Many people want to transform their backyard into an outdoor living space by building a deck. It takes planning and skill to design a deck and complete all of the steps of deck building. This home improvement project is rated in the moderate to hard category. A deck building project can take from four to six days for the construction. Keep reading to learn how to design a deck, and how you go about building a deck as well.

How to Design a Deck

Your deck building project starts with the design. When building a deck, some homeowners choose from existing deck plans. However, it’s also easy to come up with your own design if you are building a straightforward deck (in a square or rectangle shape). When you design a deck, you need to take accurate measurements of the space available. You’ll also need to record the desired height of your deck, and start comparing deck building materials to develop your budget.

Selecting Deck Building Materials

As you design a deck, your deck plans will largely depend on the deck building materials that you choose. The most common materials are pressure treated lumber, redwood and cedar. Pressure treated lumber should always be used in the substructure, no matter what type of lumber you are using for the top of the design.

Developing Your Deck Plans

After choosing your materials, the next step in building a deck is planning out the substructure. The decking is the top layer of deck that you’ll be walking on. With pressure treated lumber you can use 5/4 x 6 decking or 2 inch decking. Your choice of deck building materials will then determine your joist spacing.

The joists are the horizontal beans that support your deck. For example, if you have two-inch thick redwood decking planks, you need to space the joists 16 inches apart. Your beams go beneath the joists and need to be determined by the joist spacing. Your beam spacing will determine the size of your joist lumber.

The Deck Building Process

As you design a deck and materialize your deck plans, you’ll want to follow a few general steps in the deck building process. After you’ve determined the right measurements for your decking, joists and beams, it’s time to prepare the ground. Remove the sod underneath the area where the deck will be placed. Mark where the outside corners of your deck plans with batter boards. Measure out the spacing for your support poles and dig your footing holes.

Before pouring your concrete, be sure to double check your measurements using taut strings and a level. Insert the posts into the footing and then allow the concrete a week to dry. After it has set, you can begin the actual deck building process. Attach your beams to the posts, based on your previous plans. Next are the joists, and then finally your deck building material.