Most Decks Are Over Complicated. (Do This, It's Easier)

Building a deck seems complicated, but trust me when I say this, it's a lot easier than it seems. In today's video, we're going to tackle big questions like, "How many footings do I need? Which material should I use to make sure this deck lasts me a long time?" And I'll show you the absolute easiest way to install railings and staircases. Let's get into it. One of the first things we're going to need to figure out is, first of all, I know that this span is going to be 30 ft wide. That's right, I said 30 ft. That's massive. And it's going to come out 10 ft off the house and plus overhang maybe another 14 to 16 in. [Music] We're sitting at 36 deep, 25 in wide. So, we're looking pretty. We're also going to clean it up with a shovel a little bit so the solo tube can go in comfortably. By the way, this is like my third time ever on an excavator. [Music] We got three out of the five holes dug. My only problem is getting back having an exit route. Uh with the holes being here, I'm going to have to either maneuver around them or do something cuz uh if the track catches it, I'm going to flip forward. But also, I'm riding right on the edge over there for it to tip that way. So, you're damned if you do, you're damned if you don't. Uh knowing me. Well, damn. Let's just do it. [Music] So, we're digging. Okay. I don't like the feeling I'm already shifted down here. I don't want to get my boom across over there with my bucket cuz it's going to tip me forward. Um, I'm trying to dump the dirt right in front of my blade here just so I can drive over it because it's slanted down. So, I don't want to I'm basically trying to create an escape path after I'm done here. Uh, I don't like this feeling at all. Fingers crossed there's no accidents today. I just have one small little lip right here. Fortunately, I know this ground is a little bit tougher, but it's not the best. So, I'm essentially working with the width of a track, which is what, 10 in wide. If I can safely get onto that, I should be fine right here. But damn, I'm patting it down like it's going to do anything to like a 12,000lb machine. Yeah. Well, I got to keep going forward a little bit more because if I do it right now, it'll fall the dirt. It'll push the dirt in and my nose my the front of my blade will go in. So, I gotta get like I gotta get that track out of that hole. Well, I see. Yeah, I see that from here. That's some scary Holy That was one of the sketchiest things I've ever done in my life. And keep in mind, we put a 5,000 lb ridge beam onto this building with a teleah handler. A forklift basically. That was so sketchy. 10 in. That's what I was riding on. It was caving into the hole. It was caving outside of the hole. I knew my track would catch, go into the hole, and I would tip right down that hill. I was actually even figuring out like which way to brace. But thank you for the thoughts and prayers. We're alive. Last hole to dig. I'm in a safe spot. Let's get this dug out and call it a day. Well, we screwed up on something. I took full responsibility. Let me show you. We got our footings, which we went way overboard with how many we got. We only needed actually three and we went with five just to just to make up for all the crazy snowfall here. They are the appropriate depth. They're appropriate width. However, our alignment is a little jacked up. Uh, this one's perfect. The rest of them are kind of sitting on the edge. Now, typically I'd be concerned for this, but because of the excess amount of footings that we have, it'll be just fine. Let's drill our anchor. Typically, I love to set my anchors right when the concrete footings are poured, just cuz it's so much easier to do. But, in this situation, 5/8 lag bolts, anchor bolts are going down. Fancy, beautiful black hardware. But what I like about this one, it actually has a cap. So your posts are not actually sitting on the the nut that's sitting on top of this thing. It's sitting on a nice flat surface, which I think gives it added stability. [Music] Have our temporary ledger that's leveled right now. So we're working with our finished height for the floor joist. We have the distance from the base to the top 28 and 1/4, but we're going to have a 9 1/2 in beam uh and another 9 and 1/2 uh rafters that are pressuret treated. So to make our life easier, it's 19 put together. So we take this overall height, subtract 19, we come out with nine and a quarter, I believe. Throw this sucker in here, throw some legs all the way across, bring our beam on, and then we should be able to keep moving forward. [Music] We got our first post on and we have our last post on. And to make our life easier, we got a nice top line going across so we