Winner: Joshua Fernandez - Deck of the month March, 2009

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. 

Winner: Casey & Jessica Shaffer- Deck of the month February, 2009

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.

Winner: Matt Pope - Deck of the month January, 2009

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).

Winner: Tom Kolendra - Deck of the month December, 2008

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

Winner: John Stewart - Deck of the month November, 2008

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.

Winner: Anthony Zito - Deck of the month October, 2008

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. 

Winner: Horace Merriman - Deck of the month September, 2008

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.

Winner: Johnny Ortiz - Deck of the month August, 2008

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.

Winner: Fernandes - Deck of the month July, 2008

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.

Winner: Alex Donaldson - Deck of the month may, 2008

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.

Winner: Orland Snedeker - Deck of the month January, 2008

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. 

Winner: Dan Rediger - Deck of the month December, 2007

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. 

Winner: Michael Dulay - Deck of the month September, 2007

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.

Winner: Alfonso Pereira - Deck of the month August, 2007

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.

Winner: Geoff and Donna Legg - Deck of the month August, 2007

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...

Winner: Powers - Deck of the month July, 2007

Simple hot tub deck with some added privacy and design.

Winner: Bill Morton and Thom Dudda - Deck of the month May, 2007

“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.

Winner: Bill and Barb - Deck of the month April, 2007

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!

Winner: Barry Kalda - Deck of the month March, 2007

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.

Winner: Jeff Hauser - Deck of the month February, 2007

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.