N1K Posted November 11, 2003 Share Posted November 11, 2003 My next major project is my deck... Whats the best way to approach that project? Does Home Depot offer deck design services like they do for kitchen design etc? Deck plans online? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeG Posted November 12, 2003 Share Posted November 12, 2003 They have some good books at Home Depot on designing and building decks. Fun jobs. Check the Yankee Workshop(Norm Abrams) also. Tons of designs on line but you have to pay. Unless you want it very fancy, you can easliy design it yourself. Some of the lumber yards have architects on staff, or at least can tell you the beam sizes etc for code. Screw down the deck boards and put them diagonal for visual and structural strength. Consider making part of the deck a screened porch or use storm windows for a 3 season porch. If you size the windows for standard sizes, the storim windows are very cheap and the results are worthwhile. I closed in half my deck. I don't know where you are, but in the woods of Massachusetts, the bugs are pretty bad. Mike G Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 12, 2003 Share Posted November 12, 2003 Consider the fake wood. Redwood qulity is going down. The fake stuff will hold up much longer and take 0 up-keep. Price may be higher but probably cheaper ithe end. Use pressure treated lumber for supports and no visable areas. Just took down my redwood deck around my swimming pool (17 x 30) redwood was about wasted it did last 15 years though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 12, 2003 Share Posted November 12, 2003 I used a company I found off of the internet to design my plans. Got 3 copies so one could be submitted to the zoning office. I tried the Home Depot Route, but there plans were lacking in detail and looked amaturish compared to the plans I got from the net. I will try to look tonight and see if I can find the name of the company and the website. Just some helpful tips: Space out the lumber when it arrives and let it dry for AT LEAST a week. You would be suprised how much the wood shrinks after you use it. Use screws for everything. It makes it easier to replace a single board in the future. Make the underlying foundation as strong as you can afford. You never knwo if you may want to add a hot tub or something else down the road. It is difficult to add once the deck is finished. The good thing about ordering from Home depot and having them deliver is that they will bring you out new boards if you find that some of the ones they gave you are too twisted or split. Consider more than a single level deck. Mine is an 18 x 18 with a raised 10 x 10 octagon on the corner. I clipped all of the corners so it really looks nice and not too plain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ststricker Posted November 12, 2003 Share Posted November 12, 2003 Nik, I posted the previous post. Here is a link to the company I used and the plans I used. I don't have any pics to post, but it came out better than I could have ever imagined. The plans they give you are top notch and the materials list is easy to use. Just make sure Home Depot goes by their list and doesn't try to make their own by mimicking the plans (they tried that with me and I ended up getting 30% more materials than I needed...i made them take it all back!) http://www.decksusa.com/plans/deck_design_1063.htm Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N1K Posted November 12, 2003 Author Share Posted November 12, 2003 GREAT idea with the 2 tier deck... I'm going to incorporate that for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
f4girl Posted November 15, 2003 Share Posted November 15, 2003 I would definitely recommend the new vinyl-type decking when building a deck. It costs more, but compared to treated lumber, it'll look nicer, last longer, no maintenance (like power washing and staining), plus you won't get splinters in your bare feet! We have two decks on our house that Don built with treated lumber. One is 16x30 and the other is 8x8 (I think). If you wanna see pics, I can post some. edit: One thing to think about if you go with treated lumber: Don't use a dark stain because it gets HOT on your bare feet if you have no shade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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