New 8'x16' Front Deck

[craigtone]

So we face East and the sun beats on the rear deck at night. I decided to replace out rickety front steps with a new 8'x16' floating platform. It turned out great and cost less than $1000 all said and done. I thought I'd share and look forward to being more active on this board I just stumbled upon this evening.

[DaveyB]

Nice looking job! Congratulations!

For the benefit of those that might like to do something similar, could you share what materials you used, how you put it together, how long it took, any particular problems you faced, etc?

DaveyB

[craigtone]

Thanks! It turned out great and we are very happy with it!

For materials, I used 4"x4" posts, 7 total. The rear 3 are on the concrete pad, the two on one front corner are on pavers that the old steps used as a landing and the other 2 I used the concrete post footings you find at Home Depot, etc. The frame is 2"x8" (picture below to show substructure. I sized it 16' x 8' so I did not have to cut the 5/4"x6" deck boards or the framing members. Railing is 2"x4" with a 5/4"x6" cap and standard "rungs".

For pointers, don't trust the house being level ... level the frame itself and also measure across corners to get it square. Use deck screws as spacers between decking boards to allow a slight gap for expansion/contraction. Use two 2"x4" pieces about 6" long laying flat to space the rungs in the railing.

It took me 2 days to get what is in the above picture. Granted I lost 1/2 a day due to rain, and did most of it myself with the exception of help from my wife to hold the frame structure up while I screwed it to the posts. I really don't think I would change anything at this point. The only thing I don't like is you can see under it, so I may build-up a 12" tall flowerbed across the entire front of the house and around the deck to hide the skirting and deck.

Now the wife wants me to replace the rickety old stairs at the back door! Nothing special there, just a set of stairs. We already have a rear deck out the dining room slider.

[Greg]

Hi & welcome. Not sure where you live, but you were smart enough drop the deck level below the door. Around here we have snow. People that make the deck the same level as the door wonder why they can't keep storm doors, When you open a door after a foot of snow it turns into a snowplow on hinges.

Greg

[craigtone]

I live in Holland, MI where we get "lake effect" snow ... so yes ... I know ALL too well about snow!

[Greg]

Lake effect, something you have see to believe. Know it all too well.

Greg

[joedirt63]

looks good, love to see nice new straight construction, something unheard of in mobile homes. bet that first step is a killer lol lol.