Featured Decks

For years I looked for a way to replace the old wooden steps our builder had constructed at the back of our house with something more elegant. We considered a patio, but because the doors from our sunroom and breakfast room face each other at 90 degrees and were so close together, anything that didn’t include a large elevated landing just didn’t look right. Such a landing made a stone patio project very difficult and expensive.

I used the deck blocks and they worked perfectly. The top level is 24 deep x 26 wide and the lower level is 10 deep x 14 wide.I go the idea for the BBQ area and chimenea spot of other decks on the showcase. The plans made it easy to determine what materials I needed. Thanks, for all the help.

My yard was severely sloped. In order to put in the pool we had to put in two retaining walls. The 1st retaining wall is only 3” behind the pool. We built the deck right up to the retaining wall. So the height of the deck plus the height of the retaining wall, makes it a long drop off the back of the deck.

I bought this little house in 2000 and always planned on having a deck and hot tub. Most of Austin is on 3 inches of hard soil over a deep limestone shelf. Digging holes for any reason is a challenge if not impossible, so I was very interested in the floating deck system when I first saw it at Home Depot.

I would like to thank your company for your excellent product, and great website. I do not like wood working projects and usually do everything to avoid them. I have little to no experience either. I had never built a deck, or even assisted in the building of one. My wife and I built this entire deck using a worn out circular saw, a 3' level, a cored 3/8" drill motor, and a hammer.

From picking up the supplies until the last screw was drilled took a total of 4 days. My Brother In Law and I picked up the deck piers and lumber on Thursday night and had the entire project completed (except for staining) by Sunday at 8:00pm

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.

I want to thank you for all the help you give on your website. I had seen your advertisement at Home Depot by the Dek blocks. I wanted to build a deck but didn’t know how I was going to do it. Your website gave me the floor plans and building material list, in which I had not one piece of wood left after the project was done. I took some photos, it took a Friday thru Sunday to finish. It was a 4 man job on Friday which only took 3 ½ hour to lay down the deck platform.

Layout of dek blocks began in early April, all materials were purchased at HomeDepot. We chose to use 2 x 12’s throughout the build because they gave us the right height to our slider without cutting 4 x 4’s to adjust for height. We set a number of the anchors on concrete patio pavers anywhere a height adjustment was needed. Deck size is 25 x 15.

Hello! I built this deck in the fall of 2008. It is in Duluth, Minnesota overlooking Lake superior. It is about 58" at the highest point (base of Dekblock to top of surface board).

I am 68 years old and I don't do much hard work. I had some sore mussels but it felt great. I can't wait until spring because I have two more to build. It was easy with Free Deck Plans. Thank you. Regards, Tom Kolendra

I am attaching three jpg files of photos of the 16'x24' deck I built single handedly. If needed, I can send "in progress photos". Thanks. I found the blocks very easy to use and avoiding the "dread" of digging holes. The deck is very solid feeling under your feet.

As u can see I built the first section last year (already stained) then added the rest this year. Post blocks worked great. Even the dog loves it. hope you post this. We love our Splash pool.

This summer, my wife and I used your plans for the 12'x12'(2"x6"decking) side pool deck plans. I just wanted to take the time and thank you guys for making plans even a novice like me can follow. I did modify the plans by squaring off the ends and placing the steps nearer to the pool.

I began this project in the summer of 2006 using your 16X16 side pool deck plans for my 18 ft round pool. After much deliberation & disagreements with my wife, I decided to go with the composite decking after I promised her I would break up the cost of the decking by buying the material as needed & working on it on my days off.

This is my first deck. I was looking for something that I thought I could take on for my vacation project. I came across deck blocks and the idea of not having to dig footings sounded great, as you can see from the pictures I think I did a pretty good job.

Here is my deck submission. I was glad for dek blocks because digging any further than 1 foot down is shale. Let me know if you have any questions or want other photos.

I would like to tell you about the floating deck that I built from your designer plans. I chose “The Brendel - mirrored” plan (from website www.customdeckplans.com) and added three feet to the length. I did all the work by myself. I was able to level the 16’ boards by placing on blocks and using different sizes of wood scraps. I then placed my permanent blocks and 4 x 4 supports and continued placing the rest of the supports, measuring and cutting each post. This deck has 91 blocks supporting it. I used premium coated screws for all the construction.

This is a 20’ X 36’ deck, which is a little over 700 sq. ft. I’m 24 years old and just bought my first house last January. As soon as I bought the house I decided that I really wanted a deck. I’m an engineer by trade so I decided that I was going to design and build the deck myself. Having never done this before I relied heavily upon this website as well as some good books that I purchased. Being that the deck I wanted to build was so large, I knew that I needed very detailed plans.

