DeckQuest: The Next Generation

Alright, I did it. This week I finalized my deck plans, after heavy revisions from last week's failure. It's still 14'x16'. It's raised up a bit, so there are four steps instead of three. But it should work. I was at city hall on Wednesday for the Transportation and Trails Advisory Committee, so that was a perfect time for me to drop off my building permit application. I just have to wait for that to be approved, and I can get to actually cutting stuff and putting something together.

Here are some drawings. Yes, I drew them myself, so please be gentle.

In the top view, you can see how far it protrudes from the house. We have chosen to use diagonally layed deck boards, because I think they look nicer. Also, the part of the deck where the steps are is actually set a foot back. That might be a bit of a trick to do, especially where the stair rail turns a sharp corner, but I think it will work out in the end.



In the side view, you can see the choice of lumber for various parts. You can also see that the rails will go over the posts, except for the corners, where I will put some kind of decorative top. I'm not sure exactly what it looks like to have a 2x6 top rail running into a 4x4 post, so I hope it is good. Otherwise, I might change it to a mitered corner. I was also wondering how feasible it is to have a mitered corner with the post sticking up in the middle of it. That's probably pretty tricky to do, and it also means that I'm working with wood about an inch thick in parts. So probably not worth it.



I know it will probably look fine, but there are bound to be things in here that I will notice and think about more than I should. I can't wait to get building!