Yes, stainless steel is good no, but stainless steel does rust but it also will fall apart before the rust gives away but also I see on part of your deck not very much of it, but part of it has rubber membranes in between the choices so that your water will run off away from your house. You should’ve done that to the whole deck. The only reason why I say that is because otherwise the dirt that’s under your deck is just gonna run off, that ditch that it
Two tips I picked up the hard way, was I now always pilot drill holes for the ends of each board, because that's where splitting occurs either immediately or later down the road. Second is never set my spacing (either tight or with a gap) according to what I see at the raw, factory end of the board. I base it on a few inches in and let the end just sit where it is. This is because on the shelf, the exposed end grain dries faster and shrinks a tiny bit. It might be almost unmeasurable, like a 32nd of an inch, but after just a few boards that adds up to a quarter inch or more. It baffled me why the rows kept bending and needed re-straightening, until I learned to ignore the factory ends and set it according to the next joist in.
On the other hand, since “modern” screws have reversed-pitch annular spurs and under-head nibs that allow the screw(s) to self-countersink one can avoid drilling. The drilled hole with typical tapered ‘flat head’ screws acts more like driving a wedge through the wood increasingly splits in many cases. A cutting-thread deck screw or a nail severs the wood grain and does not ‘pry’ the lignin in the wood apart.
@@fishhuntadventure Correct, even though I predrilled all my holes, the regular flat head kept splitting my ends if I went to deep. Building a new deck now for a friend and will be using the DoubleLok screws in SS, #10. Also using a Drywall screw setter so the depth will be the same for all screws- Semi flush.
This deck cantilevers over the carrier beam by a few inches. A fairly easy solution to eliminate the need to adjust the spacing on the last few boards is to leave your joists uncut, and simply measure once you get to your last 1 or 2 deck boards. Then cut your joist to the appropriate length, add your rim joist and you'll have the perfect overhang need for fascia and overhang.
Some good comments April. I've built a few dozen decks over my life and might have some additional observations. Cedar IS pretty, and I've installed lots of redwood decks too, from con heart to VG clear. I'll never recommend one again. They are beautiful, but they DO decay, faster than you think. The nicer the wood, the worse I feel when it decays. I've gone to synthetic. I know, wood is renewable, but, of course has slivers for the bare feet, and nicer wood is less renewable. I HAVE used certain type of Ipe for recently for a deck. I pre drill the screw hols for that. Why use such? for fire retardant reasons. Turns out that certain species of Ipe, actually have a Class A fire rating. (west coast, we have fires). Secondly, yes, the old standard for spacing between boards was a sinker, (16 penny nail) which is probably a bit less than 3/16ths. I've done that, (terrible) to 3/8" better, to 1/2". I know, 1/2" is too wide for high heels. But the decks I build on my ranch, don't see high heels. I get a fair amount of rainfall, and anything closer than 5/16" swells up promotes rot. 3/8" doesn't swell up, but that spacing collects detritus, (small branches, needles, etc). I went to 1/2" about 10 years back, and that works the best for me. With a small blower, the deck cleans well and easily. Most needles drop right thru. I agree, stainless screws are very much better than non stainless. Of course with synthetic, (like Trex) I'd suggest torx composition as they are the best looking and much easier to drive than Phillips or even square drive. I agree about planning out the joists carefully. I try NOT to have seams come together on top of doubled up joists. Cause those seams always collect more debris, and thus rot. Putting tape on top of the joists is a good practice too. There are special tapes for such, but if you are wanting to be cheap, one can just cut heavy tar paper strips for the top and that will help considerably. (of course if money is not an object, I've seen some folks use copper strips which last and are antimicrobial anyway. Of course, each person has different ideas about beauty, and your deck is lovely too.
On a natural wood deck, do you think it's better to use hidden fasteners? Fastening from the top seems like it would open up more areas for decay in natural wood.
+1. Composite decking, while more expensive to buy initially, will hold up for decades and maintain its color with no maintenance. I use it exclusively now when I build outdoor furniture. It's pretty bulletproof.