The project was started June 28, 2007, just seven weeks after my daughter was born. It took approximately under 2 months to complete the project. I worked on it almost everyday from 8 am to noon, and 3 to 6 pm for the first month then a couple of hours a day. I’m grateful to have a wife who put up with me on this project, never gave me a hard time when I worked on them. I didn’t just work on the deck the whole summer, I kept up with my responsibilities too as a husband and a father.

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.

Our original 12 x 36 foot deck with steps to the backyard has been in place since 1994. We set about planning how to connect the pool and the existing deck and have something that was nice to look at and secure for the pool. Being do-it-yourselfers we searched the internet for help to design and construct our deck after seeing the floating foundation deck system blocks at our local home improvement store. We hit the jackpot! Your web site gave us everything we needed, including materials lists...

Simple hot tub deck with some added privacy and design.

We really should build a deck for the new pool.” Said Karen. “No problem honey!” says I. Oh brother! What have I gotten myself into now? I don’t know the first thing about building a deck, I’m a computer engineer. Should I get one of these metal deals they sell at the pool store and take the easy way out? Nah, too small. Should I call a contractor and have them do it? Nah, too expensive. So I head to Lowe’s to get an idea of what I’m getting myself into. “Lowe” and behold, I find the answer! Dek Blocks.

We built a 6'W x 8'L deck from our back door. Then we constructed the 16' octagonal deck, attaching it to the 6x8. We did a 2-step stairs from the 6x8 to the octagonal. Then we did two ramps from the octagon back to the top of the terrace because we hung the octagonal out over the terrace. These ramps allow us to go easily to either side of the 6x8 without having to ascend, then descent opposite sets of stairs. This was my idea!

My kids wanted an aboveground pool. Since our backyard has a pretty good slope to it, the installers had to dig some of the slope out to ensure a level base. Sitting on my patio, I could see that the final level of the pool was almost level with my back door. That result was totally unplanned but lent itself well to building a deck from the house to the pool

I wanted to send you before and after pictures of my new deck. It took my wife and me one day to position the piers and 2 x 6 supports, but laid deck boards on top to enjoy the deck that night. The next day we finished the decking and the worked on the stairs at our leisure.

This gallery includes a nice collection of pictures including close ups and detail images, taken throughout the construction of a side pool deck.

Dear Dekbrands, I wanted to thank you Very Very much for your assistance with our deck last summer. As you can see we made this a real family project. And we have enjoyed many hours of family fun in our pool and on our deck. Thank you for everything - the plans and the multiple phone calls for advice and tips, etc.

I had a rectangular deck that needed to be adjusted for the curve of the pool. I did this by taking the extra blocks and wood and angling the joists to fit. I placed an additional three blocks per side to support the 2x6 joists from the crossed braced posts and support joists of the first row (tangent).

Detailed images with close ups of deck being built off backside of house complete with railings.

Images of a Deluxe Splash pool Deck throughout Construction.

My 2004 Summer Project During the summer of 2004, from the middle of May until the end of August, I decided to construct the “Mother of all Decks” around our 24’ above ground pool using the DekBrands floating foundation system found at http://www.deckplans.com/. Here is, in chronological order, how the project panned out

This unique deck offers railings, benches and a table; which uses a tree stump as its base.

Multi-level deck construction complete with railings installed

My client wanted to create an outdoor room in their back yard, providing space for entertainment and relaxation. My solution was to frame the room with brick columns in the same color as the house to tie the two together, and to create a seamless flow from the house to the deck, eliminating the immediate drop that existed prior to building.

Thanks to the DekBrands floating foundation system, and the plans available for download at www.deckplans.com, I was able to build a beautiful pool-side deck for our new 24’ above-ground pool. I worked by myself for three full days and a couple of afternoon/evenings and was able to complete the job without major incident…it was even fun to do...

We love our new deck! I can't believe how easy it was for us to build. Total cost was about $1200, and that includes the landscaping stones around the base of the deck. This was our first deck project and it did take us several weeks to build since we worked on it for a few hours at a time. It is very solid, it never moves at all. We did not experience any "frost heave" that is mentioned in some of the letters to this site.

My job as a surveyor has gotten busy as of late so I had to table the deck for a couple of weeks. I am going to resume it starting tomorrow. I really only have the railing on the round portion to finish and the self-closing gate and the deck is basically done. I am going to enclose the outer part around the deck also but I think that will wait until next spring so I can see how the substructure fairs over the winter.

