How to Build a Basic Deck - The Spruce Fundamentals Explained

1/ 8Build Better Stairs, Easy notched stair jacks are fine for interior stairs. They get nailed to wall studs for stability and are hidden as soon as the house is completed. Not so with deck stairs. Naked, notched treated-wood stair jacks are unsightly and wobbly. And since there isn't much meat to connect posts or pickets to, you'll have shaky handrails, too.

Including tough, strong 212 skirts to the outside jacks and stair risers does it all. If your deck railings are also triggering you tension, here's how to fix them. 2/ 8Seam a Deck, The traditional way most contractors set about constructing a deck is to randomly stagger joints. The result is that end-to-end deck boards share the 1-1/2-in.

That can trigger issues, specifically with wood decks. With only 3/4-in. of nailing surface area, fasteners will trigger ends to split. And considering that the board ends need to be tight, neglected wood will rot. Read More Here use a much faster, more material-efficient method we call seaming. It's simply strategically positioning a joint (or seams, on larger decks) and utilizing the very same length boards for each area.

The benefits are many. It's faster than random seaming; all decking ends have a complete 1-1/2-in. of framing, so it reduces fastener splits; and you can leave 1/4-in. spaces at the ends so end grain can dry after it gets damp. The vertical deck board is for looks just.

And there's virtually no waste. If we need to construct a 20-ft.-wide deck, we'll make it about 19-ft. 6-in. and utilize all 10-ft. decking on both halves. That enables one-inch overhangs and cutting off some bad ends. Seaming also works well for solid composite decking, which is available in fewer lengths.

lengths may be the only choices. For a 16-ft.-wide deck, I may seam it to have a 4 foot "walkway" down the middle for no waste. Naturally, everything depends on the design and the house owner. However think of it next time to find out the best method. Here's our guide for all things dealt with lumber.Family Handyman, Close-up of deck seam. If the video game has similar mechanics.