How To Build a Deck | Why Most People Are Building Decks The Hard Way

when it comes to building a floating deck you have two different Foundation Systems you can use this one right here is your concrete deck Block it's traditional and it's very heavy this right here is your tough Block it's low profile and when you put your joist inside like that it's going to sit very low to the ground it's also lighter and very easy to do it yourself [Music] this right here is an essential step for getting a level base this is going to get rid of the air pockets and it's going to stabilize Our Deck Foundation don't skip the step [Music] now we are on a slight slope right now so before installing Our Deck blocks I've done three trenches of limestone screening which is our paver base and it's nicely compacted on each side I've done some landscape cloths so we do not have to weed Our Deck you don't want to do that now what is absolutely Critical with your paver base is that you compact it and compress it so that it is level and solid if you don't do that five years from now your floating deck will settle and you'll have high spots and low spots you can avoid that by using a tamper once you have your base level you can take your deck block and we're going to set our first one right here in the corner and this is the high spot of our build over here and we can see that this needs to be built up a little bit just a touch you're going to find that sometimes you just need to make micro adjustments so I'm going to put down my screening Tamp it down then you're just going to give that deck block a bit of a wiggle so that's what you're looking for you're going to check for level in both directions on the first deck Block in your corner and then we can move over and do it on the next one because I have a retaining wall that I don't want to undermine I'm just going to set my block 12 inches off the back of the wall and 12 on the side now that I've set my second Block in place I'm going to take our joists and set it in so I've just set my rim joist over here and right now we just want to check for a level with our first deck blocks and that's looking good and cut because I'm using a four foot level I'm just going to slide this down because we're on a slope it doesn't look level it's a little deceiving and we'll just check the side as well but that's looking good and now we can put in our two deck blocks on the other side okay so once you have your block set we're just going to check to see if we can get this level and I'm going to grab my joist over here [Music] okay once you have your joists out you can check your level to make sure that these two corners are lined up once we've got it leveled I'm going to check on the other side put it in the deck block and grab our level see where we're at okay that's good here Okay so we've done our sides and now we're just going to test our Corners here on the front cut it grab my level okay now that we've set it we can check for level once you've installed your four corner blocks you can then move on to your middle blocks on the outer edge of your frame now I am building this deck with two by eight construction and my joists are going to be 10 Footers at this point I'm going to measure now for my rim joist which is going to go here and at the end of the deck I'm just going to put my tape on the end wall and I'm looking to measure my rim joist which will go here at the back of my deck and it's going to be 165 inches I can now take this measurement and go cut this on my saw [Music] this once you've cut your Rim joists you can prop it up I'm just using some extra pieces of wood here and we're now ready to screw in our Rim joist here and because I'm working alone I have it propped up on some scrap pieces of wood I'm just going to take my speed square right now and I'm going to Mark out the center here just to align where I want my screws and you can transfer that to along the front and that can help you line up where you want your screws so they're in a nice straight line so what we're looking for here is for our joists to be on the same plane and in line so I'm just going to install my screw about one inch from the top okay so that is flush that's what we're looking for now that I have one end I can remove this and install four more and we can square out our deck [Applause] because I want to maximize this deck and build it right up to the retaining wall I'm having to pull out the joist or pull it forward so I can actually fit my screws in and this is just to hold it in place so we can square it up so I'm just going to center it so now that I've installed the frame I need to check that it's Square to do that I need two diagonal measurements I have a screw in the corner I'm going to hook my tape [Music] okay 183 and a half now check the other measurement let's see what we have here 183 and three quarters so we're just out by a quarter of an inch I just need to give this a bit of a whack to move it over and then I'm just going to re-measure until both sides are equal [Music] we're totally squared up awesome another trick you can do is actually just throw in a piece of scrap wood here on your corners and that is going to keep it Square so it doesn't shift on you so before installing your joists I'm just going to actually set these in the deck blocks here line it up might take a second or two I'm gonna make some adjustments okay and then I want to get my level on there and what you're looking for is that each joist that is sitting on three deck blocks is nice and level and I'm going to do that on each one before we install our hangers so each choice is going to need three deck blocks for the size of my deck I'm just going to place them so they're in line here and for my middle Block it's going to be in line right here and I'm ready to install my joist so if you're working by yourself I think this is the easiest way to set your hangers this one's not quite lined up okay so you can see I've marked out the joists here we have 12 inch centers so I'm just going to line that up I have my joist hanger here which is size specifically for my joist I'm gonna lift that up okay I set it in my deck block so what you're looking for right here top of your joists should sit flush with your Rim joists and at the bottom you want your joist hanger to be nice and snug I'm giving it a squeeze I've got my rated Fastener right there I'll get to that in a second and I like to do the rim side first once you do one on one side you can go over the other pull your joist hanger tight against your joist