All Decked Out For Summer
(Page 3 of 10)
June/July 1992
by John Vivian
For economy and longest life, your deck's frame at least should be of pressure-treated lumber: "PT" to the trade. Primarily Southern yellow pine in the East and Douglas fir in the West, PT is construction-quality softwood that is pressure-infused with CCA, a copper/arsenic fungicide/insecticide. It is both cheaper and stronger than naturally weather-resistant woods.
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PT is sold in 4 to 8" square posts and flat boards in 1" to 4" thicknesses and 3" to 12" widths. All come in lengths from 8 to 16 or 20'. The optimal grade for decks is desig nated by the American Wood Preserver's Bureau label "Ground Contact LP-22," or it has been treated to a retention level of .40 lbs./cu.ft. It has a minimum life expectancy of 30 years. Grade#I will contain a few 1/2" or smaller tight knots. Grade #2 will be knottier—but is only 10% cheaper. Be sure you get genuine PT, not wood that's been dipped. Fresh PT is bright green, but weathers to gray. You'll pay between $4 and $5 for a 4"x4"x8' post.
Fittings & Fasteners
You can build an elegant post-and-beam deck, chiseling mortises in massive vertical posts to accept tenons cut into the horizontals, then drill and peg the joints. But this is for purists. For quickest, most mistakeproof building, use stock "dimension" lumber and galvanized metal fittings.
Fittings, deck planking, small framing members, and trim are usually nailed on. Buy fat aluminum deck-fitting nails or hotdipped galvanized steel: common nails which are rust-resistant and have a large enough head to hold. Use ten-penny (10d) 3" nails to fasten 2-by stock, and 2" 6ds to fasten 1-bys. Thinner nails will bend, and larger may split the wood. To attach trim and railings, get finishing nails with a small pitted head that can be nail-punched to disappear into the wood.
More expensive than nails, but easily removed if you plan to modify the deck in future, are self-tapping drywall-type screws. Install them with an electric screwdriver. Buy "All-Weather" deck screws of galva nized steel at a dime and up apiece or more costly versions made from rustproof alloys.
Major frame members are fastened with round-headed/square-shouldered carriage bolts hammered into the wood at one side of through-holes and tightened on the other side with washers and nuts or with lagscrews: hex-headed wood screws that arc racheted into pilot holes with a wrench. For 2x8s get 3" and longer threaded fasteners in diameter—also hot-dip-galvanized.
Foundation & Frame
Now, draw up a detailed plan for your foundation. frame, and planking. These directions are overbuilt by trade standards and your code may permit you to use smaller structural members.
A ground-level deck can rest directly on a concrete footing dug to below frost level. Support higher decks on wooden posts affixed to the footing. You can buy heavy precast footings or pour concrete into upside-down-mushroom shaped holes or into cylindrical cardboard Sona tubes. Easiest for the DIYer (if building code allows) is to dig ample holes and mortar 7 1/2" cubical concrete blocks to a few inches above ground level, then install wood-post legs on metal fittings affixed to the blocks to support the deck. Don't bury wood posts in soil or imbed them in concrete. And don't try building a high block-only foundation unless you have masonry experience.
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