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Home Outdoors Yard & Garden Structures Deck & Patio


EXPERT TIPS FOR HOW TO BUILD A DECK

Travis LarsonUpdated: Jan. 11, 2023
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AVOID HEADACHES, SAVE TIME AND BUILD A ROCK-SOLID DECK.

1 / 8

Family Handyman


BUILD BETTER STAIRS

Simple notched stair jacks are fine for interior stairs. They get nailed to wall
studs for stability and are hidden once the house is finished. Not so with deck
stairs. Naked, notched treated-wood stair jacks are unattractive and wobbly. And
because there isn’t much meat to attach posts or pickets to, you’ll have wobbly
handrails, too.

But it’s easy to strengthen them and spruce them up. Adding sturdy, solid 2×12
skirts to the outside jacks and stair risers does it all. If your deck railings
are also causing you stress, here’s how to fix them.

2 / 8

Family Handyman


SEAM A DECK

The traditional way most builders go about building a deck is to randomly
stagger joints. The result is that end-to-end deck boards share the 1-1/2-in.
thickness of each joist. That can cause problems, especially with wood decks.
With only 3/4-in. of nailing surface, fasteners will cause ends to split. And
since the board ends have to be tight, untreated wood will rot.

We use a faster, more material-efficient method we call seaming. It’s simply
strategically placing a seam (or seams, on bigger decks) and using the same
length boards for each section. Each seam is a sandwich made of an elevated
vertical decking board with joists on both sides.

The advantages are many. It’s faster than random seaming; all decking ends have
a full 1-1/2-in. of framing, so it cuts down on fastener splits; and you can
leave 1/4-in. gaps at the ends so end grain can dry out after it gets wet.

The vertical deck board is for looks only. It makes everything look planned and
polished. And there’s virtually no waste. If we need to build a 20-ft.-wide
deck, we’ll make it about 19-ft. 6-in. and use all 10-ft. decking on both
halves. That allows for one-inch overhangs and cutting off some bad ends.

Seaming also works well for solid composite decking, which comes in fewer
lengths. If, for example, I’m building a composite deck, 12- and 20-ft. lengths
might be the only options. For a 16-ft.-wide deck, I might seam it to have a
four foot “sidewalk” down the middle for zero waste. Of course, everything
depends on the design and the homeowner. But think about it next time to figure
out the best approach. Here’s our guide for all things treated lumber.




Family Handyman



Close-up of deck seam. All deck board joints fall at the seam.



3 / 8

Family Handyman


COBBLE TOGETHER A LAYOUT FRAME

Home improvement books and TV shows always recommend laying out deck footings
with batter boards and string, but I gave that up years ago. It’s faster and
easier to build a layout frame from deck boards or joists. And unlike string, a
frame gives you a solid guide to mark footing holes and align post bases.

You can mark the location of the frame by driving a few stakes and then removing
it to dig holes or pour footings. Then you can quickly replace the frame to
align post bases or set posts. You can even screw posts to the frame to hold
them in perfect position while you backfill.

4 / 8

Family Handyman


LEAVE A LITTLE STEP BELOW DOORS

There are so many reasons not to snug decks right under door thresholds. The
screen and sliding door tracks on patio doors get full of debris. Storm doors
have to bulldoze their way through leaves in the fall. And those leaves will get
blown or kicked into the house every time the door opens. Splashing water rots
out wood casing and jamb trim. And last but not least, water will inevitably
work its way under any threshold and rot out the subfloor and then the framing.

It’s nearly impossible to flash between ledgers and thresholds if the decking is
flush to thresholds. Leave a three-inch step. The house and its owner will be a
lot happier in the long run.

5 / 8
ⓘ








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VIDEO: HOW TO BUILD DECK STAIRS



6 / 8

Family Handyman


CHECK THE END GRAIN ON 4X4S.

When buying 4x4s, don’t just sight them for straightness; always look at the
ends. Try to avoid 4x4s that include the center of the tree, especially anywhere
near the center of the 4×4. Those can twist into airplane propellers in no time.
This is particularly true of eight-footers because those are often the leftovers
from “peeling logs,” the outer layers of which have been shaved off to make
plywood veneer.

When we order 4x4s over the phone and need eights, we always order tens to
reduce the chances of getting 4×4 leftovers from peelers. Here’s why you should
be careful when selecting 4×4 lumber.

7 / 8

Family Handyman


GET OVER LAG SCREWS

There are few reasons to use lag screws anymore. Construction screws may look
wimpy, but they’re actually stronger than lags. And you don’t have to spend five
minutes cranking each one in with a ratchet.

Give construction screws a try on your next deck. You can drive them with any
18-volt screw gun without predrilling — they don’t split wood. The price may
shock you (they cost four times as much), but you’ll never go back to lags.

8 / 8

Family Handyman


CORNER DECKING: AVOID MITERS

Avoid miters when you can, especially in wide boards. Here’s why. Wood installed
outdoors immediately starts shrinking — or in some conditions, expanding —
mostly in width. Miters will always open up unevenly, and your perfect miter
will look like a hack job in no time. Whenever possible, use simple butt joints.
They don’t look as professional as miters at first, but they look better in the
long run.


 
Originally Published: July 27, 2020


 



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