know exactly that elevation of post that we need to create. All the simple things to help make your life a little bit easier. You know you're growing up when you're excited about building a deck. Increasing the equity in your home. That's sexy. All right, so we're back with our beams here. Like promised, 6x10. I got four of them. Yeah, I got four of them. In ideal world, I would love to have a nice 30ft long one so it could just sit. Uh but instead, we have to kind of seam them together, which is fine cuz we're going to use the appropriate hardware and brackets and stuff. All that work for a stupid cut. I should have brought my chainsaw. Let's beautify this beam with the hardware. One thing you will notice if you have eyes, no disrespect to people who don't have eyes, is that there's not enough uh posts to grab the bottom. But the cool thing about this system from Simpson, yeah, Simpson Strong Kai, is that these holes line up with the the anchors. So, I'm able to take these bolts out, connect it through there, and then connect it through here. And and what that will do is keep this beam from moving. It's one with the land. Look at these cute little guys. What's cool about them is they have a centering mechanism in it, so it just hugs in place and it doesn't go anywhere, nowhere. At this point, we're just adding jewelry to a bunch of rough saw lumber and I love it. Here comes the fun part. We got a nice straight beam going across. We got to do our ledgers. Now, the idea here is we have our classic 2x10 ledger. Going to use lag bolts secure to the house. Once this is right under, and we already crunched the numbers, and you should too. Always crunch your numbers. Get a good accountant. But crunching the numbers in reference to our deck here is crunch your numbers that your finishing floor joists are about 1 in. And by about, I mean exactly 1 in to an inch and an eighth maybe underneath whatever your finishing surface is. Trex decking is usually about an inch thick. And I made a mistake before thinking it was 3/4. Messed up my alignment. So don't make the mistakes I did. Be smart, kids. Don't do drugs. Your boy is adapting to AI and I'm trying to use Chad GBT almost on every construction question. So I'm attaching this ledger with lag bolts like I'm supposed to. And I was curious about what's my pattern of spacing these lag bolts cuz I really didn't know. I just put a bunch in usually in. And so I just typed in what is the lag screw pattern for a 2x10 deck. And it just gave me this rundown. Okay. What's your span? My span here is 10 ft that it's going to come out from the wall. Uh, you got to do two inches from the top, two inches from the bottom, inch and a half from the ends, and then you stagger them in a pattern. 15 in on center. Do the W. That's brilliant. I should have used Chad GPT. Way, way long more. Way long more. Way further. I don't even know how to say it. A long time ago. Damn it. [Music] You ever wonder how Clark Ken wears his glasses? Nobody knows he's Superman. Then he kicks him off. They're like, "Clark, where's Clark?" Superman, do you know where Clark is? Just glasses. It's the dumbest principle of any comic book I've ever thought of. Hey, we're back. We're going to start hanging rafters here. So, the idea here or floor joist, sorry. Uh, the idea here is everything is going to go on center with regular old hangers off of the D ledger, but on the outside, we're going to double up on them. So, to do that, we're going to have this concealed hanger. Room for two in there. Throw that sucker in there. Run it across. And this method by having these boards lay on top of our beam is going to buy us an extra 10 in of overhang. Not too much, but just enough to have a little bit extra width here. [Music] What sucks about building in the mountains or something that's not within the city is you're not in control of your supplies. I mean, you can haul them all up here, but that's just a lot of work. So, the nice thing is you can order from building supply stores everything you need. uh they run everything up, but then they give you certain things that are not the appropriate size. For example, like we needed something that is 3 in and instead we got 4 in to put these two together. They were great for our ledger in the back, but here they're sticking out. So, I decided to flip them on the inside. That way, nobody could ever see them or get to them when they're underneath the house or the deck, I guess. But just those little things, you know, really grinds my gears, you know. You know, that really grinds my gears. Well, folks, we got ourselves a frame, don't we? It's hanger time. What we're looking at is getting our floor joist on. The question is, what's going to be our spacing? Answer