I recently pulled off 35 year old deck boards and the circa 1988 joists were clean with no decay, in US climate zone 4, humid summers and 45-60” rain annually. No tape on those joists but probably a good idea with current pressure treated lumber.
I've watched you for quite a while, and am always amazed at your projects. Your attitude towards explaining how, why, and what's happening and what's going to happen. I also learn a lot about the little extras that you add, such as the tape, type of screws,and the plastic over the joist. Thank you for these amazing videos.
I never use spacers for decking. I measure the average (or max) width of the boards, add the gap I want and then work out how many I need to cover the width of the deck ending with a full board. Divide the width by the number of boards to give the theoretical board plus gap. Multiply that by five or six and mark (flick) lines on the joists. Lay those boards first and then fill in the gaps. This way you are always parallel and straight and you know exactly where you end up.
The deck is looking awesome, but for me, that extra-light board in the middle section would drive me crazy 😉 Will it darken over time to blend with the others?
I missed you putting what looks like some heavy mil plastic at one end before you put the boards down. Erosion control? Where there's a walkout door underneath going to another level I've put corrogated sheet metal underneath with a slight pitch. With a trough or gutter the water could be drained to one end or the other. Closed in with plexiglass panels for sliding windows, 4 seasons tile on the concrete slab and that's where hot tubbing happens all year round. But even the metal alone will keep it drier. In the case where somebody lets a pet out there instead of letting them outside through the front it will protect the poor innocent enjoying coffee sitting on the freshly refinished set of cedar furniture and cushions after somebody's daughter did a bad paint job with interior latex the previous year. The craziest variation was at a buddy's place I put up rope lights where when it rains on the above deck where there's no roof it looks like a neat water feature with lit up streams hitting the river rock. Now down to serious issues. How far is your drive off the tee?🏌♀⛳👍
I have been working on a deck and I am really enjoying this series! I love when you have a project series, they are always awesome! It looks beautiful!!
Installed many a deck in my time as a carpenter and one thing I always did was pre-drill holes in the end of every board because I found out it helped a lot in it not splitting when you put in the screws .... And especially in standard basic 5/4 treated decking boards ...... Otherwise great job you two.
Riley_1942 - Back then screws were bugle headed which caused most of the splitting. Todays screws are still bugle headed, but have a built in counter sink which doesn't always work, especially with the crap their calling lumber!
And that's ok if they don't or use other material. I have always done tutorial videos, building what I want or need, bringing a camera along to show what I did, what I used and why. I don't expect everyone to build my projects but if they chose to, show them step by step how. Many of my Viewers aren't builders at all but watch for the entertainment factor, to see what I'm up to next. Some use knowledge they learn from a video, to apply to other projects they're doing. It's all good. Thanks for watching.
I split up my 30' long deck with the triple beam breaks 30 years ago. I pre-drilled every nail hole to avoid checking later. Deck screw like the ones you're using weren't available back then. Nice job on your end. Why is there plastic under that one section?
I noticed that many new decks do not have spacing between the boards. Our contractor insisted on installing our new deck boards this way and I hate it! There is no where for water, ice, slush, snow etc to go so it was an icy, slippery mess all winter. The edge of the boards are rounded, which means there is a nice groove to collect all the dirt and debris which is almost impossible to sweep out. All in all I highly recommend using a spacer for deck boards.
Nice! Your seam looks great! I just finished a 32x16 deck and only wish I had seen this first! A very good instructional video with tons of pointers! I just bought a Crescent speed square and the orange extension is very nice! Thanks for your great videos April. BTW…. The Texas hill country view is phenomenal from your deck! 😊.
Hey April! All of your videos are just amazing ! Building a deck myself and using alot of your tips thank you for posting! Quick question - what size of screw are you using with your 2x6 deck boards? #10 3.5in SS? I am also using 2x6 decking Thanks!
The previous owner just totally mucked up my deck board install. Clearly, he didn’t use any carpentry knowledge and there are bowed boards everywhere. Now I’m in the process of trying to bore out old 30 year old screws. What should be an easy process is now a nightmare. My goal was to reinstall the existing deck, but clearly, if I’m having to bore out old screws, my project just got more expensive for a 25 x 18 deck.
