wood decks  wood decks... add a huge flavour to any home and they are simple to build   Note: -deck guards should be 42" high although most codes allow 36" high for single family homes -the space between spindles must be 4" or smaller     When I build decks for a house the very first criteria is the footing... I know that I am putting in a deck and it will be attached to the home, I must ensure that the ground is bearing...with no organics left to rot and undermine the footings... although decks do not carry the dead weight of a house they do carry a snow load ... and often during entertaining they can carry a very large live load... so I use a 6" to 8'" thick footing at least 24"x 24" square with a grid of rebar and insert a galvanized saddle Because the house is attached we want substantial support.. so I always use treated 6x6 posts and notch them to receive the front beam.. I use two galvanized 5" lag bolts through the beam and tightened to the post, the post themselves sit in the galvi saddles On the house side a treated 2x8 (dependent on deck span) is bolted through the rain screen into the rim joist of the house...make sure it is a solid rim joist and not an I joist... use bolts and nuts or lag bolts...they must be galvanized and 12" to 16" centres alternated in two rows top and bottom of ledger Decks must meet snowload criteria for your area... so use your local joist and beam tables for maximum spans... I try to use the nominal lumber size for 16" centres ... but on large spans you can reduce centres to 12" I always use a minimum slope of 1% away from house... a 1% slope is 1/2" over four feet...just tuck your finger under the low side of slope using an ordinary four foot level when the bubble is centered you have a 1% slope The above deck uses a 4x8 timberstrand (LSL) beam but usually a built up nominal lumber beam is sufficient... note: above I have used joist hangers at both ends... but I could just as easily run the joists across the top of beam I prefer using 1x6 radius treated deck boards which I space at about 3/16"... these boards can dry out in the summer months and leave some significent spaces so if they are wet when building tighten the spacing to 1/8" Vinyl Membrane Decking Surfaces Many people prefer to use a vinyl membrane on their deck.. under new codes you have to go to a 60 mil which increases the price of decking... the substrate for vinyl should be 5/8 tongue and groove plywood select one side... the substrate must be moisture free when vinyl is applied... this can hold up the whole building process as vinyl needs flashing to run up the wall under moisture membrane and down over the vinyl... shingle style ...the vinyl itself should run up the wall 4" all seams must be carefully sealed The guards on vinyl decks are metal or glass... so unlike the wood decking the 6x6 post should terminate just below the plywood floor substrate and the posts to the guards should be through bolted through the flush beam and rim joists...not through the top of the deck membrane (this is often the case but the membrane leaks around the screws and shortens life of deck substantially There are several proprietary systems for deck guards...any that I have seen and used are quite simple to install.
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