My deck building project

[roygoh]

Last summer I designed and built my own deck in my backyard, and my father who was visiting me at that time played a significant part in the building process.

Here is a series of pictures taken throughout the building process:

1. Preparing the site. The area that will be covered by the deck is marked out using wooden stakes and the grass in the area is cleared.

2. Beam structure. The beam structure is built with 4X6 pressure-treated wood supported on 19 pieces of cement pier blocks. The brackets connecting the beam to the pier blocks are height-adjustable so that the deck can be leveled easily. The joints in the beam structure are held together by 8-inch wood screws and L brackets.

3. Hanging joists. The joists are 2X6 pressure-treated wood that are hung between the beams using special brackets called "joist hangers". They run parallel to the back wall of the house and are spaced at 12-inch intervals.

4. Ground treatment. After all the joist are installed, a special fabric is laid on the ground surface that is under the deck. The fabric is water permeable and its purpose is to prevent weeds or grass to grow under the deck.

 

[roygoh]

5. Installing the decking. Decking refers to the top surface of the deck. I used 1/2*6 composite material for the decking. The material is a mixture of plastic and wood, and is supposedly maintenance free. Wood decking has to be sealed annually to protect it from rotting. I picked a 45 degree layout of the decking to enhance the appearance of the deck. There is a 1/4 inch gap between the strips to allow rain water and small particles to fall through. The decking is held onto the joists and beams with special decking screws. I think I used about 900 screws altogether for the decking. That is the most "siong" part in the entire project. Also notice the frame for the step in the middle providing a easier way to get from the deck to the grass.

6. Finishing touches. After all the decking has been installed the deck is now basically usable. The sides need to be covered by better looking face boards, the ground under the edge of the deck has to be covered with gravel, and a better stepping area has to be paved. This picture shows my father laying the cement slabs for the stepping area.

7. Final looks. Curious enough I did not take a picture of the finished deck from the same angle as the rest of the pictures above. But here's a picture that shows the added face boards, gravel and stepping area:

 

[roygoh]

A tribute to my dad, who enjoys DIY as much as I do, if not less, and who has been a great help in my deck building project.

Thanks for viewing!

Roy

 

[Jazer]

F W A H ..

what's too cool mate. imagine trying to to that kinda DIY work on a flat .. impossible .. Have to apply for this license that license permission .. blah blah blah . but in this instance u just DID IT .. cool cool

Lovely pics of your boy!

 

[kjmedora]

so cool..........

 

[roygoh]

F W A H ..

what's too cool mate. imagine trying to to that kinda DIY work on a flat .. impossible .. Have to apply for this license that license permission .. blah blah blah . but in this instance u just DID IT .. cool cool

Lovely pics of your boy!

Thanks!

Well I did have to send the plans to the home owners' association for approval before I could build.

Here are the plans I made using Visio:
http://roygoh.clubsnap.org/gallery/albums/album22/Deck_Plan_beams_and_pier_blocks.jpg
http://roygoh.clubsnap.org/gallery/albums/album22/Deck_Plan_beams_and_joists.jpg
http://roygoh.clubsnap.org/gallery/albums/album22/Deck_Plan_decking_and_face_board.jpg

For more pictures of my son Keven please check out the following threads:
http://forums.clubsnap.org/showthread.php?t=69180
http://forums.clubsnap.org/showthread.php?t=69232

Cheers!

Roy

 

[Stefen]

wah...i always dream about building a tree house....

i think it will remain a dream.. :cry:

 

[Bluestrike]

ok.. now we know who to look for ... when we need to build something.....

 

[hoppinghippo]

wow that's inspiring roy!! one qn: how did you source for the materials, they sound very specialised, not like your usual planks of wood and screws kind of thing. do you have DIY stores selling such specialised stuff or did you source from local industrial companies?

 

[Ansel]

This is the kind of life experience most Singaporean won't have a chance to go thru. Anything you want to build, call Puah Choo Kang lah! :bsmilie:

 

[roygoh]

wow that's inspiring roy!! one qn: how did you source for the materials, they sound very specialised, not like your usual planks of wood and screws kind of thing. do you have DIY stores selling such specialised stuff or did you source from local industrial companies?

I bought all the materials and tools from Home Depot (www.homedepot.com). They have everything related to home improvement that one can possibly imagine. The closest store to my place is only 15 minutes drive away, and they charge $50 for delivery. The material were delivered to my driveway a huge trailer truck and the delivery guy used a fork lift to transfer all the stuff from the truck to my driveway. Carrying all the wood, cement blocks and decking material from the front of my house to the backyard was probably the second most "siong" thing about the project.

Also, I read 2 books on deck design and building before I finally made the decision to build my own deck. All the materials have standard names and they are really not very complicated or difficult to understand.

All the preparation from research and design to material purchase took about 3 months, and the bulk of the construction took 1 week full-time (ending at the condition shown in photo #5). The finishing touches were done in the evenings and weekends which stretched another 3 weeks.

Spent about US$2600 for the materials and tools (miter saw, circular saw, drill, hammer, level, etc....). If I were to contract a professional company to build it it could easily cost me US$5000.

So far this is the biggest DIY project I have ever done in my whole life.

My father, being a DIY enthusiast for his whole life, was just so thrilled by the project and was very satisfied by the outcome. I am glad that we had such an experience to work on something this big together.

 

[hoppinghippo]

thanx for sharing Roy! yeah I can imagine how good it must feel to work on such a big thing tog with your dad, the immense satisfaction afterwards! Good job man!! Pity such convenience in material procurement is hard to come by in singapore. no market for DIY projects hence no supply, only way is to source from industry supplying companies which is a big hassle.

 

[zekai]

very nice... i was just thinking of doing some DIY this morning b4 i chanced upon this thread... pity in singapore, we dun normally keep all this type of tools. We dun have a DIY culture... missed my technical lesson from secondary school.

 

[roygoh]

very nice... i was just thinking of doing some DIY this morning b4 i chanced upon this thread... pity in singapore, we dun normally keep all this type of tools. We dun have a DIY culture... missed my technical lesson from secondary school.

Thanks. What kind of DIY projects are you thinking of?

 

[Clown]

great stuff man!
these activities really bring the family together.