I built a deck at our farm house in Manitoba this summer, it was only 12 X 16 made out of pressure treated wood, took me about 4 days to do this. Next year we plan on continuing this deck around the front of the house, that will make it 24 X 32.
I figured that the wood will be better for me. I looked at the composite wood products and found that they were a little pricey for me.
I love Choice deck. It is a good bit less depending on how big or small of a deck your going for. I helped my friend build his deck and it wasn't very slippery when wet either. I love it. My wife and I are closing on our house Monday and i'm going to use it on my back deck as soon as we close.
I am putting the finishing touches on mine right now. I had a TON of fun building it although it did take a bit longer due to a lot of engagements this summer. I built mine out of cedar and I am 100% happy with using wood and not composite.
Just remember: Trex has become sort of the "kleenex" of the composite decking industry - some people think Trex is a type of building material but it's not - it's just a brand of composite decking. For every good trex review there is - there's a bad one, don't be afraid to compare brands. I had mine narrowed down to Correckdeck CX composite or Cedar - I just liked the way the cedar looked better.
What did it for me is that most composite is made to look like wood but it's so obviously not wood.
Cool, man! Yeah I'll definitely do a lot of research before I do build one. I'll probably do a build thread of sorts on here as well when I do it. However, as I said before, I don't get out of the corps until 2013 - so unfortunately it won't be until then!
Please do post some pics of your deck - maybe some progress pics, too if you've got them!
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Save yourself hell and hire someone if it is a large deck. Otherwise the hardest/most annoying part is the math and digging the post holes. You can usually rent a post hole digger but if your soil is rocky then I say higher it out. Also it is not fun if it is a second story deck.
If you have any intention of someday adding a hot-tub to your deck, be sure to check out your town/city/county building codes. Here in VA they were pretty particular about the design since "someone may want to put a hot-tub in someday". It wasn't a big deal for me as I tend to over-engineer everything I build...but definitely check your building codes.
Save yourself hell and hire someone if it is a large deck. Otherwise the hardest/most annoying part is the math and digging the post holes. You can usually rent a post hole digger but if your soil is rocky then I say higher it out. Also it is not fun if it is a second story deck.
Yeah, it'll really depend on the size of my house/backyard and what options I'll have - only then will I decide if I'm going to tackle it. I'm a typical guy, though, and will usually grunt and cuss my way through things just to say that I built it myself.
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Originally Posted by vtfan99
If you have any intention of someday adding a hot-tub to your deck, be sure to check out your town/city/county building codes. Here in VA they were pretty particular about the design since "someone may want to put a hot-tub in someday". It wasn't a big deal for me as I tend to over-engineer everything I build...but definitely check your building codes.
Roger - I'll definitely do that.
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Use pressure treated for the structural members. For the top you have options. If it's just above ground I'd use a typical 5/4 x 4 or 6 and that can come in cedar decking wood or trex as some pointed out. The trex though will run ya around $40 a board and depending on the size can add up.
The upside to trex is that it lasts a hella long time. The downside is the cost and that it is also more impressionable in terms of scrapes and marks and stuff. Also it will fade in direct sunlight. Downside which applies to just about anything in moisture environments is that you've got to maintain it still by washing it after winter as it can get slippery.
If you are building a deck on the second story and wish to use the space underneath your deck you can use a 3/4 t&g plywood and go the Gaco route. This will create a deck that doesn't leak through and has a gutter system to route run off.
I guess I'm just going to have to wait until I actually buy the house to decide. The only thing I'm really certain of is that, if there's not already one, I'm definitely going to build one. In fact, even if there was one, unless it's pretty new, I'm most likely going to tear it down and build one of my own anyways.
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