for you. Old Chad GPT tells me 24in wide span is for a 10-in, sorry, 10in span, 2x10 boards. Uh, no more than 24 in on center. However, we're dealing with extreme snow here. Last winter, we had about 6 ft of snow on that deck and they're spaced 16 in on center. We didn't have any problems. However, because we got the appropriate amount of supplies, we're going to beef this son of a gun up so hard that it's going to withstand double the amount of snow. I'm not an engineer, so I don't know how to crunch those numbers, but bro math tells me we can do double. If we do, 12 in on center. Ladies and gentlemen, let's grab our hammers and start swinging away, remembering old childhood trauma. [Applause] We got our hangers all up. They're 12 inches on center. We're doing more than expected. This is going to give this a really strong feel. We're securing them in their hardware with 3-in exterior grade nails. And we don't have to use any hangers on this side because our big old beam is going to be doing all the heavy lifting for it. It's hanging time. Hangers are on. This beam is going to be supporting everything here. So to keep this stuff from moving left to right, which you know the the decking is going to secure enough, but just for added support, we're going to uh back nail it on the side. I'm all out of nails, so we're going to switch the screws, which is even better. All right, let's tie in the end cap or the front ledge or whatever you want to call it. Exterior hot dip nails. Nails right here. Throw it in about two per board. Run them all the way across. This will stabilize this thing from buckling on us and kicking us off our chair as we're drinking our morning coffee. All right, last bit of blocking is done. Reason we have blocking is to make sure that when we have our perimeter piece of tracks around or the decking you choose to go with of your choice, it has something to lay on cuz it's going to run this way and the rest of them are going to run this way. And I'm going to go that way to go pick up the track stick. We are on day three of this deck. We got the footings poured, our frame on obviously. Day three. Now we are doing the decking. And here's what we're doing with the decking. We went with a nice beautiful brown that will match and complement the tones of the cedar as it is with the systems. Pretty simple. We have slots on both inside and outside of the decking. We use the the dedicated TX hideway fasteners. They just sit on the inside of these little curves. Hug it inside creating the perfect gap which is probably about a/4 in. Secures it in place. But not only does it hide away the screws, but at the same time it keeps both of these surfaces leveled in plane so you don't have this wave going all the way through. Now before we can start that, you have to put on this little apron. Some people call it a a rimmer. I don't know. We're calling it the apron here. And it doesn't have any slots on the inside or the outside. This is your starter piece. So essentially, you're creating a nice big frame around it. Mitered on both ends. And then after that, you start butdding up your tracks and then working your way up. Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines. One important thing to know when you are putting these boards on, when it comes to your ends, you have to keep the same gapping. So, all I'm using is the same exact fastener, just putting it down in there. And then we'll have one consistent gap all the way across. Okay, so we have the first half of the deck done. So, essentially, this is 10 ft by 15 ft, which is great. A couple of things to keep in mind when you're doing it. These boards though they look flat, they sometimes have uh cupping that'll happen side to side kind of thing. So, one of the things you could do is either have them go the same direction. It's minimum. It's like an eighth of an inch or something like that, but it all adds up. So, to keep the boards from kicking out after you secure them, what's really helpful is a you can buy one of those deck pulling board tools or b just face in the same direction. That way, if it's bowing at an eighth and just make sure the rest of your boards bow the same direction, you'll have a far smoother time. We just got one more half of this deck to be finished with and then we'll start working on railings and steps and everything else that's going to make a deck really come to life because at this point this is just a damn platform. Another thing that's really helpful if you're working with a piece of board that's doing its weird thing uh and you get it in place in a corner, put one of these securing uh leveling kits in place while you're adjusting the rest. And it's a good idea to put one in the middle as well. That