The deck is 16 x 24, built over an existing concrete patio. It would have been an incredible amount of extra work without the Dek-Blocks. Also, permanent attachment to the uneven stone walls would have been difficult. One-man construction took about a month. The crew of one could not have built the deck without using Dek-Blocks. Thanks.

Hello: My wife and I have been planning to add a deck to our backyard and also to have a place for our kids to play and also have access to their play set on days when the ground is wet. (photo-1)

Hi, I am sending pictures of my new DEK-BLOCK deck. I am proud of it and the fact that two (fifty something) women could do it. I was not wanting to attach a deck to the house, but I was wanting to have a bigger place for a hot tub and room for the grand-children to play, so when I came across your site, I trashed the estimates I had on a concrete slab and pea gravel.

We are so happy with the result that I'm wondering why we did not make it sooner! My kids (Marie 14, Alex 13) and myself (Louise) started the project of a deck around the above ground pool in June. I was looking at books and Internet for a while now and the Deck Blocs seems to be the best way to do it for us. We live in San Antonio Texas where there is no freezing winter. Also there is a lot of rock in the ground so it is very hard to dig

Here are pictures of the 16x20 deck we built with your Dec Blocks. I can write up the story if you will accept it. We did not saw a single board! Once the blocks were placed and leveled, we put the entire deck down in a day and a half (3 amateurs). We used treated 2x6's for all members, 20 foot support boards, and 16 foot deck boards

"It was a great time to learn a new thing and it was the first time I ever built any thing as big as a deck. I started with the plan that I got from freedeckplans.com and I spent time viewing all of posted projects from others on the freedeckplans.com website. I couldn't imagine how easy it was to work with these Dek- Blocks and follow your instructions.

The deck is 16 x 24, built over an existing concrete patio. It would have been an incredible amount of extra work without the Dek-Blocks. Also, permanent attachment to the uneven stone walls would have been difficult. One-man construction took about a month. The crew of one could not have built the deck without using Dek-Blocks. Thanks.

First off I wanted to thank you for a great product I finished my deck last weekend. It came out beautiful. Everyone I show it to cannot believe that I built it myself. It looks so professional. It's a multilevel deck. I followed the plans from the web site and it was pretty painless.

I just wanted to tell you that your deck system is wonderful. I have attatched a couple of photos showing the deck we built in February of this year. It took about a week to build this entire deck using your floating system and really added to our home.

Deckman, Thanks for all your help and guidance with our special conversion project. The project we took on was a collapsed existing deck, attached to the house. The deck was 13 years old, and had just collapsed prior to us buying our house a year ago. It was built from 2 x 12's and it measured 16' x 24'. The reason it collapsed is due to the fact that the wood had rotted away at the connection to the house, because the deck's flashing was installed incorrectly. Also the deck had a few 4 x 4 posts that went into the ground, but none of them were cemented in the ground.

First off, fantastic product! Your floating system was very easy to use and quick to build from. The 18' x 20' deck was the first deck I ever built and it was incredibly easy. The end result gives the impression I paid a professional to build it for me. Not only did I do it myself but I figured it saved me about $4500 with this easy do it yourself project. Now this took me about 8 weekends to complete because of rain delays and with a newborn at home. It would have easily been done given 2 full weekends to work.

Simple but handsome deck using a diagonal decking pattern.

Deckman: Enclosed are the pictures from my summer 2004 project, in which I used your Splash Deluxe Pool deck plans. I worked on and off throughout the summer, dodging raindrops and taking my time to make sure everything was exactly how I wanted it. If I wasn't satisfied, I would redo it. My crew consisted mainly of myself and one other. Once in awhile someone else would show up and lend a hand. Your plans were great and the floating foundation system worked perfectly.

Here's my new deck I built using the amazing Dek-Blocks, I used plans for a 12'x12' and 12'x18' deck, then filled in the gap. This was all completed in a few weekends with no help. I built the frame, then picked 10-20 surface boards each trip, so I had no big knots or blemishes. The forum is a great place to get ideas and get answers to all of my questions. My father (a carpenter of 30+ yrs and 900 miles away)... was very impressed. The layout was easy and being able to move and adjust as I built the support section was a real help. I went the extra mile and used an under the board attachment system,Here's my new deck I built using the amazing Dek-Blocks, I used plans for a 12'x12' and 12'x18' deck, then filled in the gap. This was all completed in a few weekends with no help. I built the frame, then picked 10-20 surface boards each trip, so I had no big knots or blemishes. The forum is a great place to get ideas and get answers to all of my questions. My father (a carpenter of 30+ yrs and 900 miles away)... was very impressed. The layout was easy and being able to move and adjust as I built the support section was a real help. I went the extra mile and used an under the board attachment system,

