Deck Building: Common Issues

Deck building is one of the most important parts of the home improvement. The exterior, which part is also the deck, is very important in many ways.

The reasons behind building a deck are different for different homeowners: you may want to have a nice, cozy place outside your house to enjoy with your family and friends, or maybe you want to increase the value of your property and make it ready for the big market to sell. If you are building or repairing your deck to sell your house fast, you can also do it without any additional hassles of building a deck.

Whatever your reason is, there are some common and important issues you will be facing during the deck building or deck repairing process. For many people out there deck building may be a DIY project, however, we recommend to approach professional deck building companies so the result will be satisfying as well.

Deck building process is not one of those hardest things in the world, however in both cases (whether it’s a DIY project or you have a professional company to build it), you as a homeowner need to know what kind of problems can occur during the building process. Proper deck design protocol, local codes and building procedures are very important points to think about. These points (or even one of them) can easily lead to the failure of your overall project. Especially if you are a DIY builder, you need to be careful to choose the right materials and footings in order to avoid different deck securing problems.

The Design

The design is considered as the very beginning of the project. Even at this very early stage, we may make different mistakes that can lead to the failure of our project. Deck building is not only about throwing up some boards and painting them. This process includes a lot of different minor calculations and points like the consideration of local building codes, proper joist framing, weight loads, support, planking, proper railings and footings.

The beautiful design is very important but at the same time, it should be functional. What we mean is that your deck together with being good-looking should also be safe supporting the weight of furniture and people on it. As well as the design of your new deck must meet the requirements of the local building code. Only by taking care of this and having a deck-building permit you can avoid future fines and penalties.

Hardware/Connections

No matter what your future deck will look like, one thing is obvious – your deck joints need to be attached to a ledger of the house correctly and securely to avoid future accidents. First of all, the ledger should not pull away from the house as it often happens whenever the deck building is a DIY project. This part of the building process needs a professional touch – you need to choose proper-sized nuts and bolts to secure your ledger. In case you are facing any issues, contact a professional – they can give a proper advice on how to secure it properly.

The Footings

Footings are important as well. In order to make sure your deck doesn’t move, the footings must be properly placed. Very often when builders choose an improper size of the footings, the deck fail even before it is ready. The size of the footings should be based on the size of the deck and its dead weight.

For the proper size of the footings, again check requirements of the local building code

What else?

• We need to pinpoint that deck contracts and expands throughout the year because of the weather – in winter the wood usually swells and the spaces between the woods become smaller and in summer as it dries out, it contacts and the spaces become larger. This is the reason we need to install the decks as closely as possible securing them just during the installation process.
• Take into account there’s also another problem that usually causes during the nailing process of the deck – nails work loose during common deck use. Try to use screws while securing the joists to your deck’s planks.

Final Thoughts
These were the most common problems most people face during the deck building process. Again, it doesn’t matter you are building your deck because you want to sell your house fast, you want to enjoy your evenings outside or for any other reason, building a secure deck is important.