way when you're finagling with one side, it doesn't kick you out on the other. [Music] In the previous episodes, a lot of people have asked me, "What's up with all the Gatorade references?" Or, "Hey, Gatorade, why don't you sponsor him already?" Little about me, my blood type, caffeine and Gatorade. And bourbon. Lots and lots of bourbon. Drain by day. Joe Rogan podcast by night. All day. Somebody overheard me mumbling to myself and they're like, "You need help." I'm like, "I'm the problem and the solution. Won't you stop setting your trash cans up before trash day, Jennifer? Who are you? Who are you? I'm you in the future. Who are you? I'm you. I'm a clone. Who are you? I'm you in the future." Nailed it. Holy smokes. I'm talented. [Music] [Applause] You guys having a good time? I know I am. My back is shot. My knees hurt. Sure. I pulled the hammy, but we got two hands and a positive attitude. It's finally railing. And this is going to be the easiest railing system I have ever installed. It's so easy. Your grandmother can do it. Mine can't cuz she's dead. Thanks for bringing that up. But in this situation, it's very straightforward. You have your post. This is a blank post for our staircase that's going to go here. These are all railings that come off of it. All of them have this little cradle that they sit into and the screws just go right in. In any situation you need to cut them, you just use an angle grinder. Fast, smooth, easy. And on top of it, they come with little wedges to make sure it's nice and level. It's a pretty simple plan. I don't expect too many things going wrong. Very straightforward. The number one concern is make sure everything's nice and straight and everything is symmetrical as you can get. Other than that, it should be a pretty uneventful day. And heaven knows I need an uneventful day for a change. This is where dreams come alive. All the hard work pays off. We got our first panel on. This thing is looking slick. I am leveling it with these little wedges that come with the thing. Just throw a little magnetic level on. Well, I got to screw on there. And then uh make sure it's good on both sides. And that should allow for you to keep your, you know, panels from going like this. Let's talk a little fine details here on this railing system. This rail does not have any holes, only these brackets on the side. To keep this intact, you have these little covers that little saddles that go on top. And then these selftapping metal screws that basically puncture a hole through and secure this thing in place. Got a couple more panels to secure here and then we'll start working on our railing that goes down to our steps. I am working up a sweat. Today's the first official hot day, so we're hitting 90° in just a little bit of I'm sweating like a pig. But we're moving on. I got all my post secured. I still got to do some final finishing things right now, but we're working on steps. As you can see down below me, we've conveniently poured some uh landing for our bottom of our staircase. And yeah, this is pressuret treated, but that's going to get a lot of wear and tear being on the ground like that. So, we're going to elevate it. You can put pavers if you want if you don't want to pour concrete, but we poured concrete since we had it already. We're going to use these stringers. And if you want to, if you're intimidated about cutting stringers like I am, uh you could just buy one and then stencil it and then save a whole bunch of money cuz one of these is like 30 bucks. But it's going to land just like that. It's going to attach to our deck with these hangers uh down below. Got the appropriate exterior screws. So, a whole gang of them. I mean, there's probably like 11 screws that goes into this. We're going to have six of them here, I think. Uh it's typically with Trex, they want to say like 12 on centerish, 12 to 16. But with all the snow falling on it, we need as much support cuz next winter we don't want it to be sitting like that. That's just awkward. Let's get into it. So, the situation with the steps here, we have to use a blank post here. The reason why you got to attach these little swivel brackets. Then these panels, which are pretty nifty, is they're on a swivel as well. So, they can bend any direction you want. And then once they slide into these little securing brackets there, you throw your screws at the side and you, my friend, just build some staircase railing. Not too shabby. [Music] All right, the deck is officially done. Blood, sweat, tears, all of it went into it. And most importantly, I cannot wait to show it to you. So, come step outside. [Music] big. [Music] What a freaking killer view. Now the big question that we have left is what should we build next?