Just wanted to drop you a line and tell you about my deck. My wife wanted a large deck for the front of our house (16'x30'). I wasn't looking forward to digging all the necessary holes for the posts. I have built decks using the traditional methods and it is a lot of work and hard on the back. I wanted to build the deck without attaching it to the house, and I really didn't want to dig all the holes. If you ever had to do this you know what I mean. One day I was browsing the local Lowe's Hardware trying to figure

Here are some photos of a simple 12x20 floating deck I built over a weekend. The plans from the website were used except the span between the support boards was narrowed slightly to allow for about 10 inches of overhang on each side. The overhang was necessary to put on a 1x8 fascia board and give the deck the floating appearance. The deck is not fancy but it provides a nice place for outdoor cooking. The deck was built in the early winter here in Charleston, SC

Dear Deckbrands, I just wanted to send this along to you to show off my deck. All in all I have about 5 to 7 days of labor into it, although it took me a little over a month to complete because I only worked on it during the weekends and a couple of evenings. I am kicking myself because I didn't take pictures at different stages of construction like I see on a lot of your deck-of-the-month entries, but I will make sure to do that when I make the front porch. Hopefully though, these pictures are enough to get me at least entered to be a featured deck.

This is the second project that I have used your product on. The first time was a deck (July 2000 deck of the month). Your product worked so well the first time that I knew I would use them again when we put the pool in this summer. I used your web site and made some modifications to the plans. My pool is a 18' x 33' oval and I wanted a 4' splash deck. I also wanted a bench on each side and needed a set of steps.

Well, I have finished my deck, and it was much easier to build using the floating foundation system than the old concrete footing method. I purchased the 3' splash plans but had you guy's widen it from 3 to 7 foot. The original plans called for the outside edge of the deck to be around 32', but my wife decided that wasn't quite large enough, so we built another two frames. The outside dimension ended up measuring about 47' 10'. We're both glad that we lengthened it (very easy to do using this floating system).

Dear DekBrands, I wanted to drop you a line to let you know that I just completed my first deck. I used your Dek-Block cement piers and modified your "Splash Deck" plans to complete a deck around my Mothers above ground pool. After calculating the cost of wood and the number of piers needed, I went with 2x6 stock lumber for the entire project. In my opinion, it was much too costly to add additional rafters and piers, just to accommodate 1 5/8" decking boards.

I have friends who doubted me using the concrete piers. Unaffected I pressed forward, and I'm glad I did! My deck was constructed by only me (a beginner) and I can honestly say it looks better than most professionally constructed decks. The supports are a great product! It made my deck project affordable and relatively simple. I look forward to using them again and recommending them to others!

Here's our pool. We had it installed in August 2003. We got sick of the heat, and the kids are getting to the age where they can learn to swim and really enjoy the water.

Dear Deckman, Well, it took a year to start but only three days to finish from the time the wood was delivered. The most time consuming part was making sure that the blocks were level and cutting the 4x4's where needed to support the underframe.

I saw your web page and wanted to build a redwood deck for my backyard. I never attempted a project this big, but your information was very helpful and after about 2 months, I finished my deck and wanted to share it with you. It's approximate 16'x44' in a tri level arrangement to match my house. The lowest level is for a hot tub that I will be buying very soon. I design the deck on my own to match

Thought you might like to see my project. Used your Dek-Blocks and was quite pleased with their ease of use and how sturdy the deck turned out. I am sure I will use them again. The project was my own design using one of your plans to properly set and space the blocks. The total cost of the project was about $1000.00. A little expensive considering the size but the price of the redwood was really worth it. Thanks again for the Dek Block product. Was easy to use and saved me lots of time

We put up the pool in the Spring 2002 knowing that we were going to build a deck around it using Dek-Blocks. We started building the deck in the Fall of 2002. We built the splash pool portion first. That took a bit of time. When we finished that portion, we built the main deck which butts up to the house. That went up quick. We then added stairs and the fence along the driveway. The fence posts are cemented into the ground, seperate from the deck structure. We then stopped work for the Winter.

This was my first deck project. Thanks to your web site it turned out great. It did take me some time to finish, but only because I did it by myself and only when I had time on the weekends. Everyone who has come by and looked at it, can't believe I did it with no help. The little camera ham in some of the pictures is my 4 year old. Hope you enjoy these photos.

