How to Build A Floating Deck | Outdoor Kitchen Part 1

the job site you see before me is gonna be the new  home of an outdoor kitchen it's gonna be 24 feet   by 34 feet big the crew working with me on this  build is gonna be jacob who you should know by   now he's a very experienced carpenter and has  worked on several large builds with me and then   my newest member to the team is going to be cindy  she doesn't have much experience in carpentry but   she has a very motivated attitude to learn  anything she can i'm estimating that this   build is going to take roughly a month in order  to complete and of course i'm going to bring you   along on the entire process jacob has already  spent the last week getting the dirt work ready   pour in the concrete piers and footers so the  next step is to actually start building the deck   let's jump into it if only it was that  easy to get started all of the cardboard   wrappings on the piers needed to come off this  reminded me of opening up a package of biscuits except it doesn't have that satisfying pop sound  to it this concrete part is what is called the   pier and it's what builds up the area to be  level you can see how drastically the ground   slopes in this area jacob and cindy did all  of this dirt and concrete work ahead of time   see when i want to work on a large project such  as this build i first have to knock out multiple   small projects to get ahead of my release schedule  so while i worked on those projects they were   beating up rock sticking in rebar and prepping  things to start jacob started making marks on   the footers to mark the location of the reference  edges when building something square it's best to   pull two lines for two perpendicular boards  then reference everything else off of those   we did this by pulling a chalk line on the  long side and a short side of the layout   if you're needing a chalk line i recommend  this one by crescent tools it has a locking   and unlocking feature on it so that you can unlock  to pull out the needed link but then lock it to   really put tension on the line before popping it  it also has a quick wind-up feature that makes   pulling the line back in super quick before laying  down the boards on the marks i went around the job   site and cleared out any limbs or trees that were  in the way this greenworks 60 volt chainsaw put in   some work i intentionally positioned the kitchen's  location to protect as many trees as possible   so i mostly cut away dead limbs but there  was one tree that had to go completely   this was leaning to where it wanted to fall  right into the job site so jacob tied a rope   to persuade it to fall the other way i also  made a large face cut to aid in the effort then   with an escape plan in mind in case it went  badly i made the back cut i left just a tad   bit attached so that jacob just had to  give it a little tug to bring it down next i went ahead and took the time to offload  the tools i figured i would need for the build   i've taken to keep it an assortment in  my deck system in the back of my truck   so i quickly pulled out the drawers and  pulled out anything i thought would be useful   next it was time to start moving material in  i first started grabbing a board at a time and   walking it into position however i realized  very quickly that was going to take too long   so i hopped on my tractor and used its muscles  instead cindy and i would load down the bucket   of the tractor so that i could move the heap loop  which means a lot to the job site then put them   in their position this method went a lot quicker  the perimeter of the deck is called the rim joist   then these doubled up members are called the  beams all of these are made from 2x8 material   which of course is at the very bottom of the  stack i have a role that if i ever have the   opportunity to not set something on the ground to  re-pick it up later i take it so we quickly set   up sawhorses to restack the 2x6 material on top  then load down the tractor with the 2x8 material   jacob went through and crowned all the boards  which will put them in a stronger orientation   if i then make sure they're all facing up with  the doublers i would make sure the top of the two   boards were as flush as possible to each other and  then nail it all the way down if i got one that   was pretty out of whack i would set a clamp on it  and pull it flush before nailing then very quickly   things started to take shape if you're tackling  an outdoor project and choose nails over screws   make sure to use galvanized which means they won't  rust out and also ring shank which means that they   won't back out over time as the wood expands and  contracts after the first section was put together   we stopped to check square before continuing once  things were good we repeated on the next section once the entire outer frame is done now you  can check for square on the entire thing i   was reading we were an eighth inch out which just  means a few small hits to knock it perfectly in   and that is what we were able  to accomplish on the first day   day one is always the slowest because it takes  forever to set up the job site and get into a   groove but that is still a great showing  next up is to fill it all in with joyce   these step down to two by sixes and are connected  with a simpson strong tied joist hanger these are   not only required by code in almost any structure  but it drastically increases the structural   integrity of said structure also in cases like  mine where i have a double rim joist to go through   they save me from having to toenail it in it's  important to get these mounted flush to the top   of the rim joist because this is the substructure  that will dictate how flat your floor will come   out use a scrap to set the hanger in place  while you nail it in i definitely recommend   a palm nailer for this job it's one of those tools  that you might not need on every job but when you   do it is worth its weight in gold especially  on a job like this that has so many hangers   cindy took over installing the hangers while i  went behind her and started populating them with   joists all of these joists came from the material  we moved to the saw horses earlier and instead of   moving them again i just cut