New Deck

[AJ]

The process got started today. Looking forward to some grilling in the backyard soon!

[YSOSLO]

Looks like a small deck/landing outside the backdoor and then a larger deck level with the garage service door sill, so you'd step up onto the deck from the driveway and step down into the yard...is that right? Is it going to wrap around the house over by where the hose is hanging as well? If so, are you worried about it blocking light from that low basement window?

[AJ]

Looks like a small deck/landing outside the backdoor and then a larger deck level with the garage service door sill, so you'd step up onto the deck from the driveway and step down into the yard...is that right? Is it going to wrap around the house over by where the hose is hanging as well? If so, are you worried about it blocking light from that low basement window?

Yup, step up from the driveway and down into the yard. It actually won't wrap around the house, that corner is going to be finished up soon with a rain barrel, currently already in the photo. it just needs to be moved about 6 inches closer to the rain gutter for the hose we have.


More pics..

Framing is being done today.

[AJ]

moar

[YSOSLO]

Not at all what I was expecting so far (I didn't think the part by the door would be more than 4x6 with a couple of steps down to the main deck, rather than the big deck way up high), but I'm intrigued to see how it all comes together. What are you guys going to use for decking? Are you going with green-treated or something maintenance-free?

[Big Nate]

I like it a lot. Great use of all the space. Adding a grill at the same level as the kitchen is great.

[AJ]

Some more form yesterdays work. Framing inspection is Tuesday, with hopes of getting it squeezed in today. If today we could be done by the weekend. And we are using green-treated for material. This isn't our final home and we hope to sell in the next 5 years, so for us it was cost containment.

[Jana]

Yeah, it's a really hard space to try and get usable sq ft with the door off our mudroom and the first door off the garage. I've had about 3 or 4 companies out to look at it, and finally got a design that works. And we found someone who does this stuff as side jobs so we are able to save several thousand. The first deck off the house is 12x9 and will have a small seating area with the grill, and the lower deck is 10x10 and will have more of the seating for entertaining. After this is done we can do some more landscaping around the deck & garage and get the lillac trees along the back fence trimmed. Excited to have a deck to sit on by this coming weekend!!!

[niterydr]

Looks good!!!

[YSOSLO]

Great-sized decks! Now that the lower deck is framed out, it's a lot easier to see what the final result will probably end up looking like. So what are you planning on doing for the railings?

[Jana]

Great-sized decks! Now that the lower deck is framed out, it's a lot easier to see what the final result will probably end up looking like. So what are you planning on doing for the railings?

Umm, normal railings? :) Actually, I contemplated other options, but am going with the same look as our front deck with just standard wood spindles.

[YSOSLO]

My main reason for asking was because I've seen the standard wood, but the iron spindles and horizontal cables also seem to be fairly popular right now. I hope you guys are planning on screwing down the decking, especially with Lily walking around (sorry if I misspelled her name, I have friends with a "Lily" and I confuse the spelling of the two). My brother-in-law has a wooden deck with the decking nailed down and every year he has nail heads popping up that can cause painful injuries if they aren't knocked back down. Screw 'em down and you're done for good.

[AJ]

There has been a mix of nails and screws, but the nails have also been pounded down further after the initial nailing, so we should be good, at least for a while.

Oh, and it's Lilli, short for Lillian.

[AJ]

new pics added. Just a little bit left and it's done. We will finish it off with some basic landscaping around the deck, going about a foot or two out with mulch and some year round bushes on the side closest to the garage, but otherwise we are happy with how this is turning out. Will provide a nice landing area for getting out the door and grilling up top, and a nice open seating area down below.

[Big Nate]

WOW I love it. The two level thing really works in that area. Great transition from house to yard if you ask me.

[YSOSLO]

I've gotta say, this thing looks SOLID! Nicely proportioned and works really well with the site (house/garage/yard and how the 3 come together). I'm also impressed with how quickly it's going up! This would have taken me about 2yrs or so to build...lol I'd love to get the name of the guy that's building it for you, because we're probably going to be doing a deck in 2 or 3yrs at the most.

[AJ]

Couple other photos. It's ready for final inspection right now. One that's done on this coming Tuesday he is coming back to finish the bottom lattice pieces, 2 siding pieces on the house, and then build a small set of stairs out the back garage door.

From there we will even out the grass that was dug and fill the one side with some rock, and put some of the dirt back where it is needed, while tossing the other shit out by the Lilac bushes.

I'd be happy to give the name of the guy who helped us, it's Jana's co-workers neighbor. Great guy, communication is good, and being a Licensed Contractor he's well aware of all the code. Plus when I open the garage up last night it was clean as when they started the job, he stored all the material and supplies in there during the time.

[Jana]

FYI - the guy who built is not the guy who designed. I had a few companies come out to design, and this was the one I liked best - just did not want to pay their price so I found someone to do it on the side. :)

[Workdawg]

This might seem like a dumb question, but is that legal?

If I were a contractor and someone wanted me to design something for them, I'd argue intellectual property or something on that design if they chose to use it, but have someone else actually do the work.
Unless you actually paid for the design.

Kinda seems like you used the pros to get a cool design, then kicked them off the project and brought in someone cheaper to do it.

[Jana]

If you want to argue legality of it, it's not the "exact" design. But if you want to pay about $5K more for a deck, go for it. I couldn't swing it & needed something done this year. The company I had out gave me an estimate with a basic hand drawing. I didn't pay or commit to anything. They left it with me. If companies are concerned, they wouldn't do that.

[derrian]

Unless that design had a contract with it. They can probably get away with using it :)

That was one thing I was always told at college, get a contract or you will get screwed :P

[Workdawg]

I'm not trying to start an argument about it, it was just something that popped into my head.

[AJ]

Most of the companies we had out kept their designs, and gave us the option to buy there design for a fee. Granted that was the full CAD drawing, this was actually a simple sketch that we used as a base. It changed a bit due to City requirements and faults in the design the actual builder found. It came in handy to get a basic materials lists from HD, but the end projoect was about $500 off from the final project in material needs alone.

Bottom line, we got this completed for right about $5k from Permit to completion. We could of saved $500-$700 if we would of done the digging ourselves, but that ended up being a lot of digging in time i just didn't have, and with Hand that just wouldn't have been able to take it.

I think it's a valid question Dan, but not something I'm worried about.

[YSOSLO]

Holy friggin' crap! :crap:

I figured one could get a deck built for a couple grand, although you've got a lot of deck there and you didn't have to lift a finger, so I guess it isn't terrible. I'm starting to think if I could get one done for under $2K it might not be too bad, but I want composite decking, so I'm sure that will drive the cost up a bit. We're the permits a PITA? Did the inspector verify all of the proper flashing was in place to keep water out in addition to verifying all of the proper support structure was in place?

[AJ]

Keep in mind, a deck this size was quoted by other companies ranging between 7k and 12k. We saved a lot going through the process ourselves as far as getting the material and then finding someone to do the labor for a reduced cost versus what was quoted by others.

Permit wasn't that much of a pain but it may take time and they require some additional drawings and markings, which I think can also be done at HD or Menards. They are only checking the Deck aspect, though our grading isn't much to worry about.

If you can do the labor yourself, deal with the permits, and go through all the materials yourself you can get something comparable to our size wise for a range of 1700-2500 based on lumber selection, options for skirting, railings, and nails vs screws. Plus it depends on how many holes need to be dug and filled with cement. Composite would be more as well. If you plan to be in your house long term spend the $ on composite, if under 7 years, just do green treated and only need to deal with staining 1 or 2 times before moving.