First of all, great web site. I had no idea how I wanted my deck to look. It started out as a 16 ft x 24 ft rectangle. Your gallery was a great source of ideas (R. Williams – Hammock and F. Howell – Benchrails) and finally my deck started taking shape. Also everyday I would check the forum for answers to questions that arose during the building of the deck. I thought I was finished, but after seeing the Walsh’s flower box,

We had a great time building our deck and the Dek-Block system made it so much easier than trying to sink concrete piers into the hard Texas ground. Thanks for designing such a great product.

Wanted to send you a quick note to let you know how pleased we are with our 20' x 16' DeBrands deck. As you can see from the photos, we had to deal with a slight grade that was easily overcome with your system. Moreover, our deck has lived through two Northeast winters and we have experienced absolutely no settling.

I want to thank your web site for the help I had building my deck. Dek-Blocks saved me money, time and my back. This was my first time building a deck with blocks and I am glad I did it. The total cost of my deck was around $1,100. That is $6,900 less than a quote I got for $8,000.00.

We started out with a ground level deck next to the house due to a low (six inch) threshold at the back door. To get it to fit, we used 2x4s for support and decked this section with 5/4 surface boards running parallel to the house. This gave us a 3/4 inch step down from the door to the deck. This section is 7 feet deep and 22 feet wide, with cutouts around a bay window and chimney. We used ripped 5/4s on edge as a nice trim between the decking and the siding of the house. Gives a great finished look.

I was shopping for material for a deck when I saw your product,,no digging,,,that's for me. I began in May. The platform was done in less than 1 day, with a little help of my Father In-Law (testing the strength of the deck). Im just so glad I found your product because I refuse to dig, the ground is so hard I need dynamite. I am so pleased with the out come. The hardest part of this project was waiting for the Hot tub. I made my own privacy fence and attached it right to the deck.

I would like to submit my story and photos to DeckPlans.com for consideration as a "Deck of the Month." I am very pleased with the way it turned out, and it was so easy with Dek Blocks! I am a 38-year-old woman, and I did it completely by myself in a little over a week, from April 29-May 8, 2003.

Hi, my name is Gilbert Flores in Arlington, TX I started this deck as a winter project. The deck plans were of great help. Leveling was a little tricky, but I quickly got the hang of it. Now that spring is upon us all I'm doing is enjoying!

After we bought our 27' round pool last summer my wife decided we needed a deck for the pool. So I started looking online for ideas of how to build a deck, I had a problem with the old way of digging holes because my backyard is full of septic lines, so when I came upon the dek-block system I knew this was for me.

I wanted to send you pictures of our deck that I built. My back yard is full of shale and rocks and I dreaded the idea of doing a deck. I searched the internet for deck plans and happened upon your site which was this a blessing. Instead of laboring through the rock I was able to use a pallet of your blocks and I modified your pool deck plan to meet my needs

Our backyard can best be described as the worst...there is nothing level about it! The thought of building a deck made us cringe, just thinking about all the holes we would need to dig for the posts, then lugging in and preparing the cement for the posts and mostly for the fact that we didn't have a solid plan to work with.

I would like to contribute my photos of my deck. It is not totally finished but very close. Still requires some railing, an additional bench, and staining. However, I just wanted to let you know how pleased my wife and I am with your deck blocks. We were both skeptical about the deck blocks supporting our hot tub.

We had an area that was wild plants and rocks in the front area of our house that we wanted to turn into an area that would be tranquil and peaceful. The rocks were hard to walk on and were kicked all over the place. So we put in a very simple walkway using your deck plans and then made a low deck in a private area towards the back. Now it's beautiful!!!!!!

Moving from a fairly arid and treeless area of the country to our new home 2 years ago we could only imagine the deck from which we could sit and enjoy the trees and creek behind the house. There were several obstacles to beginning the construction of the deck. An old concrete patio had to be removed and two truckloads of fill had to be brought in.

To the people at deckplans Thanks I used the deckblock system and plans for my 24x24 deck and it came out awesome all my friends were very surprised that it is a floating deck and they were amazed at how solid the structure is, also I also had my doubts but I was wrong. We chose to use IPE decking and wow did it come out nice

The deck plans on your website were very helpful. They showed me how to customize the plans to fit the contours of my house as well as put the 45 degree angle on it. I found your stair design to be very helpful as well, although I modified it to use closed stringers on the outside. Everything I needed to design my deck was on your website.

We built this 20' X 34' patio deck at our new house in OBX. The only difficult part was leveling 75 bricks on un-level soil, but it sure beat digging. My friend helping is going to build his deck with them now. Great product guys/gals...

