Building A Ground Level DECK - (Part 1)

The biggest decision I had to make here was finding the perfect location for the terrace. The size of this backyard is about 80 feet by 35 feet and a

deck

measures about 16 feet by 12. The plan here is to place this in the center of the patio. and I have to remove the fire pit that is in that place and also the bench. Now there are a couple of ways you can prepare the area: you can clear the grass that is here or you can just kill it using some type of herbicide, but I'm going to take a different approach here.

I will leave the grass as is and then place the weed barrier on top of the grass and that should kill and prevent the grass from growing when things can go my way. I like super clean and modern design so I wanted this

deck

to have no joints on the top and of course that comes at a cost, the materials have to be longer and of course that introduced a lot more weight and It was good to have it. a friend of mine to give me a hand. There is a lot of prep work that goes into these projects, so let's start by cutting these boards to size to speed up the workflow.

Here I set up a quick and easy miter saw station that would allow me to make repeatable cuts, which should make this process a little more efficient to give me better vision. We start by placing a platform frame until it is similar to the platform. I used three inch deck screws, but you can also use joist brackets, which is probably a better option, but in this case, once everything is assembled and locked, this thing will be solid, the final deck product will have a little angle, but inside that angle there will be a rectangle, so I'm going to use one of the beams to properly space this end of the rectangle and now I'll add some of the beams at this point, the deck frame is complete now I'll use a Trex deck on top of this structure and since Trek is a composite material, there is a minimum requirement of 16 inches on center once the deck is raised.

I will go back and add the remaining beam boards this way I can meet the minimum requirement and like I did with the frame I added three screws per beam on each side, this is the first time I have built a deck or any structure of this size, so my approach may or may not be different than anyone else's. I thought this way it might have been easier by just

building

the frame and then attaching them to the pole and since the plan is to lift it I don't want to add too many beams which will make it a little heavy to lift so this

part

is considerably important.

I put the deck in the spot I wanted and then took some marking spray and then sprayed water one on each post, then we moved the deck from that spot and dug the hole for each post. I am located in Florida which is a warm climate so we do not experience any frost issues, however if living in a cold climate is something you will have to deal with another thing to think about is if you have a system of sprinklers you may want to run it just to make sure you don't have one on the deck location.

My average post was around 15 and 24 inches deep in case you reroute it or just cover it up. I also added some gravel into the hole for drainage. Now I thought it was easier to move the structure and then dig the hole, however, you can leave it. structure in place and dig the hole around the location where the post will go after dragging the structure back into place. We didn't put it in a 4x4. Doing this will make the job a little easier. Feel like working alone now that the yard has a bit of a slope that allowed water to run from the house to the property line with that in mind I reference everything from the front side of the deck before adding screws.

I used clamps to attach the frame to the post I started on. A corner and I worked my way around the platform until I

level

ed it. I spent a lot of time trying to make sure this was correct and even though I got it

level

I still felt unsafe because the fence was tilted from the previous hurricane and also the

ground

had a slope so my eyes were playing tricks on me. passed and couldn't tell if the platform was level or not, although it showed that it was straight on level, I still had to retreat. my laser and that's when I decided it was level and although I didn't show it here I constantly check for squareness throughout this entire process and the way I did it is by measuring diagonally across the deck in the rectangular section if measured in both directions and get the same number, this means the deck is square, if it is out of square you may only have to push one corner in or out after leveling the deck and squaring it with the four posts of the corners.

I then went on to add the posts on the inside, now note that all the corner posts are still clamped and no screws at this point. I'm thinking that since the platform is in its location, I'll try to add stability by working from the inside out at this point, the platform is pretty stable. I saw a concrete mix and poured it on each post when night came. I took the level out again just to make sure everything was still on point. Everything was still in technology. It looked like I was ready to start adding the remaining beams to speed up the hanging process and make things a little easier.