She did a video about it around 8 months ago. I don't think I can post links, so I will just give you the title to search on her channel. Just search: April Wilkerson Best Portable Chair Ever Easy to Build | Easy to Store
Holy cow that's a big deck. I never built a deck before and just finished a small walkway deck for the 1st time. Used oil stain. I imagine if I planned I could do a bigger deck.
Wish i could afford western red cedar, but in southern california, all cedar providers are quoting $75 for a 16ft board. Yeesh. So going with redwoood which I guess is more locally available cuz it's only $29 a board.
Nice spacers...pretty handy stuff, but a carpenter's pencil works great at roughly 3/8 of an inch. Less time setting up, placing and removing all this spacers = time $aved. Paut a wrap or 3 of electrical tape an inch from the end to keep it from falling through the deck
with the 2nd part, would not have put that piece of lumber in yet at the other side so you can bump them in, and all cut at once at where you want it, then put that piece in. works a lot easier.
Question: In another deck video you used ring shank *nails* instead of screws to secure the deck boards... Which one do you think is best and why? (Pros/cons, etc.)
Just my opinion, when you don't do hidden fastener system, at least make sure your screws go on a straight line. A deck with wobbly screws look so rushed...
I did the same seam on my deck, however, if you don't have a space between the "sister cleat" and the joist, it creates a place for water to pool up and seep into the decking - particularly on the end grain where it is the most vulnerable. I decided to add 3 washers as separators between the joist and sister cleats to get that 3/8 gap. I used bolts through the washers to join the joist and sister cleats so water could drain out immediately and not pool at the ends of the decking. Remember to put joist tape on the sister cleats as well! I always enjoy your videos April!
I don’t know if this will effect how the deck I’m planning to build will look 😅 but I love your boots! Please tell me where you got them, are they docs?
Aim to have a straight fastener pattern and screws set flush to the top of the surface . Avoid opening the grain if possible leads to rot. Great work. WRC STK is nice material to work with.
@@scottsatterthwaite4073 there are fasteners on the market that allow for a side mount to avoid face screws. She may have to mill a grove on each side to receive them. But April has a table saw and a router that can do that in minutes. Or even better, use angle brackets and short screws to mount the deck boards from underneath…easy peazy, and no milling required. And I’d def pre-drill cedar.
@@Cooldaddio2 I thought you might be thinking along those lines. I don't recommend using that type of fastener on real wood of any kind. They work well on composite decking because it is relatively stable and won't cup. Some composites are made with the hidden fasteners in mind. Wood is not. Not only are hidden fasteners four times more expensive, it takes two or three times to install them on real wood. They also allow a lot of movement as the wood cures and dries, allowing the deck boards to slide along their length. Just my .02 cents as a deck builder and contractor.
Interesting, colorful intro for this series. Very artistic. I would love to resurface our existing deck with your water capture system but we have perpendicular braces across the span to keep the boards from twisting and warping. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Wishing you and your family a blessed week filled with gentle seasonally appropriate weather and restful evenings. Peace April
love a good diy. I just wanted to mention your long joists being notched like that makes them essentially 2x8s. might want to lay a ledger board under them or maybe joist hangers. keep up the good work!
My area requires hurricane ties for each joist, blocking in-between all the joists and sometimes angled bracing depending on the size of the deck. I would also have to bring up the old section of the deck to current code since im adding on to it.
Looks good. Could’ve saved some long boards by running them just long enough for your circle cut. Also I stopped putting a beam under the deck years ago and now incorporate the beam to the outside edge of the deck and put the joist on hangers. It just looks better imo.
Great Deck build, only rec I have is, splurge a little and buy the deck screw gun that allows you to standup the whole time. $500 for shortening your job ~6-7hrs and priceless for saving backs and knees. Plus you can resell for $350 no problem. Great build, looks like it will last a lifetime.