them in place i would  use a scrap to prop up underneath one board then   to get the most bang for my buck i would measure  from both the left and the right when i pulled my   tape then make these two cuts you know instead  of measure cut and measure again and cut again this little efficiency adds up  with so much material to go through   i would cut as many as i felt like i could move  without them falling off the bucket of my tractor   then with my tractor riding puff in my lap  i would move them all closer to the job site   where they could be offloaded and then  slip into their joist hangers one by one   this is a simple step but with the size of  the deck it took an entire day of cutting   and moving things into place i personally love  these steps where such a visible change happens   while that is filling in i'll tell  you about the planning of the deck   keep in mind that whichever direction you want  your deck boards to run the joists need to be   ran perpendicular on this deck most of the  boards will be running along the long side   but there will be a stripe down the middle that  is ran the opposite direction to give the deck an   accent the boards here will also be a different  color you can do awesome designs that are simple   so think about it before you get started i was  ecstatic when the last board was popped into place   and called for a team happy dance happy dance  team happy dance jacob happy dance happy dance   jacob wasn't supportive of dancing on the joys yet  but i ignored him got it stop it you stop happy   dancing no happy dancing but to jacob's point  let's go ahead and get everything secured down   he placed a level in the center and tested each  beam location to see if it needed to be shimmed   up or not if it did he would use a few composite  shims to make everything perfect next i went   through and perfected the joists for any of the  joys that were slightly too high i would use my   electric triton mini planner to knock it down  there is a knob on the front that dictates how   much can be taken off with each pass and i always  set mine low and take off really light passes   a few swipes is typically all it's out for any  joists that are too low i place a composite shim   in the hanger to bring it up to level if you want  to avoid this step you can install the joists   with toenails first and then add the hangers after  either way if you want a flat deck it's worth the   fussing around to get the substructure nice and  flat first with that knocked out it was time to   set the posts for the size of structure i'm going  with four six 6x6 posts and started this step   off by placing a fence armor protective sleeve on  the bottom of each one this is a heat shrinkable   sleeve that is lined with tar so that you can  attach it permanently to the bottom of each post   it creates an air and water tight seal on it that  will prevent rot if you follow my channel you   know i don't set a post in the ground anymore  without first putting on one of these sleeves   since i have a propane torch that's what i use to  heat shrink it onto the post after it's nice and   tight i hit it quickly with a foam roller and  water these need to be positioned on the post   so that the top of the sleeve will have two inches  exposed above the ground level you can visit fence   armor.com to read all about the science behind the  technology or if you want to place an order for   some i once again relied on my tractor to carry  the weight of these guys over to the job site   before setting them in i made sure to blow out  the hole really good of all of the loose debris   you want concrete to have something solid to  hold on to this greenworks blower has a button   for turbo mode which i utilize quite often getting  up to 700 cfm once the hole was cleaned out i used   my woman's strength to lift it up vertical  into the hole bear hugging certainly worked   this thing's not light whenever i have  to move the base i have to bear hug it yeah buddy i get it done though the posts are  butted up flush to a joy so that few screws can   be ran in to hold it in position while making  sure the post is plumb on two sides while i   read the level jacob was setting braces to lock  it in position so that we can next start mixing   up concrete and pouring it in at this point i do  so many large construction jobs i ended up buying   my own mixer but if you don't have one remember  that you can rent one as well as many other tools   at your local big box store however with this job  only taking about two bags per hole it also isn't   too many to mix by hand in a wheel barrel either  since the rim joists were in the way of dumping   the mix directly into the holes i would use a  shovel to dump it in one load at a time until   it was full or actually a little over full this  way i could use a trowel to next smooth it out   and shape it away from the post  this way water will run off and away   and that my friends is the end of day two not a  bad showing at all for two days worth of work huh okay next up is putting on deck boards this is  a step that is super transformative and exciting   now every deck is going to be a little different  but since i wanted a center stripe in mind   of a different color and direction  that is where i started i first found   center of the section then popped the  chalk line from one end to the other   this way i could line up my first board  to this line and start attaching it   after getting the first one in place i worked my  way out from there on either side until the center   section was all filled in for decking i'm going  with a composite decking material made by trex   if you watch the treehouse deck build then  this should be familiar to you as it's the   same material unlike wood trucks won't rot warp  or splinter it won't need any painting sealing or   staining not now not ever but look at this  stuff up close and tell me it doesn't look   like wood it also comes in several different  colors but i went with spiced rum for the   center section and havana gold for the outer  section while i was laying down the center   jacob and cindy started pulling material  across to both these other side sections   jacob was also working on the front section  while it was exposed to route all of