We were very excited when we moved into our first home about 2 years ago. However, we had rarely used our backyard during this time. We decided on a deck and were looking for ideas when we came across a DekBlock display at the local hardware store. I had helped friends and relatives build a few decks the "traditional" manner, with all the digging and concrete work and wasn't looking forward to more of the same. Our primary requirements were that the deck should be as low as possible to the ground

I decided to try your dek-blocks on the new deck that I was building. They worked out nicely for my situation. I was only able to work on the deck by myself whenever I found the time. The dek-blocks were easy to use for a person working alone. I was able to level the blocks and layout the frame without any problems. I didn't want to go to the hassle of digging the holes for the posts and waiting for the concrete to dry, I just wanted to get to work

I was very pleased with your product and because I considered the deck as well as the pool to be a "temporary structure", I didn't bother with the building code or permits. I purchased around 75 of your deck-blocks at a local Lowes store in Fredericksburg, VA. and did not find too much "slag" that some others have commented on

We bought an 24' aboveground pool for the backyard recently... knowing that we'd need to put in some sort of deck or access to get in and out! The pool is really big and takes up most of the back yard, so the deck would have to be placed to the side. The problem, however, was that the ground in the Texas hill country is very unpredictable, as far as digging postholes goes. You can sometimes dig without incident, while sometimes you dig down 6 inches and hit solid bedrock! I knew that I didn't want to deal with digging that many postholes for an elevated deck.

We live on the edge of a wildlife preserve. When we decided to build a deck in the backyard, we wanted it to be functional, yet low profile, so as not to obscure the view. However, we had a major obstacle to overcome, namely, a massive 5' round, 9" high tree stump right in the middle of where we wanted the deck. To build this deck conventionally (4"x4"posts) meant paying a stump grinder to grind the stump, the renting a small dozer to remove 100 years of roots

Dear DekBrands, On 22 September 2001, I led a very inexperienced crew of volunteers to build three 10'x16' decks to be the first elements of a nature trail for use by the students of the West Point Elementary and Middle Schools. Our three work crews were made up of parents, Boy Scouts, and cadets from the U.S. Military Academy. Our worked kicked off at 9:00 am and the first deck was completed at 4:20 pm. The second deck was finished at 4:30 PM and the last deck at 4:50 PM

Dear DekBrands, Attached are the photos of the deck we built using Dek Blocks. Because our lot is small, we had a challenge fitting a deck along side our above ground pool. The custom plan we received from you worked great to build the 8' X 16' deck. I was initially concerned with stability, but with the cross bracing recommended in the plan, the deck is extremely solid!

Dear DekBrands, Wow! What an easy way to build a deck! Since my wife and I moved into this house, we have wanted to build a deck. There was an aluminum awning over half of the concrete pad and it was hardly attractive. One of the other purchases we wanted to make was a hot tub. So once the hot tub arrived, the plan to build the deck was in motion. Down came the awning and up went the deck.

Dear DekBrands, I liked the Floating Deck principle and disliked the thought of digging holes for posts in rocky soil. Your blocks really made the work easy. We really do enjoy it and we added a pond with a fountain. The landscaping and mulch made it complete. Your web information was a real help. We plan to add a hot tub in the near future.

Dear DekBrands, Just wanted to drop you a note and let you know that I am truly enjoying my new pool deck made with the DekBrands Dek-Block system. This is without a doubt the best and easiest way to build a do-it-yourself deck. I know the pictures do not quite do justice to the deck but for information purposes I will give you a little details. The swimming pool the deck adjoins is 30' diameter.

Dear DekBrands, I used your Dek-Block product this spring and I have to admit our deck came out great!!! It was nice not having to dig footers and not having to attach the deck to the house, especially since it is built over our well and cable/electric lines. No digging means no worrying about hitting something you shouldn't have. I even used your plans online and modified them slightly to fit my needs. So anyway, thanks a bunch for the online help and making my project easier and I look forward to eating some Omaha Steaks on my new deck.

Dear DekBrands, Attached please find photos of our 32 x 40 foot deck I built. We are really putting it to use on these warm Texas nights.

Dear DekBrands, We recently built a 12x24 deck using the DekBlocks. They are so easy to use and took a lot of the work out of building, because we didn't have to dig one hole. They seem very sturdy. We are enjoying our deck so much. We have had several BBQ's and it's just nice to sit outside with the family. I put gates up to keep kids in and they really like to play on it. I'll definitely recommend them to anyone I know that's thinking of building a deck.