When you sistered the cedar board to the 2x to make the seam, how did you make sure the deck boards on both sides of the seam had enough 2x to get screwed down?
the one overly white board on the middle section... i would have returned it :P Im not ocd... but man even that had my arm itching while looking at it.
Jake is one of my Employees and my Employees are not just friends but like my family. I have a great Team and make they know they are appreciated. Thanks for watching.
real nice build. simple, intelligent, attractive. Love the long decking and the seam.. and of course the WRC. video really well done too.. good flow, well shot. educational but dosnt drag. I didnt fast forward anything.
Try reversing the deck boards starting at the end and setting the overhang you want. Set up control lines in blue caulk at two foot to make it easy to layout. I also like to picture frame the deck boards so you don’t have end grain. I also live in the heart of the red wood district on the west coast, red wood is cheaper than cedar. The wood is wet and will shrink in place. I also found ripping the board next to house can be scripted to match the house. Most homes are not perfectly straight.
@@OldsmobileCutlass1969Va I do exactly that because my free-handing is so mediocre. But the intent of my comment was not to seek advice, but to compliment April on her saw skills.
Why don't you use spax terrassenschrauben? 5.5x80mm? Use 1. Gear of your driller.and the screw head flush to the deck board .👍🇩🇪 screw lenght is 2.5x boardthickness!!
The flips and cartwheels were awesome! Love to see the celebrations and shenanigans like that, especially mixed in with such a helpful and well thought out and executed process.
I'm in Australia where a WRC deck would be ridiculously expensive but even if money was no object I would have thought cedar is too soft for decking boards? I've got lots of cedar weather boards and joinery so have some experience working with it. Down here most decks are built with 90mm * 19mm (3 1/2"*3/4") or 135mm*25mm Merbau, Spotted Gum, or Iron Bark. They're all durable hardwoods which must be predrilled with a countersink bit. I was surprised by no pre drilling so thought maybe that's a thing with cedar?
When you were cutting the ends of the deck boards off, i noticed the grain of the wood was all different - some bark side up, some bark side down. Isnt the best practice to do bark side down, crown? So they dont cup? So you put them "smiley face up"? About to do a deck. Would love your take.
Where in the world do you buy your lumber? Pro wood? Home Depot doesn’t even come close to this accuracy or straightness. With the seem joist, did you have to trim the ends of each deck board for accurate length? Again, your materials are bar none awesome.
Thanks for another helpful video . What kind of knee pads are those? I have a hard time keeping my knee pads up, really like the straps on those . Thanks !
I have flipped over my ten-year-old pressure-treated boards and am starting again with the non stained side up and now need to know if I should put a 1/8 gap in between all the boards before I screw them down. I've heard that I should do that to allow for movement. The trouble is I don't want to put a space between because those gaps tend to fill up with all of the tree stuff that's surrounding the deck. Is it necessary to put the 1/8 Gap between the boards? Thank you so much for your advice.
I was with you until you cut the beautiful decking for the pool! Say it ain't so! I hope you're not going to be littering that beautiful countyside with hundreds or thousands of golf balls.
I would not litter. I hit the golf balls till the bucket is empty then walk down with a shag bag to pick them up. They land by my Shop and Raised Garden so pick up in no time. I love the look of the pool in my deck. Thanks for watching.
this looks awsome. im doing a deck now, this morning ill be laying deck boards. i was shocked to see you say red cedar. how beautiful that is gonna be!!! those are some pricey deck boards tho lol
So I'm curious...why didn't you use the Camo SS Edge decking screw to hide the screws and keep moisture out of the fastener hole? And why only rain gutter that small section of decking vs make all of it dry underneath?
Awesome video! I do have a question. That Redwood cider for your decking boards is NOT pressure treated? I know regular pine pressured treat wood dose SRINK as it dries out leaving a bigger gap between decking boards then you may have wanted which would affect the not staggering seam that you did on your deck. Peace
I started redoing my deck last summer and still haven't finished, I need 7 more boards and I'm done, when you get older you have to pace yourself, worst part about redoing a deck is getting all the old boards up, and all the bending you have to do
