Building your own deck can be immensely satisfying, but only if you do it correctly. Before you get started, it’s important to be aware of some common deck building mistakes so you know to avoid them.
First, make sure there are no gaps in your butt joints. As time passes and the wood on your deck contracts, the joints will end up highly uneven if any gaps are present.
Using a breaker board to put all your seams into a single vertical piece can help you avoid this problem.
Another thing to keep an eye on is your stringers. If your stringers are not placed properly, your deck will not provide proper support. To ensure stability, you should have stringers every 12 inches.
Proper frost footings are also vital to a deck. Different locations have different requirements for how deep frost footings should go, so be sure to build your deck to those specifications.
Finally, make sure your deck has a good foundation. Cutting corners when building your foundation poses a massive safety risk to anyone who sets foot on your deck.
A deck can easily fall apart if you build it improperly, and the only way to fix it may be to rebuild it entirely from the ground up. Before you begin construction, make sure you know what you’re doing.
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