Once the stringer attachment to the house structure is made, the rest of the deck can be framed out. I used pressure treated 2 x 10 for the stringers and for the support joist. This is a little bit of overkill, the longest length is 13 feet 4 inches. The span between the stringer and the support joist is 8 feet.

First, I need to give Jay mad props for supplying a lot of the deck hardware and 2 x 8 joists. Jay had a 4 year old deck on the back of his house that was not built right. He replaced the whole thing this year with a screened in porch, which came out very nice indeed. The net result of that is I was given some good building materials including 2 x 8 x 14 foot pressure treated joists, screws and joist hangers for nothing, so thank you Jay! In fact, the only framing lumber I needed to buy was the 2 x 10 x 14 foot stringers and support joists.

I got this far by about 5 pm yesterday afternoon, but had to stop to cook dinner.

I spaced the 2 x 8 joists 16 inches on center. I will be using 1 x 6 inch pressure treated wood deck planks for the deck surface. I looked into the composite materials, and I was not all that impressed with the price and quality. I think the wood decking will do just fine. I used galvanized steel joist hangers and stainless steel square drive screws to frame out the deck.

When screwing in the joist hangers, the screws go into the joists at an angle, so they go through the joist an into the stringer. I have seen people screw them straight into the side of the joist, so that the joist hanger is supporting all the weight of the joist. This is wrong, joist hangers are not designed to support all of that weight.

Since there is a good bit of used lumber in this deck frame, I am going to throughly water proof it before I put the decking on. Once the decking is attached, I will not have access to the underside anymore. I think 2 to 3 gallons of Thompson’s Water Seal should do the trick.

The angle cuts came out better than I thought they would. I used 45 degree angle joist supports, which were a little pricey.

Now that the framing is done, the inspector needs to come by and have a look. Once I get the go ahead from him, I will attach the decking and railing.

More in Part III.

Popularity: 4% [?]