Atlas No More
That's right, the weight of the world has been lifted from my shoulders. I have received some vert good news...
My deck has passed its final inspection. Pictures will be coming up shortly over the weekend.
Building a deck is an involved process... ask anyone who has ever built one, or helped others build one. My deck is special in several ways...
-It's a fair size, many hundreds of square feet.
-one side is irregularly shaped (read hexoganol)
-It needed cutouts for a hot tub, with 2' access panels on 2 sides
-It needed to go over (but allow access to) a set of concrete steps leading to the basement.
-It needed to be of the same height as the screened-in porch to allow for a door leading from porch to deck to be added next year.
That's alot of extras for someone who has never designed a deck before. But, it is now inspected, so, obviously, I am an expert and, as such, can freely grant advice.
Ed's Guide To Obsessive Compulsively Building A Deck
...Note, this is a 10 month course...
Step 1 : Research
Research starts with purchasing no less than 2 different books on deck construction and 3 books on deck design ideas. The books should be from different stores (at least one of which is a home improvement store). Extra points are given if several other friends also had purchased similar books.
Remember to read everything about decking from these books, including decking ideas that you would never, ever entertain in your own backyard. Understand that, as published media, books are out-of-date the nanosecond they are printed.
As such, all of this reading will just give you the terminology needed to do real research. Real research involves taking your book wisdom to the internet and reading every state's deck construction codes. Talk to homebuilders and other homeowner on internet forums. Look at pictures of decking from deck-builder websites. Get into arguments with people who do this for a living. When you actually win one such argument, you know you are ready to start construction.
Step 2 : Permits
There is just no question about it... If you are obsessive compulsive a permit is not an option. In the event that your deck explodes and takes your house, your neighborhood, and your car with it you need to say "but, this was inspected". To not have a permit is to live in constant fear that your neighbors will report you to the permit police. Or that Aunt Betsy will accidentally plummet to her death through inadequately supported decking slats. Perhaps, during a heavy rain the ledger board will tear away from the house with consequences too horrible to consider. Bonus points are given if you seek a permit and 80% of your deck is less than a foot off the ground.
Getting a permit involves writing a long letter to your deck inspector, outlinging your designs, saying how you want to build this safely, and asking if they would pass the deck as designed. Upon not hearing back from said faxed letter, call your building inspector and arrange to meet them in their office at 6am before they go out on rounds for the day. Go to their 3-foot-wide-desk-segment at 6am, show them the designs. They will look amazed, disgusted, and in a hurry. They will say "follow Baltimore County's Deck Guidelines and you will be fine. I gotta go". What they will mean is "you really care. I like you and will pass your deck when the time comes."
Get the permit and notice it requires two inspections: footers and the final deck.
Step 3 : Footers
Dig the footers out with a rented 2 man auger. Try and dig the first hole with just you and your wife. Get seriously hurt in the process. Try again the next day with your brother-in-law and a friend... get all the holes done in a day.
Spend the next 2 days manually tamping the bottoms of the footers flat, and smoothing the hole walls. Each footer must be 12" wide and 36" deep. Measure thrice. Get the footers to pass inspection.
Step 4 : Build the deck
Could get by with 4"x4" posts? Use 6"x6" posts. Bonus points for using them when the deck is less than a foot off the ground. Ledger board needs lag bolts every 18"? Put them in every 12". Why have 1 beam when you can use 3? Maximum joist spans for 2x8 listed as 16'? max them out at 10'. Joist spacing up to 18"? Put them 12" on center. Have your decking be 2x6 instead of 1x6 boards. Use screws not nails. Carriage bolt, then steel-plate your railings in place. Build steps where the deck is 20" off the ground.
Step 5 : The day before final inspection
Water the deck so the boards swell and go closer together. Touch up all stain. Clean everything around the deck. Position decking furniture decoratively. If the deck looks clean it has a greater chance of passing inspection. Post the permit outside for all to see.
Leave a small plate of cookies and a glass of milk for the inspector.
Step 6 : Pass the inspection
Get a call from the wife at 10am saying the deck has passed inspection. Celebrate. Write a blog entry. Take a sigh of relief that the inspector didn't see that one board that had a knot slightly larger than a half-inch in it, or that one board was missing a screw.
