How to Build a deck- DIY Style -in 3 days Step by step Beginners guide

Sometimes you just need a deck. So, we're going to walk you through step by step how to build your own deck and do it in just three days. And a big thanks goes to Makita Tools for helping us put this video together. So, let's get started. We're going to go from this to this by the time this video is done. So, now would be a good time to subscribe. Houses and decks for me for years. He knows more tricks of the trade than anybody I've ever met. So Frankie, you think you can actually build a deck by yourself in just three days? Well, if I slow down. The first step to building a deck is to figure out what you need. So if you don't have a Frankie that knows a material list just off the top of his head, you hopefully have a Menards, a Home Depot, or a Lowe's. So let's go there now. So when you're trying to figure out your materials list, you can go to Menard's, enter your deck dimensions, and it'll tell you everything that you need to complete your project. Here's a Fast Frankie fact for you. When you're trying to pick out which screws are right for your deck, you use the rule of two. If your wood is an inch and a half thick, you get a three-inch screw. Not every deck is going to need footings, and there's a variety of options available to you guys. The most important thing you can do is check your local codes to find out what you need. But in the meantime, here's a helpful tip. A lot of times you see post slide off their footings after a few years. We uh drill a hole in the center of the 6x6s, place them onto the rebar. They don't go nowhere. So Frankie says he can build a deck in 3 days if he goes slow. Let's see how he does without this. This is Frankie's favorite drill. You know, I think we could take it one step further. We just got to move this out of the way to make room for this. The ledger board has to be attached to the house using a 5 in lag bolt. This is a beefy piece of hardware. To do that, you're going to want something that can handle more torque. Frankie, you got an impact driver in one hand, right? Right. And you've got a hammer drill in the other hand. Correct. Either one of those will be able to handle the amount of torque that you've got to give because you're driving that ledger board which attaches the entire deck to the house into the rim joist of the structure. Is that right? Correct. When you get to this point, guys, you may want to pre-drill your holes. The reason you want to pre-drill the holes is you don't want to split that wood. And also, I pre-drilled these holes because there was stuckle on the house cuz I had to use a concrete bit to go through the stuckle. The ledger board attaches to the house. But here's something a step that most people miss. They leave this space and it doesn't look like that big of a deal, but what happens is water comes down here, hits this board and goes behind the board and it can't breathe, right? And it will rot easier. Right where the deck meets the house, that space needs to be cocked or flashed or both. What are you at? 16 in on center, Frankie? Yep. Check your local codes and ordinances to find out how wide your joists have to be. Frankie uses a pneumatic air gun to tack the joist to the ledger board prior to the rim joist hangers being installed. That way he knows he's got them in the right spot and he can simply put the rim joist hangers up and he's done. The joist hanger is what holds the deck framing in place. First, you must connect the joist hanger to the ledger board. And then in this step, he's screwing through the joist hanger, through the joist, and into the ledger board for a solid connection. Now, you use a torque head bit. To me, they don't strip out as fast or as easy, and they they bite better. I believe they do. I think Frankie likes working by himself more than he likes working with other people. I do. I got no one to yell at. Instead of face nailing the board, he actually notches out the post. That way the board sits directly on top of it. We're going to demonstrate how to notch out these 6x6 posts so you can do it on your own. He's marking the area that gets cut out. That way he can follow the lines. Okay. You notice how he stops there, rotates it. The part that gets removed so it can go all the way through. Now he's going to have to stop short on this one. Boom. Can't remove it yet. So, because he couldn't use this circular saw to cut all the way through, he pulls out the reciprocating saw to make it cut. For guys that love their tools that I want to point out, this Makita has a dustless system. It contains a integrated vacuum that'll hook up to a separate container. The unit itself slides on the rods instead of the rods sliding back and forth, meaning that you can put this uptight to a wall and save some space while you're working. The outside framework of the deck always gets doubled up, but Frankie has a special way of doing that. Okay. All I do is flush your end. So, we only got to make one cut. So, we're looking at the corner and do you see how he's got this crisscrossed in, out, in, out. That gives it a lot of extra strength. Joyce should have one the crowns one way. The crown up, right? Yep. So, Frankie is trying to explain it to me what a crown is. Like a banana with the with the arch of the banana. You always put the crowns up on your structure. So now that it's double framed, the entire thing gets attached to the post using 5 and 1/2 in anchor screws. So he's now attaching the double framing into the post below it. As you can see, that impact makes it just like silk going in there. Silky. Like I said, I've never used an impact before until uh I start using this one. And like I say, I would definitely uh invest in a impact instead of using a drill to put them in. There's no comparison, is there? No, none at all. Hey Frankie, you missing something? Yeah, my drill. Here it is. Wow. Have fun with that. It worked. Yeah, it is. That's You just pulled that out of the ice. Yep. What' you think? Let it untaw a little while, but 30 minutes ago. Yeah, at the most. Now that the general frame is up, it's time to put the deck down and install the railing. The ends of your boards never hang in the air. They always end on a joist. So, if the boards are dry, when you space out your boards, use the width of a pencil as a rule of thumb. If the boards are wet, you want to narrow that up because as the boards dry, they'll shrink. Now, as good as Frankie is at making cuts, he also likes to design decks that he has to make the least amount of cuts possible. In this case, I want you to zoom in. What he's doing is to get one single line. He's drawn all a straight line across all the tails and he's going to cut them off all at once. [Music] Once you determine whatever your hand railing height is going to be from the notch up, measure an inch short of the of the full height of the handrailing because of your handrailing going on top of the post. [Music] So, we've secured one of the two screws. The next step is to put a level on it so that the post is in the right position. Caleb, what do you have in your hand? 3-in block. I use it to space in between the spindles to get a precise measurement every time. And then you don't have to actually pull out a tape measure. Now, one of the things I want to point out is Frankie's end post is actually set in an inch and a half right there. That width matches the width of the support post for his handrail. Frankie is getting the top rail put in place. He's got a miter cut on the corner, of course. But if you guys can't use a solid piece of wood for the entire top rail, he's also got a miter cut right where the two pieces will connect. This is important because if you butt join them together, when the wood dries, you'll have a gap. So Frankie uses a hand planer prior to doing the final sanding just to get it close, but I think that's more by choice than necessity. Yep. Yep. Your preference. Hey, if this video's helped you guys out, let me know in the comments down below or hit the like button. And a big thanks goes out to Makita Tools. Now there.