Pre-Deck Construction Preparations

Here we have the preparations for a pt (pressure treated) deck underway. The vinyl siding has been removed from the lower portion of the walls to allow for the deck to be properly anchored to the exterior of the house with a 2″ wide pt ledger-board such as the ones lying on the gravel in front of the french-doors in the picture.

Those french-doors, by the way, are a beautiful solid pine 6′ wide series from Andersen. Also notice the black strips below the 2 Andersen doors. Before the doors were installed ice-and-water moisture barrier was applied to the rough openings of the doors, taking care to lay over the Tyvek underlayment to provide maximum protection against moisture and the elements.

Gravel aggregate, a few inches thick, has been spread on the ground under where the deck will sit. Laying down some gravel is particularly important when you are building a deck that will sit close to the ground such as this one will. The layer of gravel aggregate will help in preventing plant growth and moisture build-up underneath the deck.

The 4′ concrete footings that will support the weight of deck will be poured into those yellow sona tubes you see in the ground. Sona tubes are great for giving you a strong consistent structure for your footings. Why 4′ deep? Here in New England you have to get below the frost line with any sort of base-structural support, such as our concrete footings for the deck. Going this deep prevents the footing from shifting and cracking, insuring a long life or your new deck.

Lastly, we have the trench located in front of the main row of sona tubes in the picture. This will provide for the long concrete landing that we will be pouring for the stairs coming off the deck. This customer wanted long steps going the entire length of the deck. It was a lot of concrete for a landing, but it sure did look good when it was done, as you will see.

Next up: Framing the deck.