and then what is key here all the pre-drilled holes all of these need to have a Fastener inside and here on the angle don't forget your screws on the angle x marks the spot cram side up for the second choice going in let's fit it in place I also Mark my joists because I've pre-cut these and pre-leveled them out [Applause] foreign we're ready for our second joist hanger but what is key here is sizing so if you take a look at the box at the store it's going to tell you exactly what hangers you need these are good for two by eights or two by tens and the Fastener right there we're using today number nines inch and a half so your Fastener has to be rated for your hanger that's critical as I go what am I doing here you want to make sure that the cut ends of all your pressure cheated joists are sealed you want a good amount of sealer wear gloves and seal all your end Cuts or any penetrations on your boards that means if you made a mistake a screw holes throw some of this in there too there you go nicely saturated and now you can put it in [Music] there you go once it's like that of course it's not lined up there we go I'm just going to check that everything is level and ready for our deck boards now after installing all your joists it's on to blocking in the middle of my deck I have added blocking in between each joist why I'm doing that is because this is going to add strength to your deck if you think you don't need it try this without blocking if you go like this you're going to have lateral movement on your joist and that is bad over here we have blocking absolutely no movement and that is what you want so what I'm doing right here is doing some blocking and if you take a look this joist here is a cantilever or it's overhanging my deck block and I can't get a deck block underneath this last joist so all down this last foot I'm going to be installing some blocking and this right here that distance is 12 inches [Music] now this is absolutely a critical step especially if you live in an area that has a lot of wet weather this is going to make our deck last longer all you do for this is apply pressure push it down with your hands and I like to run my fingers along the side of the joist now if you make a mistake you can peel back your tape you want to make sure that your joists and all your substructure is clean before you apply the tape so another advantage of why I'm doing this is every single screw hole that you have going into your deck this joist tape is acrylic it's self-sealing so it's going to waterproof around each and every screw hole so this right here is why we're doing this stuff take a look at our joists if I add a little water that is waterproofing your deck and that is going to make it last so much longer think of joist tape as an umbrella for your joists and if you don't want to use it I have a video coming up that's going to show you what happens when you don't flash your deck I'll link to that in the description [Music] so for our decking today I'm using pressure treated wood because we're on a budget and if you're on a budget this has the highest rate of return so we're going to make our money back and so when it comes to starting your first deck board what I like to do is have about a half inch of an overhang right here on your Rim joists today I'm doing something different though I'm going to be using a deck board on the front which means I'm just going to need to move my deck board over a little bit more and now we can secure our decking so angle brackets I'm using angle brackets today this is a bit of a trick when it comes to installing your first boards especially if you want a head and Fastener system I'm going to flip my board over here and if you take a look you can see I have angle brackets and I've marked out on the underside in pencil where my angle bracket should be and this is going to make sure that all our Fasteners are completely hidden once you have them all screwed in I'm just going to flip my board over push it and now we're ready for our fastening system on the back side here I'm just installing the screws now into my L bracket can you see my two Fasteners I have a Fastener here here and here and the beauty is you can't even see it why because I'm using this this is a hidden drive system for Fasteners let's try this all we do is give it a squeeze you want to position this centered on your joist and then we're going to take our screw and put it into the little guide here now it comes with a drill bit so you don't have to buy it and now we're going to drive it in and release and just like that we have a beautiful hidden Fastener can't see it gotta love it that's great and then we get on to the next one and the next one [Music] so for our second board I just have it in place here we're going to use the guide at the front so I already have my screw that is ready to go and this is self spacing for pressure treated lumber so I'm just going to use the guide to secure this it's always good there we go and then again we're going to do one at the back side while we're at this joist put the screw in the guide and the reason is we need a bit of a gap here for pressure treated lumber this is critical because we need to account for expansion and contraction of our lumber but of course pressure treated wood is going to shrink a little bit as well foreign I'm just going to take my boot these come in handy I'm going to apply some pressure and I'm going to go in on the back side first pulling and if you have a friend they can also help you with this here we go and I'm just installing the fascia now on the front I have one more board to go this one I'm going to have to scribe because I have topsoil going in it's a little bit rewarding at this stage because the deck is really coming together [Music] and one of my favorite ways to add privacy to a backyard is by planting Cedar Hedges I'll show you how you can do it on your own in this video right here thanks so much everybody

Channel: Daru Dhillon

Views: 524,903

Keywords: how to build a deck, build a deck, diy deck, deck building, floating deck, ground level deck, fast deck build, tuff block, joist installation, deck building tips, deck build, how to build a deck for beginners, in ground deck, joist hangers, deck framing, diy decks, frame a deck, floating deck diy, how to frame a deck, framing a deck, camo deck block, how to build a floating deck, building deck, building a deck, diy floating deck, camo deck fastening system, deck, diy

Id: 3zaLl0kty20

Length: 15min 4sec (904 seconds)

Published: Tue May 30 2023