Dear DekBrands, I continue to receive rave reviews on my new multi level deck. This is my first wood working project. The secret to the success of my beautiful deck is your Dek-Blocks and plans available on your website. It can't be any easier than this. Your Plans use standard sized lumber to reduce cutting and material cost. I built my multi level deck for about 5% more than a contractor was going to charge me for a single 8'x20' deck without handrails. My deck is three levels. The area in front of the patio door is 4'x6', a second deck 6'x14' and the top deck is 10'x12'.

Dear Ms. Cindy Thompson: Thanks for your kind and very generous donation to my Eagle Scout project. I, along with the staff and children of City House appreciate your generosity. City House is a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to helping our youth and their families that need shelter and counseling. Your donation of the 40 Dek Blocks made it possible for us to construct a wooden floor in a building that only had a dirt floor. It took two full days of sometimes hard work with the help of over 40 people including scouts, parents, friends and leaders.

Just wanted to drop a quick note and photo of our deck. I built it over Labor Day weekend last year. It was built pretty much single-handedly in three days. I did spend some time the prior weekend leveling the ground a bit and placing all of the Dek-Blocks so I guess you could really say it took 4 days.

"This was a project that began small and we enlarged. The top deck is 4'x18', the bottom deck is 16'x32'. We wanted something just a little different.

"Just a note with my pictures of our recent deck addition. Construction was a snap with your footing blocks and great instructions. I downloaded a plan for a 10'x20' deck from your site and modified it to suit. We have since used footings to add stairs direct to lower level/pond area and stained/sealed deck. Thanks so much for a great product and support."

"When I first began our deck project on July fourth weekend in Texas, not to mention how HOT it can get here in Texas, I did not anticipate the deck to turn out as lovely as it did. My first steps toward the deck were design and layout plans, which we researched on the Internet and found DekBrands as a potential solution for my ultimate project. I soon found out that my choice for DekBrand's "Floating" design was the correct method. I used approximately 60 Dek-Blocks. The deck is a total size of 34'x23'.

"We're just outside of Houston in a new home. Our back yard was square, featureless, and it came with a big easement. We wanted a deck, something large enough for a hot tub and a small fireplace. Lots of potential designs came and went while we decided how much we wanted to cut, lift and place the decking material. We finally decided to build our deck in 3 phases, as 3 separate decks, and join them together as they were built - 10' x 10', 10' x 12', and a final 10' x 12' piece.

"The family and I have thoroughly enjoyed our new raised deck. It was a very large project (the deck is 38 feet long and 14 feet wide in some parts) but the construction was made a great deal easier by using the Dek-Block piers. We live in an area where the ground is mostly rock. Because the deck is raised to accommodate an above ground pool, posts were needed to bring the deck to the right height. By using the Dek-Block piers we didn't have to drill post holes through a most difficult soil. We simply placed the blocks on top of the ground,

Hi Deckman, "The project went terrific!! As you can see from the pics, we built a deck for our pool. Because the ground around the pool is sloped, we decided DekBrands was the best way to go. In fact, it almost seems as if your "Floating Foundation" was designed with this project in mind. The deck is 20'x12', plus the two "add-ons" to go partially around the pool's circle. We used 2"x12"s, in 10' and 12' lengths for the deck itself. We used 4"x4"s, cut to varying lengths for the support

Dear DekBrands, "Your product is GREAT. I didn't know how I was going to build under the tree. Then, I saw your product. The blocks worked fantastic."

"I wanted to add my recently completed deck photos to your gallery section of your website. I took them mostly with a digital camera so I could not snail mail them in. We started this project just around Christmas '99 with no specific layout, except we wanted to fill the corner of the yard. As we got the materials our creative juices flowed and we came out with this design that encompassed the Jacuzzi, gave us an area for dining and entertaining, as well as an area for capturing our great Florida sun rays.

"I just wanted to say that I've just completed my deck and I am amazed at how easy it was to build. I am limited in my knowledge of carpentry and was hesitant to take on such a task but your illustrations made it look easy and it really was! This project took just a day and a half to complete. The dimensions of the project are 10'x32'. My wife was very impressed with the finished product and I felt a sense of accomplishment. I plan on adding additional decking to wrap around the entire back of the home in the near future."

"I tore out an old deck and built this one in the same place. The old deck used 48" deep post holes of which three were reuseable (two under the patio doors and one corner). The Dek-Blocks let me make the new deck about one foot wider without digging new post holes. I just poured small concrete pads for the blocks. The deck is roughly 12'X12' and very sturdy."

"I built this deck using Dek-Blocks. As you can see, it is a very low deck, over a cement patio. Dek-Blocks were the only way to go! Working by myself, I spent about 3 weeks on the deck, picnic table and bench, planter etc. Notice the built-in benches. Hope you like it."

