fall is sufficient for water to shed, yet not noticeable by the naked eye or percieved by walking on it

 

[Luke'sScreenName]

Yep. Eyeballed about an inch of fall over the 10' back deck and same on the 12' front.

I like running deck boards this way, cause there is no seam where two ends meet on the deck boards. Looks better IMO, and reduces the chances of a split or warped board causing a little trip hazard.

1" of fall is sufficient for water to shed, yet not noticeable by the naked eye or percieved by walking on it

Makes good sence to me. :thumbsup:

 

[s219]

One benefit of running boards that way is when using tongue and groove decking, like old-time porches/decks did -- the water sheds off rather than get caught in the wood. If you see any of those old porches, or new ones like them, the boards almost always run that way. So that framing configuration is somewhat typical historically. For modern decks, almost everyone does it the other way for some reason.

 

[LD1]

For modern decks, almost everyone does it the other way for some reason.

And that I dont understand. Perhaps if hanging a ledger, and support beam away from the house, the logical direction for joists to run is perpendicular...thus making deck boards horizontal?

Wrap around porches, will have boards on one side being horizontal, and perpendicular on the other...unless you go on a 45 degree.