As summer arrives, homeowners will seek to make the most of their outdoor space. While there are numerous ways to enjoy a backyard, decks and porches provide for a versatile, semi-permanent platform for outdoor activities that is less affected by weather and requires less ongoing maintenance than a lawn. During good weather, they can serve as additional rooms to the house. They connect the interior of the home with the outdoors, especially for parts of the home that are elevated above the surrounding ground.
Most residential decks and similarly constructed porches are wood structures consisting of simple lumber floor joists that are supported by the wall of the house and one or more lines of beam-and-pier supports. Guardrails usually surround the perimeter of the deck supported on stanchions, which are anchored to the deck framing. Wood deck construction is deceptively simple. The elements and relatively easy to assemble and their functions are intuitive. Consequently, a lot of homeowners see the construction of a wood deck as an ambitious but entirely feasible do-it-yourself project. Deck construction is bread-and-butter work for a lot of home improvement contractors. Continue reading “Should a Homeowner Design Their New Deck?”