"Here are a couple photos of the deck. I just finished using the "Dek-Kit" including, Dek-Blocks, outdoor wood, and all the Dek Brackets/hardware to complete the job. It took approx. 12-14 hrs to make which was very reasonable considering I've never built a deck before and I did it ALL by myself. Now it's time to enjoy it."

"First of all, I think the Dek-Blocks are a great idea. They save a lot of man hours in building a deck. Here is a photograph of a fish pond I made for my wife. The pond is 12' round and 2' deep. The deck is 18'X18'. I used 22 Dek-Blocks in building it."

"We were very pleased with the results of our deck using your product. The ease of leveling saved us many hours and headaches! Our deck ended up being 345 sq. feet, so saving time here was an added bonus! The Dek-Blocks are also cost effective! I have enclosed a few photos of our recently finished project. We haven't begun to landscape around the edges, but forsee a beautiful "living space" in the near future!

"We were very pleased with the results of our deck using your product. The ease of leveling saved us many hours and headaches! Our deck ended up being 345 sq. feet, so saving time here was an added bonus! The Dek-Blocks are also cost effective! I have enclosed a few photos of our recently finished project. We haven't begun to landscape around the edges, but forsee a beautiful "living space" in the near future!

"The overall project is 12'X24'. The pond is 8'X8' and is bordered on three sides by the deck. For the side areas of the deck we used two 8'X12' deck packages, and for the area at the rear of the pond we purchased the material needed to span the 4'X8' area between the two sides by the piece. The pond is approximatley 2' deep and the deck sits approximatley 10" below the top of the pond. The sides of the pond are constructed of sunwood 8'-2x4's and 10'-2x6's, lined with outdoor plywood

Progress photos as well as those of the completed project.

"We were so happy to find that someone had come out with a product like your concrete pier block. So much time and work was saved by not having to dig post holes and wait for cement to set before we could proceed. Besides, it left us with some possibilities of "changing our minds

This deck is multilevel and consists of three of your kits. The longest was was a 12'X20' on the upper level which was filled around a birch tree. The lower level is two kits one, an 8X12 and onother one 10X12. We have enjoyed using the deck as it covered the original concrete patio that has broken and was difficult to maintain. Ron Nielson

After 12 years of restoration and upgrading our 100 plus year old house, we decided it was time for an outdoor project. While purchasing pavers for the patio portion of our backyard project, the rep told me about the Dek-Block system and gave me one of the tear off sheets. Being legally blind, I did not grasp the concept until I got home and looked at the sheet on my c.c.t.v. I then went to your website, and had the computer read me the "How to Build" instructions, and "Deckman Comments".

I began this project in the summer of 2006 using your 16X16 side pool deck plans for my 18 ft round pool. After much deliberation & disagreements with my wife, I decided to go with the composite decking after I promised her I would break up the cost of the decking by buying the material as needed & working on it on my days off.

“We really should build a deck for the new pool.” Said Karen. “No problem honey!” says I. Oh brother! What have I gotten myself into now? I don’t know the first thing about building a deck, I’m a computer engineer. Should I get one of these metal deals they sell at the pool store and take the easy way out? Nah, too small. Should I call a contractor and have them do it? Nah, too expensive. So I head to Lowe’s to get an idea of what I’m getting myself into. “Lowe” and behold, I find the answer! Dek Blocks.

My client wanted to create an outdoor room in their back yard, providing space for entertainment and relaxation. My solution was to frame the room with brick columns in the same color as the house to tie the two together, and to create a seamless flow from the house to the deck, eliminating the immediate drop that existed prior to building.

Welcome to our summer project. We decided to put in a pool as we have always wanted one (especially my wife) and now our kids are old enough to use it safely ‘enuff said let’s get to work.

Here's our pool. We had it installed in August 2003. We got sick of the heat, and the kids are getting to the age where they can learn to swim and really enjoy the water. The problem is, our property doesn't have a flat surface on it, save the driveway. The most ideal place to put it is here, which is a hill, albeit not a really steep one.

We had a great time building our deck and the Dek-Block system made it so much easier than trying to sink concrete piers into the hard Texas ground. Thanks for designing such a great product. This is our old deck. Though we cannot say for sure, we think it was built in 1981. It was rotting and hazardous because the boards were loose and nails kept popping up.

The initial effort began... to verify if the altered plans for this deck would work and to see if we understood how this concept was to be followed. Materials were on site. One section for the perimeter deck was constructed and 4"x4" posts were cut to give a final elevation of the decked surface 1/2" below the pool's rim.