My Deck Drawings and Build Process

I have outlined the steps I went through to build my deck and provided Cad drawings for each step.

1. Understand what I was getting into
2. Lay sleepers
3. Attach ledgers
4. Position Beams
5. Framing
6. Decking
7. Pergola
8. Sealer
9. Lights and Sprinkler System

I started off with a standard 10 foot by 10 foot concrete slab outside my back door.

There was exactly 2 3/4 inches from the bottom of my doorjam to the top of the pad. I also have a chimney off to the side and a tree right in front. There was a strong gradiate away from the pad. Here is an architectural drawing of the situation. Grid is 10"x10".

I knew I had the following issues:

• The pad slopes 1/4" every foot - much more than the desired 1/4" per three feet for a deck.
• I didn't know how to build the deck to cover the conrete pad AND extend beyond the chimney.
• I didn't know if I should keep the pad or have it demolished.
• I have very rocky ground and knew it would be difficult to dig more than 12" down.
• I didn't know what type of deck to build. There would not be enough clearance for the joists for the standard cantelever design.

So I did a lot of planning, read a book (The Complete Guide to Building Decks by Black & Decker), and talked to three contractors.

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Once I figured out what I needed to do, I started to build. To get the slope of the deck that I wanted, I would need to cut custom sleeper slopes. I decided to use a 2x6 pressure treated lumber mounted on edge 16" on center. First, I cut the correct slopes using a circular saw. Since the lengths were already 10 feet, I merely laid the board down on its side, used a chalk line to snap the slope that I needed (I knew the heigth I would need at both ends) then ripped them. No problem.

To mount the sleepers, I used a technique recommended by Mike Toupin. In this technique, I cut 2x6 pressure treated spacers for between the sleepers and attached them to the concrete using a Redhead bolt. Then I nailed the sleepers to the spacers through the sides. It was rock solid and drained well.

When I got all done, the ends lined up okay, and I had to plane a few down.

In the end, it was close enough that the cedar decking didn't bend too much to be screwed onto each sleeper.

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Ledgers are the boards that attach the deck to the house. Mine are made of 2x6 pressure treated lumber with Redhead bolts into my solid concrete foundation.

I had to be real careful to get them level so I didn't assume the siding on the back of my house was level. The siding turned out to be very close though.

I started out countersinking the Redhead bolts into the ledgers, but later changed my mind as I didn't want to pierce the wood and these would be below decking, so you wouldn't be able to see them.

You may have noticed in the picture above the little structure at ground level next to the chimney wall. This is a drip sprinkler pressure regulator and head so that I can later bring drip lines to the surface of the deck. My wife thinks she may someday want to put a little flower bed under the window. Here is a better view of the drip system and electrical outlet on the other side of the chimney.

The electrical outlet is 120V for my low-voltage mood lighting in the pergola.

I put a high quality silicon sealer to keep water from pooling between the 2x6's and my foundation.

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What holds a deck up? The beams. These 2x6's are the structural support for the deck. They sit on 4x4 posts that go into the ground into solid concrete. Spacing for the footings and width of the beams is governed by load tables.

The kicker with my deck is that these beams had to be at the exact right height so that the decking material would be able to lay evenly from the concrete pad onto the free beams. That determined one plane. The other plane is determined by the desired slope of the deck away from the house (1/4" for every 3 feet). Getting this lined up was a beast. I don't think we could have done it except for a laser level I purchased at Home Depot.

We held the beams up with temporary stakes in the ground. This let us get everything in position and move things around until we were happy. At the end, we measured corner to corner to make sure we had a square deck.

Once we were happy, we dug the holes for the 4x4 posts and then attached them (they hung into the holes). We then filled the holes with concrete. It dried overnight and the next day we had a solid deck foundatin.

Here is a picture of a finished post. We were overachievers and cut a groove for each post.

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Now we framed everything with 2x6's set at 16" on center. This too was governed by load tables - but we were conservative so that there would be absolutely no bounce.

This strcture is called a low profile deck (as opposed to a centelever). This type of framing is used when the deck sits less than 12" off the ground (i.e. there is no clearance for the joists on top of the beams).

Most joists lined up across the center beam. But this gives you a closeup of how we used joist hangers.

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Next came the face boards and the decking.

Faceboards are the outside decorate boards that are 2x6 solid cedar. The decking material is cedar five-quarter (by 6" width) by various lengths (usually around 14 feet). The edges were bullnosed (pre-rounded) and the surface knotty but clean. We started on the board furthest from the house and then worked inward.

All screws are stainless steel. Teflon screws (fancy deck screws sold at your local hardware store) don't cut it. They will eventually bleed b/c you will scratch the coating during insertion. I used mostly 2-1/2" length screws and these babies gave a beautiful finish.

We found it worked best to work in pairs to get the board fastened down. One person would hold the board snug and the other would drill. Then we would split up and start putting in screws.

There are 2 screws per joist and when decking boards touch, there are 4 screws. Also, when decking boards touch, we cut a 2 degree slope on one so that there would be a small air gap to let water drain. We did not leave space between boards (since installation, the boards have shrunk slightly and there is a nice gap between each).

The last board closest to the house was the trickiest. No deck is perfectly square - and no house is either. So the way you do the last board is to temporarily tack down the board before the last one, then lay the last one in place so it partly overlaps, then you trace the outline of the overhang onto board #2. Then you remove both boards, cut the second one, and put it closest to the house. This worked like a champ.

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I wanted a rough-cut pergola to give a nice visual transition between the door and the trees and to create a feeling of enclosure. This would also provide late day shade for our back door in the summer heat.

A pergola is a simple idea, but getting big lumber up that high was tricky. First we put up the 6x6 solid cedar posts using temporary braces. These were 12 feet long and attached to the decking surface with mounting hardware. They were positioned over 4x4 foots that went into the ground.

Next we attached a ledger to the house and then attached the first rafters to the posts. All are 2x8x12'. This was hard as the wood was rough and heavy. It all had to be level and plumb and this took all 3 men to accomplish.

We then slid the front 2 beams up into place and attached them with long stainless screws.

Next we put the remaing pergola rafters in place and then covered them with 2x2x16' decorate slats.

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The finish was done in three steps. First a cleaning with my helper.

Next we sanded it with 100 grit to clean the wood. Then we applied Superdeck 1910 stain. This is an oil-based sealer that gives a nice warm stain to the cedar. It is a UV protector and further waterproofs the wood (cedar is naturally water-resistant). It went on great and gives a great finish.

I will need to apply a new coat every 12-18 months. I purchased a compressor-srayer to help with this.

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I wanted to have mood lights on the deck. I also wanted to highlight the rough-cut cedar by throwing light down the main posts and across the top (from the underside). However, I didn't want any lights to shine in your eyes when you are sitting on the deck. So I installed a 12V power line across the main pergola beams that plug into a transformer next to the chimney (I built a little access cover to give me access to the drip sprinkler and power outlet attached to the joists).

Here are some night pictures of the deck. The lights come on around dusk and turn off 4 hours later. The lights are just bright enough to let you see expressions but are not bright enough to play cards by.

I also wanted to have a drip line across the pergola beams so that we could put misters or water plants. The 1/4" microtubing is hidden on the tops of the beams.

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