Step 7 : If you did things right, there is no step 7.
My deck has passed its final inspection. Pictures will be coming up shortly over the weekend.
Building a deck is an involved process... ask anyone who has ever built one, or helped others build one. My deck is special in several ways...
-It's a fair size, many hundreds of square feet.
-one side is irregularly shaped (read hexoganol)
-It needed cutouts for a hot tub, with 2' access panels on 2 sides
-It needed to go over (but allow access to) a set of concrete steps leading to the basement.
-It needed to be of the same height as the screened-in porch to allow for a door leading from porch to deck to be added next year.
That's alot of extras for someone who has never designed a deck before. But, it is now inspected, so, obviously, I am an expert and, as such, can freely grant advice.
...Note, this is a 10 month course...
Step 1 : Research
Research starts with purchasing no less than 2 different books on deck construction and 3 books on deck design ideas. The books should be from different stores (at least one of which is a home improvement store). Extra points are given if several other friends also had purchased similar books.
Remember to read everything about decking from these books, including decking ideas that you would never, ever entertain in your own backyard. Understand that, as published media, books are out-of-date the nanosecond they are printed.
As such, all of this reading will just give you the terminology needed to do real research. Real research involves taking your book wisdom to the internet and reading every state's deck construction codes. Talk to homebuilders and other homeowner on internet forums. Look at pictures of decking from deck-builder websites. Get into arguments with people who do this for a living. When you actually win one such argument, you know you are ready to start construction.
Step 2 : Permits
There is just no question about it... If you are obsessive compulsive a permit is not an option. In the event that your deck explodes and takes your house, your neighborhood, and your car with it you need to say "but, this was inspected". To not have a permit is to live in constant fear that your neighbors will report you to the permit police. Or that Aunt Betsy will accidentally plummet to her death through inadequately supported decking slats. Perhaps, during a heavy rain the ledger board will tear away from the house with consequences too horrible to consider. Bonus points are given if you seek a permit and 80% of your deck is less than a foot off the ground.
Getting a permit involves writing a long letter to your deck inspector, outlinging your designs, saying how you want to build this safely, and asking if they would pass the deck as designed. Upon not hearing back from said faxed letter, call your building inspector and arrange to meet them in their office at 6am before they go out on rounds for the day. Go to their 3-foot-wide-desk-segment at 6am, show them the designs. They will look amazed, disgusted, and in a hurry. They will say "follow Baltimore County's Deck Guidelines and you will be fine. I gotta go". What they will mean is "you really care. I like you and will pass your deck when the time comes."
Get the permit and notice it requires two inspections: footers and the final deck.
Step 3 : Footers
Dig the footers out with a rented 2 man auger. Try and dig the first hole with just you and your wife. Get seriously hurt in the process. Try again the next day with your brother-in-law and a friend... get all the holes done in a day.
Spend the next 2 days manually tamping the bottoms of the footers flat, and smoothing the hole walls. Each footer must be 12" wide and 36" deep. Measure thrice. Get the footers to pass inspection.
Step 4 : Build the deck
Could get by with 4"x4" posts? Use 6"x6" posts. Bonus points for using them when the deck is less than a foot off the ground. Ledger board needs lag bolts every 18"? Put them in every 12". Why have 1 beam when you can use 3? Maximum joist spans for 2x8 listed as 16'? max them out at 10'. Joist spacing up to 18"? Put them 12" on center. Have your decking be 2x6 instead of 1x6 boards. Use screws not nails. Carriage bolt, then steel-plate your railings in place. Build steps where the deck is 20" off the ground.
Step 5 : The day before final inspection
Water the deck so the boards swell and go closer together. Touch up all stain. Clean everything around the deck. Position decking furniture decoratively. If the deck looks clean it has a greater chance of passing inspection. Post the permit outside for all to see.
Leave a small plate of cookies and a glass of milk for the inspector.
Step 6 : Pass the inspection
Get a call from the wife at 10am saying the deck has passed inspection. Celebrate. Write a blog entry. Take a sigh of relief that the inspector didn't see that one board that had a knot slightly larger than a half-inch in it, or that one board was missing a screw.
Step 7 : If you did things right, there is no step 7.
posted by Ed at 2:46 PM
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