If you were thinking about different ways in which you could add a lot of value and beauty to your home, building a deck is a great way to go. Not only does this attractive feature add a lot of value, but it’s also a very functional feature. Best of all, building a deck doesn’t cost a lot of money nor does it take a whole lot of skill. If you can follow a few great tips, you can easily build a deck on your property.
When you’re looking into purchasing lumber for your deck, you need to go for the pressure treated option. Some people want to save the extra few dollars by purchasing regular lumber, like pine, but the end result is a deck that starts to bend, chip and rot in only a few years, even with sealer and paint protecting it. Pressure treated lumber, on the other hand, can stand up to the elements and the everyday wear and tear of use.
If you’re simply trying to eye-ball your purchase, you’re always going to be wrong. Even trying to measure part of your deck and estimating the rest is going to leave you either purchasing too much wood or too little. What you have to do is measure the area of your yard the deck is going to take up, and then draw out a little blueprint and do the math. Figure out how much wood you need, and always buy a couple of extra boards just in case.
A square deck with possibly a few steps and some railing is as far as you should go with your design ideas. A lot of people like to complicate things by designing multi-level decks with benches, different railing heights, a lot of steps, etc. This is going to require a lot of lumber, a lot of hardware, and a whole lot of work. Just keep things simple and you should have no trouble at all building a great deck.
If you need help with your deck, your friends and family should be able to lend a hand. If you know people who can run a saw and hammer a nail, that’s pretty much all you need. After all, you’ll probably have them working on the labor end and not the construction end anyway.
Just because you’re not attempting to build a large deck doesn’t mean that you still won’t encounter problems with the town or county you live in. A lot of different regulations come into play every year, so make sure that you have the proper permits and ensure that your deck meets local building codes.
When you’re putting down the actual flooring of your deck, the side with the bark, or the side that is bowed, should be pointing up. This is for looks and for function. You don’t want a deck that’s dipped down like a spoon.
If you have a little bit of time to spare and a few hundred dollars, you can easily build a great deck on your property. Just make sure that you’re emphasizing safety and that you know what you’re doing before you build.
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