Winner: Dave Safian - April 2009

Overview

I chose the deck block design because I knew I would do the majority of the work by myself.  Constructing was very manageable with minimal assistance from my wife and friends.  I also needed something that could be placed over large rocks out back that formed a step for our sliding door.  At first a friend and I tried to bust up the rocks and carry them away, but it turned out to be too difficult.  I instead used the Deck Block system to float the deck right over the rock, making it part of the support structure.

From start to finish, my deck took approximately 6 weeks to build, with a majority of the work completed by me.  I worked evenings and weekends when I could find time. There was also a two week stretch during the build when I did not work on the deck.  My wife and I had a change of heart with the layout, and decided we needed to expand it to accommodate a large patio dining set.  During those two weeks, I evaluated the work I had already done, and came up with a new plan to reuse as much of the completed design and materials as I could. The Deck Block system saved me a lot of money because I reused nearly all of the materials. All I had to do was disassemble, position the blocks elsewhere in the yard, and start building again.

Dimensionally it came out to 12x27 on the deck surface.  It is a very open-concept, with access to the yard from all sides. It does not block the view of the countryside behind our house at all. Since the weather has gotten beautiful, my wife, daughter, and I are loving it out on the new deck in our back yard.