Create Your Own Deck Plans – Expert advice from Bob Vila, the most trusted name in home improvement, home remodeling, home repairs and DIY. Tried, true, trusted home advice
9 Deck Plans to Expand Your Outdoor Living Space These deck plans and design tools allow you to create your own outdoor entertaining space.
Create Your Own Deck Plans
Adding a patio to your home may be the best way to maximize your outdoor space for entertaining, relaxing, playing, or just soaking up the sun. Whether you want to build your own deck or plan to hire a professional, finding wood deck design plans that match your vision for the space is key. These deck plans and design ideas can help give you the inspiration you need to start your outdoor project. Before construction begins, remember to keep deck safety best practices in mind. This may include checking that the work is approved or permitted as required and creating a solid foundation for the deck.
Custom Deck Options
TimberTech offers free deck building plans for use with its composite decking materials. A range of sizes are available, including smaller deck plans from 12 feet by 12 feet to 20 feet by 30 feet plans. Choose the plan that most closely matches your vision, and you’ll be able to customize your deck’s width, railing design, color, and more with the company’s online deck design software. Once you’ve arrived at a design you’re happy with, TimberTech can help turn your plan into reality.
If you are looking for backyard patio plans with steps, these building plans may be right for you. The plans include layout and framing details, a selection of railing styles, and other essential information you’ll need to build your own deck. Consult our guide to planning a wooden deck before building to make sure you don’t overlook important steps, such as making sure the deck blends well with your home, choosing the right materials and choosing the ideal color or paint.
Adding an entry deck to your above ground pool can make getting in and out much easier than using a ladder alone. These simple deck plans will guide you in building your own above ground deck and pool steps. A materials list, dimensions, and step-by-step instructions are included to help guide you through the building process.
Use these small deck plans to build your own elevated leisure deck with steps. A 10 x 12 foot deck offers a good solution for smaller yards and still provides plenty of space for outdoor dining and relaxing. Look over the plans to determine the materials and tools you’ll need, or turn them over to a professional deck builder and let them take care of it for you.
Simpson Strong Tie® Deck Planner Software™
You can hang out in the treetops with your own treehouse deck. These detailed deck plans come with a complete bill of materials, 3D images, photos, and videos to guide you through the necessary steps. The plans are written for use with two trees, but you can easily adapt them to work with additional trees or even just one tree.
Build your own deck with built-in benches using these butcher block bench deck plans. The round benches, which offer enough seating for entertaining, also double as a fence to keep small children from going over the edge of the deck. The plans will also guide you in building the steps to the back yard.
Fiberon offers a variety of deck layout designs, including this Fiberon Concordia deck plan. You can share your email to download spacious free deck plans, which seem appropriate to help you turn your deck into a destination. Then use the plans as a guide to build your patio using Fiberon eco-friendly composite decking materials. Fiberon wood plastic composite and polyvinyl chloride floors do not crack or rot like traditional wood floors.
Need deck ideas for your above ground pool? Check out these 14ft x 24ft pool deck building plans. The large terrace offers enough space to set up several deckchairs for relaxing by the pool. A gate is also included at the top of the stairs as an additional security measure to prevent unauthorized access to the pool area.
How To Produce A Deck Design Plan
Trex offers standard rectangular deck designs, along with beveled edge designs and facing designs, available in a range of sizes to fit a variety of home and yard layouts. Choose the composite floor plan and size that best suits your needs, then select your desired substructure, flooring color, and fence preferences to claim your free starter kit. Decking is the ultimate DIY backyard project for the homeowner. Creating this outdoor space takes effort, but our series of articles and videos will demonstrate deck building with step-by-step instructions from design to finishing touches. The first step is making a plan.
You can use our online Deck Design Tool to create deck plans, get cost estimates, create bill of materials and more. Keep these factors in mind: When planning the size, make sure you have enough room for your outdoor furniture and that you have enough space to move around. Also think about size in terms of flooring. Deck boards are usually 5-1/2 inches wide, so try to plan for a deck size that won’t leave narrow sections at the ends. Make your design so that the railings are away from windows and doors that can face outwards. If you don’t have time to learn how to become a deck builder, Lowe’s can install your deck, from consultation with a project specialist to installation by professional independent installers. You can even set up the installation through the Deck Design Tool.
One of the first steps in building a deck is deciding between a wood deck or a composite deck. Pressure-treated wood (top right) is a standard material because it withstands weather conditions. Most pressure-treated lumber is wet when it comes straight from the store, so you’ll need to let it dry before painting—usually six months. As an alternative, consider upgrading your floors and fences with composite decking (below right) and vinyl fences. Be sure to read our deck planning and material purchasing guide for details on the different options.
Good to Know Even if you plan to use composite decking for your decking project, you’ll typically build the underlying structure (joists, floor joists, edge joists, posts, etc.) from pressure-treated lumber.
How To Plan A Deck
For larger floors, you can place partition boards — also called pattern boards — in the middle of the floors. These floor boards run perpendicular to the rest of the floor covering, creating an attractive design. They also allow you to use shorter deck boards and can eliminate the need to join boards together to span the width of the deck. You can eliminate some of the required posts by attaching a main plate to your house, but this can cause problems later if not done correctly. This is a job that is usually best left to the professionals. Our terrace is freestanding, so it will not be attached to the house. A detached patio should not be more than an inch from the house.
Good to know Decking boards have a common (or nominal) thickness of 5/4 inch. Although you can think of this as 1-1/4 inches, the standard reference is 5/4 inches. Note that the actual thickness of 5/4 inch board is usually 1 inch. A common/nominal gauge of 5/4 inch indicates the thickness of the board before trimming, drying and planing at the sawmill. Actual measurements show final dimensions. You will see these measurement references when you buy dimensional lumber.
Once you have a solid plan, you can mark out the layout with wire and dough boards made from 2-foot furring strips and screws. See instructions for assembling dough boards and making and using them.
Place the dough boards outside the corners of the planned area. Tie strings to them marking the outside edges of the deck. Drive stakes as close to the house as possible and tie strings to them.
Deck Design Tool
Make sure the wires are close to level. The layout is square when the diagonal measures of the area are equal.
Adjust the wires if necessary. Mark them in their final positions so you can take them off and put them back in the right place.
Before marking for posts, remove sod if required by code. A sod cutter can make this job easier.
Post placement depends on joist size, local building codes, and your deck design. Measuring from the house, find posts with extra dough boards and stringers. Mark the positions of the posts on the strings.
Diy Floating Deck, Part 1: Planning And Layout • Ugly Duckling House
Color mark the locations of the post holes on the ground. You will use these locations to dig footers for posts.
Once you have the posts in place, mark the height of the deck and posts on the house. The deck should be below the door threshold to prevent water from entering the house. Measure the thickness of the floor covering plus the width of the joists and support beams. This marks the top of the posts. Mark a level line at this height along the house. Also mark the width of the deck on the house to make it easier to install the frame later. Caution Always follow manufacturer’s recommendations for fasteners and structural hardware.
The next stage
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