the plumbing   let me show you the overall design real quick  so that you have an idea on what i'm going for   here is the center deck stripe that  will be centered to a stone fireplace   on the right will be a countertop  with a grill sink and mini fridge   that will have a bar height counter on the  other side for seating on the other side of   the living space will be another countertop  that i'm thinking will be used for serving   on the back side of the fireplace i plan to have  a hidden barrels to collect rain water from the   roof that will feed to the sink to do dishes or  wash hands so jacob ran the line that will carry   the water over to the sink and then also a line to  carry the gray water off by the time he was done   with plumbing i was done with the center stripe  so we both moved over to start on the next section   of decking together things definitely fly  a lot faster with two people on the task   however i must say this decking process went much  quicker than any other deck i've built so far   i used a new hidden fastener install system  made by trax and it not only cut the number of   screws needed in half but it also doubled how much  ground we could cover in the same period of time   the deck boards are all grooved along the  side think tongue and groove except instead   of the boards having both parts the boards only  have the groove and the hardware is the tongue   see the fastener comes with a plastic part on  the bottom and a screw already started in the top   the plastic is a flange on both sides that fits  perfectly into the groove of the boards as you   run in the screw it holds the board down to the  substructure it also acts as a spacer for your   next board you just have to make sure that the  next board is pushed up tightly to the hardware   trex even comes with a jig that  retails for about twenty dollars   to make installing these clips quick and easy  i could take a screw pop it into the jig make   sure the jig was flush up against the board and  then screw it down texas experienced a hot spell   this week and temperatures already got up to  a hundred which is why jake and i pulled out   our wide brim hats i don't have a cowboy hat  but a garden hat works wonders in this heat   we got into a groove pretty quickly where each of  us took half of the boards to secure it in place   with all of the loose boards behind us we would  move one forward make sure it was seated all the   way against the previously laid board then start  working on attaching it on our sides sometimes   the boards would slip right into place but other  times we would need to give it a few taps to get   it seated all the way about every fifth board we  would both pull a tape back to the edge to make   sure we weren't getting off square if we were we  would make up the difference where it was needed   now the hardware does take out the need for moving  spacers along as you're installing but if you butt   the edge up against something such as in the  center stripe of my deck you'll need that same   quarter inch space instead of messing with spacers  jacob suggested butting the boards directly up   to the center stripe then cutting in the quarter  inch gap at the end i personally love the idea and   actually it worked out great however if you aren't  as comfortable in your straight line cutting   skills then just be sure to include a gap on the  edge as you're installing it's also worth noting   that when you're planning out the dimensions of  the deck we took into account the link trek's   decking comes in this way each section can be made  up of one single board instead of multiples to   cover the length this also meant very little waste  at the end once all the decking was laid down we   could pop a chalk line on all of the outer edges  to clean up the ends and get them flush to the   rim joists you can see as i'm moving along just  how little waste there is on each of these boards   so it's definitely worth looking at materials  when figuring out your design i recommend taking   your time with these cuts because it's super  long but if you get it straight it will shine   i also recommend the diablo truxx blade which is a  blade specifically made and recommended by trucks   themselves for cutting composite decking  the blade has multiple design features to   make clean cuts with no swirl marks but also  gives you a longer lasting edge on the blade i always find it incredible how much work  can get done in four days like four days   ago this did not exist and now i have a deck  in my woods and it's only gonna get better next up is going to be the roof setting some  beams the rafters and decking material so stay   tuned if you're interested and if you're  curious about the bare decking over here   this is eventually going to be the fireplace with  the wood storage also if you're interested in   keeping up with me in real time then be sure  to follow me on instagram as facebook as i'm   very active on both of those platforms that's  it for this one i'll see you on the next one oh my goodness that's so easy please let the  rest of them go this easy hey jay can you uh   bend back down just make the drill sound okay ready okay now i'm gonna lean forward oh wow he is really good at  this guys well you're supposed to stream thank you so much for checking out this  video if you would like another project   to tackle don't forget that i have templates  for this folding adirondack chair of course   it's an adirondack chair but then you can  tuck it away into this nice sleek profile   for either storing it during winter or just simply  after a party you can click right here to get your templates

Channel: April Wilkerson

Views: 425,150

Rating: 4.9312339 out of 5

Keywords: april wilkerson, diy, triton tools, wilkerdos, wilker dos, how to, home improvement, wood, diy project, outdoor project, female builder, april, female woodworker, female carpenter, diy projects, woodworking project, women who build, do it yourself, how to build, woman builder, how to build an outdoor kitchen, outdoor kitchen, diy outdoor kitchen, outdoor living, floating deck, diy deck building, frame a deck, how to build a deck, diy deck, floating deck build

Id: JI7j-zsRTAQ

Length: 18min 41sec (1121 seconds)

Published: Sun May 02 2021