Winner: Alfonso Pereira - August 2007

Overview

I wanted to improve the backyard of our new house in Forest Grove, Oregon, since all we had was a rather small concrete pad.

I started by laying down a gravel base where our new deck would be.  The deck is 24' wide (along the house) and 18' deep at the deepest point.  The main deck is built in three 8' wide sections connected by joist hangers.  A fourth section (step up for table and chairs) is 8' deep and 12' wide.

Since I was working alone, I used a carjack to level the frame in order to cut the 4x4 posts to the correct lenght.

Once the first section was completed, I added the frame and support boards for the second section. 

I built the support structure for the bay window following the instructions in your website.

With the second section done, it was time to add the frame for the third section, which also had to wrap around the bay window, and in addition has a 45 degree angle in the outside corner.  Here I also followed the instructions from the deckplans website.

The forth section uses the end boards of the first section as support.

Since the fourth section is roughly 30 inches high, I added cross braces to improve stability, and installed the support boards.

At this point, I started to build the extensions to the fourth section to get the elongated octagon shape I wanted.

To dress hide the tall posts and cross braces, I added lattice all around the elevated fourth section.

Box steps were added on all three sides of the deck.

With the decking in place, it was time to start building the fixed bench supports, which were attached to the deck with 90 degree galvanized  brackets.

The bench seats were made of clear 2x6 cedar, and the corners beveled to dress them up.

The next and last step of the construction was adding the railing to the fourth section.

Finally, I stained the deck to preserve the wood from discoloration, and I was done!

I had a lot of fun building this deck, and I was able to do it on my own, thanks to the hassle-free Dek-Block Piers.

Sincerely,

Alfonso Pereira
Forest Grove, Oregon