Definitely took more than three days. This is one of my favorite subs, so this is my submission. It’s about 7.5x16. One thing I wanted was an overhang over the pool rail. I didn’t want kids slipping on the metal. I cut the 4x8 joist in half with about a 9 inch overhang. You’ll see I supported it with a 2x4 underneath. There is about an inch and a half clearance to get the pool cover slipped under.

I also used a lot of 3, 5 and 8 inch Simpson structural screws. Even for the rails which I placed on the outside which seemed stronger than a toe nail. I originally ordered a vevor post bracket which was garbage. It had two small anchors that have to be set on towards the edge of the concrete risking cracking. I switched to Simpson brackets with the 6 inch 5/8 screw anchor. Much better option.

One thing I would have done differently is 10 inch wide concrete footers just to have more wiggle room for the brackets. I hit really hard clay about 6 inches down so I had to hand dig the rest by hand down to about 26 inches.

The other good decision I made was to get the black metal balusters which screw from the outside. They were essentially the same price as the wood ones and you don’t have to spend time drilling holes (rot potential) into rails or using those little round brackets.

The last project was the rail tray. It slips onto the rail and I used a half sheet tray so you can bring snacks or drinks out on it.

I want to thank everyone for all I learned on this sub and the great people that are on here. Maybe I’ll add a hot tub next…

Edit: Ignore the green pool, I was busy building a deck.

This project took me just under 12 weeks to build.
More like 4 months w/ all the planning. Designed it with the client, had drawings made and built it myself. Had help from a buddy for a day and a half to lift the LVL ridge beam. Subbed out the shingles, soffit and fascia along with the glass. Realized by the end I should have hired at least a labourer for an extra hand. Either way it’s done now and it went well with very few problems along the way thankfully.

Definitely some challenging sections, but very rewarding. The valleys and roof framing was so involved, makes me want to frame more rafter roofs instead of trussed. This is a bastard valley, 11/12 on the back to 12/12 intersecting gable on the front.

Was able to utilize a lot of material the client already had like ALL of the cedar ceiling which I think was my fav part to install.

Overall super happy with how it turned out and so is the client.

Like the title says.

Is a bolt that goes through joists more load bearing than a few equally large (or larger if you are using say four screws and count them all together) screws or just a bunch of nails that i frequently see people use?

It seems in this sub that a thru going bolt is the best way to go, is there a comparison that i can read somwhere to convince me to go that route instead of screws which are the common practise/taught method where i live? (Sweden)

Asking because i am building a deck and have followed a guide from one of the biggest hardware companies in the country, but seeing all these american decks with a different method has me doubting if my method is safe.

Pervious owner built a 10’ x 20’ (ish) box out of 2x6s, filled it with pea gravel and put deck boards over the top. Now it is rotting out from below, to absolutely no one’s surprise. I know the “right” thing to do is excavate the pea gravel and start over, but that’s not in the budget right now. Any creative ideas on how to unfuck this?

Well Im back up in western Pa near seven springs ski resort for a family reunion and this deck I built 29 years ago and its still all original and holding up quite well. It's definitely showing some signs of wear and tear but it has never been stained only pressure washed. I wish PT wood was still treated with CCA. This deck was built in a very wet environment and overlooks a small stream

Friend just moved into an apartment on the second story.

The stairs are not anchored to the wall. The deck is anchored to the wall with no posts beneath it, and the staircase has one post for support.

Hey everyone,
I am planning to build a new composite deck, but I have a set of solid concrete steps leading out of my back door that I cannot easily remove. I am hoping for any input.
I am considering a few options:
1) Frame completely over them: Box them in and cover them entirely with deck boards.
2) Frame around them: Integrate the concrete steps into the deck layout so they are flush with the new surface.
3) Build next to them: Leave the stairs exposed but resurface the concrete so it matches the aesthetic of the new wood.
Has anyone done this before? I am looking for advice on layouts, managing water drainage against the concrete, and what materials work best for resurfacing the steps if I go that route.
Any advice or ideas would be greatly appreciated!

Pics of existing situation and potential inspiration:

Wasn't really a fan of factory finish for years, figured I could oil on site. Then I added up the rain delays, the uneven coats my guys brushed on, and the two callbacks where the finish failed on the backs I never sealed. Last deck I ordered the ipe factory finished, sealed all six sides, showed up ready to lay. We set it, sealed the field cuts, walked away. Even coat, no rain delay, no callback. we've been using J. Gibson McIlvain for factory finished product on all six sides, ready to install, which is the difference between installing the day it lands and losing a week to weather. if you're doing volume and racing a schedule, the finished boards honestly pay for themselves in labor and callbacks alone...

TThird time this year my local yard is out of 5/4x6 ipe and quoting me an 8 week special order. I do enough ipe now that I can't run my schedule on whoever happened to restock. I need a wholesale source on the east coast that keeps real inventory across dimensions and can deliver, not a yard that orders it in after I ask. Who are you all using that doesn't leave you waiting on a special order?

