Deck Building, How to Plan Your Deck
Once you have decided on where to put your deck, what size you will build it, and what type of deck material you will use to build your new back yard deck, it’s time to figure your deck material.
This will include the deck posts, the ledger board, band joists, joists and joist hangers and other hardware, screws, nails and your deck boards and the lumber for you steps and railings.
To figure my deck package with everything I will need I use a deck design software that figures all my material, lumber, fasteners, railings, and steps plus it has over 70 deck designs to choose from. It’s easier to use and a lot faster than trying to put it all on paper.
With the help of the easy to use deck planning software you are able to insert a picture of the deck you are designing into the software and see what the deck will look like attached to your house.
This allows you to view different plans and designs to come up with the perfect deck for your home.
The software also allows you to view different step and railing designs. You can then decide to build them yourself or choose one from a deck railing manufacturer.
Deck Building Codes and Permits
You have your deck designed and your deck package all ready the next step is to get your building permit and to make sure your deck meets your city or county building codes.
Here are a some of the codes most jurisdictions enforce:
- A deck over 16″ high must be attached to the house.
- Deck stairs over 3 steps must have a hand rail.
- Deck railings must be at least42″ high.
- The deck rail spindles must be 4″ on center.
Safety
This is important, your life or the life of your helpers could be affected by not following these guidelines.
Always contact your building inspector to find out who to call to locate your underground utilities.
This includes:
- Water and sewer
- Gas
- electrical
- phone
- cable and internet services
Again, I can’t stress this enough. One phone call could save your life.
The gas, electrical, and the phone and cable tv are only buried according to code 18″ to 24″ deep. The water and sewer are from 4′ to 0ver 6′ deep.
This is what the code says but sometimes things are not a they should be.
So call before you dig!
Deck footings
These requirements will vary depending on the area you live in.
Footings should be dug below frost level plus 8″, 4″ of gravel added to the bottom of the footing hole and 4″ of concrete poured for a footing in 2′x2′ hole.
Another option for your footings is to bore hole below frost line and insert a 1′ dia. cardboard tube and fill with concrete, you would then attach a post bracket to the footing pier for the deck post.
One more option is to dig a hole large enough to fit a 2′x2′ square form built of 2×4s’ and make the hole 6″ to 8″ deep, fill the bottom with 3″ to 4″ of pea gravel and pour concrete to create footing pad to attach your post bracket to.
Hope this info helps,
Admin
In: Using Deck Design Software · Tagged with: Deck Design Software, Deck Plans