I took a piece of wood and marked a spot where the beams will sit. You can also see that I'm using a piece of 2x4 to set the spacing as well this way I don't have to measure everything and although I had help for a good portion of this project I'm so used to working alone that I made these quick two by four. jigs that allow me to hold the beams in place while I screw them. I repeated the same thing over and over until all the beams were in place, so this is Mario, who helped me with a lot of the heavy lifting on his project. and as far as I know he never built anything so I gave him a simple task: build this depth into the deck, once the frame was built we checked it was square before adding two additional

part

s.

I filled a post with the soil that was removed from the Then I compacted the soil inside the holes using a piece of wood. Now I need to prepare the area as a first step and to make sure I don't do more or less work than I actually need, I use the marking spray to mark the holes. area and with the garden on an e slope to remove the section of grass and some of the dirt here just to be able to level the step now everyone works a little differently a lot of this could have been done all at once so when you pour the cement, everything is done in a single session.

Whenever I can simplify the process, that's what I'm looking for, so trying to work on the entire platform at once I felt like it would be too much to think about, so I built this. in pieces that would allow me to focus on one thing at a time, the back of the step will be attached to the platform but the front will be supported by two posts so the step sits properly, it took a little time but we needed to make sure In order for it to have the ability to sit upright and level, I secured the back of the step to the platform and then attached the front to the two posts before adding two posts.

I filled the holes with drainage rocks since I need to do something. additional work to do throughout the day. I'll save the cement pore for the end of the day this way I won't bother you after it's poured. I could have kept it simple and designed a large rectangle with a simple step to I wanted something a little cooler to make this connection here. I use a six degree angle here and then I use a piece of wood underneath to hold it up while I support it and do all the prep work while you see what I'm doing here.

Basically I'm using a clamp to force the wood to bend so it can cooperate because the angled face board is cut at an angle, all those smaller beam boards are also cut at exactly the same angle allowing them to fit together perfectly , not only the angled face is attached to the joists but it is also secured to the first step and I don't make it secured to the joists from the front but I also secured it from the inside. This part was a little difficult to remove, but Visually I don't think you can tell the difference, but if you want to be even more precise you can use a string before securing this.

That way you can make adjustments to a section of the rope. This wood is not straight. For starters, once I relate the deck board, you won't even notice it now on the other end. I wanted to add a little extra support to compensate for the hanging corner. The goal here is for this refresh to not be visible when you're standing looking back at the deck now that you're working with wood, it's forever changing, there's not much you can do there if you notice I have rope wrapped around this section, you can see a little gap here, so what?

What I'm going to do is take a set of clamps and force them in then add some bridging between them and this should help with the curvature you see and a sure way to take two moves off the individual beam is by adding the bridging along of the platform to finish the suspended end. I use a hand saw to cut Caryn's thing to angle it all the way when I'm working on projects, there are times when I get stumped on how I should approach something so I move on to doing something else and during that time it's usually Something happens to me for this situation.

I simply added a piece of wood that extends that board all the way to the end using some wood glue and screws. now I need to cut this flush to match the side of the deck for this application. I think a hand saw works great at this point, the deck structure is complete, all you have to do is add cement to the posts for the step, so correct. Now that we have the deck completely finished, the next thing we want to do is tape the beam and what that will do is protect it not only from writing, but it will also help extend the life of the beam and the beam itself before.

I apply the deck tape. I made sure to send the top of the frame down and then cleaned up the sawdust so that nothing would stop the tape from sticking. Now I have to say that this has to be the stickiest tape I have ever worked with before. I don't think there's anything stopping this from sticking to the wood. Applying the tape is as simple as possible and thus, deck tape is a thing of the past. I have tried several weed barriers and many of them let me. down allowing the weeds to pass through, in this case I will use a commercial quality weed barrier and I am not sure yet what result you will get with it, but I hope this one holds up.

I removed enough weed barrier to get within food distance of the platform. This isn't entirely necessary, but I started by stapling the weed barrier to the deck. My first intention was to close the bottom so that no wasps can build a nest underneath or rodents can make it a home. I left that idea behind because I didn't want to restrict airflow from under the deck. It's a simple matter of simply pressing a pin through the fabric and into the

ground

. Stay tuned for the second part. I will be finishing up a deck by adding the deck boards, fascia boards and also lighting it.