10' X 12' Backyard Deck

When my wife and I purchased this house a few years ago, we never really liked the deck but had plans to build a new one. Over the years, we slowly removed sections and this year was finally the year to build a new one. Although there are many different ways to build a deck, this instructable is to show how I built it. Make sure to check your local codes for building and permits that might be required.

I will list as many of the tools that I used:

Mitre Saw

Jigsaw

Sawsall

Hammer

Drills and drill bits

Various Screws, nuts and bolts

Joist holders

Corner Braces

Post blocks

Various pressurized wood (posts, decking, stringers,etc)

Levels

Crowbar

Sledgehammer

I am not going to show too much about this, but basically I used a sawsall to slice and dice the deck into smaller pieces that I could haul to the local dump via Uhaul truck. I performed this step multiple times over the years as I slowly removed section by section.

For this step, I worked with a rep from Home Depot to design a deck for me. Once satisfied on design and price, I ordered the wood and materials to be delivered to my home. I live in a town home, so I had to carry this all through the house to the backyard.

Started off by building the frame of the deck and figuring out where it will best be laid out. This allowed us to place the post blocks in the right spots. While building the frame, we used a square on each corner before attaching the corner braces.

I did not take any pictures of us attaching the joists. However, what we did was first attach the joist end closet to the house, and then did the end furthest from the house. These were attached using galvanized nails.

We measured the post lengths that we would need for each spot and cut each one to size.

Since there were only 2 of us doing this, we did not have enough man power to lift it. What we used instead was a car jack that was well placed in the center, while using 1 of us to stabilize while the other screwed the posts into place.

While attaching the posts, we made sure to leave a very slight degrade leading away from the house to allow rain water to flow away from the house. This slope should be very small.

This step is pretty straight forward. Because we wanted to make sure that the deck boards were flush with the end furthest from the house to accommodate stairs, we started with placing the deck boards at the end away from the house. Working our way towards the house, we placed a deck board down and screwed it into place. We used popsicle sticks as spacers between the deck boards. Due to the boards not being 100% straight, we had to use a flat head screw driver and hammer to wedge the boards into place and screw down.

When we got to the final board, it had to be cut length wise using a table saw. To accommodate the cement step, I measured where the cuts would be and used a jigsaw to cut it out. I had to trim the edges a little bit to adjust the fit before screwing down.

I did not get any pictures of cutting the stringers, however, I got help from a carpenter friend to cut 1 stringer to use as a template. I suggest getting help with this step or google how to build a stringer as there is some math to properly make these. This step (pun intended) is important as humans have a natural way of stepping and if the steps measurements are outside of this range, it can cause a tripping hazard.

Our goal was to make wrap around steps (on 2 sides). Using the template, I cut multiple stringers. Using stringer hangers, I placed each stringer 12" apart.

For this step, I just placed the deck boards down and marked where I would cut the corner. Using a mitre saw, I made my cuts. Screwed the boards down into each stringer.

Finished by placing our BBQ and Patio set on the deck. After about a month or so, it is good to go over all the screws with a drill to make sure they are in there snug