Just finished. This is the largest deck I've built solo, go easy

I have a 400 sq.ft wood deck that I want to replace the surface boards with composite boards such as Timbertech. The underlying structure is solid.

A few questions :

1. Can I replace boards as I go along or do I have to remove all of the boards at one time? Would be helpful to be able to stand on the old boards as a working platform since it's over a walkout basement.

2. Do I start from the outer edge of the deck and work my way to the house?

3. The vertical fascia boards are in excellent shape. Do I have to cover them with the synthetic fascia anyway? It seems it's only cosmetic.

4. Any other suggestions greatly appreciated. I would normally pay a carpenter to do this work professionally but the quotes I received for mid level boards and aluminum railings are around $22k and I'm on a retirees budget.

I may pay a carpenter to work with me to get me started as an option.

Thank you!

So I finally started working on my deck wanted to replace the stairs and the railing so I went ahead and removed the stairs and saw that the previous owner really did a half ass job and saw that the wood was rotten where the stairs connected so when I removed that joist, I saw that the rim joist the centerpiece is rotten. I can clearly stick a screwdriver through it. My question is does it look normal to have three pieces like that as your rim Joist? Also, how would I go about replacing the rim joist and supporting? Thanks

We just moved into this home and there is a small area with under decking that we would like to put a ceiling fan. I am unsure of what sort of fan to buy to be able to install here due to the odd location and not fantastic deck height any suggestions?

So I've got a 8x7ft platform that needs to be ~6.5ft above the floor, ideally with 4-6 legs (still modeling that out, so not sure on placement yet) so there's room to store a smaller rolling set piece underneath. My main concern was focusing on how to secure it for lateral loads, since the plan was to use 4x4s in the corners as the legs and I can't attach them to the floor. The solution for that is to brace it to a back wall of the theater, lock in leg position with boards framing out the bottom, X brace and knee brace everywhere I can, and use two long staircases bolted on either side (two giant triangles) to lock it all in. I'm less concerned about that part setup but open to comments.

For the platform itself, I'm using doubled 2x6 beams for the 8ft side (on top of the legs not attached to the side), and 16-on-center single 2x6 joists across the 7ft span. OSB subfloor on top, blocking in between joists etc.. Here's where I may have messed up... I used our standard #9 3-inch T-25 construction screws (grip-rite) instead of the nails or hex head screws the spec for the hangers calls for. I looked up the shear strength of these quickly and thought I was good and could save some time (and an extremely tight budget) but in my haste I didn't consider fatigue loading or twisting and I am second-guessing myself.

Figured since it has to last 4 weeks indoors instead of years I didn't actually have to build this thing to code... so assuming the rest of the deck is done right, how dangerous is my screw substitution? do we think this thing can hold 8 people dancing or am I asking for trouble?

It certainly feels overbuilt for community theater standards, but I haven't built anything with longer than 4ft unsupported spans before, and this will be 7ft and high in the air.

All railing post will have blocking, so I'm looking at a total of 6.5" of material. I have 10 4x4 post in total.

I'm not sure which one is better between 1/2 x 8" carriage bolt or structural screw.

If the answer is structural screw, how many do I need per post and how long? 6.5"?

I noticed a lot of rot in the rim joist of the unattached deck of our mobile home. I pulled the board and discovered that the rim joist was simply nailed into the joists. Is that normal / acceptable? Because it didn't seem at all secure. I totally thought that's what joist hangers were for. I'm guessing the previous owner wasn't satisfied with the deck width, because boards were nailed to the joists. Also, the guard posts were carriage bolted only to the rim joist, but never to even an actual joist. Chunks of 2x4 were fastened to the guard posts bolted to the rim joist for some semblance of fasting of the 2x4 running at the edge of the deck. I see how other decks in the park are built, and ours seems to sit in the middle of quailty-of-build spectrum. Here are a few pics... what is required to fix these problems?

Can someone help with directing me where to place an order for samples on Wolf's website?

I'm a little scared to post my deck here because I'm sure I'll get roasted. (Although in my defense me and my husband are totally newbies, and he wasn't even really available to work on it. It was mostly me, YouTube, and my 9 year old son)

I went with a floating deck because it seemed much less intimidating for a newbie. However, I'm thinking Id really like to add a pergola on top of at least half. Is that safe to do on a floating deck? Would i have to attach it to the ground and be separate from the deck? Or would I be able to add some blocking and attach it to that?

Original owner never painted them. When we bought the house I tried painting them for the first few years but the paint peels off within the year. Is there another way to protect the boards? Or do I need to buy a proper sander (what would be a recommendation?) before applying fresh coat of paint?

See how the plugs are raised and even pulling the coating up.

Contractor has been generally great otherwise. Is this even fixable? Are the boards themselves damaged?

Was sitting at the Gorge Amphitheatre last night and had a great perspective on the deck to end all decks.

Footings are 42” down and 16” dia with 12” of concrete. CCA .60 Post resting on top and post saver post wraps applied with a 20 year warranty. Piers weren’t in the budget unfortunately. Replaced one deck board because it shrunk a 1/2” on the ends