Steven Mann Family Project

Overview

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.
Steve Mann

Plan Summary:
I based my plans on the deck plan for the 24 foot round pool (Splash Deck) found at www.deckplans.com. I had to make the following modifications to this plan to accommodate the Splash Pool:
Standard sections were widened from 36” to 48” to accommodate a 16” cantilever over the pool (plus a small 5” cantilever around the outside).
I had to use a combination of about 2/3 prebuilt sections and 1/3 built to “custom” measurements. This allowed me to maintain a consistent spacing around the pool. Installed an extra brace to support the long cantilever. Also used 2 x 8 beams to meet code for this cantilever.
Because the Splash Pool has no rim, and I didn’t want people stepping on the edge of the pool, I raised the deck to be above the level of the pool. Because of this, I made the following changes to give a more pleasing look:
I Attached a composite deck board around the inside time of the deck to give a finished look.And I configured the deck boards slightly differently to allow all the inside exposed edges to be factory cuts.
I made 4 of the sections 96” wide to allow more room for sitting at the poolside. I built two irregular sections to connect the 96” sections to the standard 48” sections surrounding the pool.

Day 1:
In advance of day 1 we had built 4 identical sections in the garage. On Day 1 we placed 55 DekBrand piers in their positions. We put 1” of class 5 gravel under each pier and leveled them. Then we cut 4x4 posts to support the 4 sections that were pre-built. We were able to place 3 of these in a row, then we had to measure and build 1 “custom” section to fit in between. We also put up a cross brace on all installed sections. We were feeling pretty good.

Day 2:
It rained almost all day. I put on my raincoat and managed to build and attach 4 sections. 9 done . . . 16 to go. Spirits were a bit down, but we looked forward to day 3!

Day 3 - 4:
With a little better weather, we were able to complete the remaining sections on day 3 and 4. This involved 8 more identical sections plus 8 “custom” sections. The longer custom sections were assembled on site by first assembling the beams and then hanging the joists in the “traditional” manner. This is because the large sections were too heavy to assemble on the ground, plus we had a number of non-identical sections.

The Cantilever:
Because the Splash Pool bows out approximately one foot from the top edge to the bottom; we had a larger cantilever than recommended on the DekBrands standard plan. Blair from Dekbrands suggested the additional brace pictured above to provide support for this cantilever. This idea also satisfied the city inspector. Also to compensate for this cantilever, we made our sections 48” wide to allow for no more than 1/3 of the beam being part of the cantilever. We put one of these braces at each of the 24 inside posts.

Day 5:
On Day 5 we attached 2x6 deck boards to all sections. We put straight boards down on each section. This was a fairly simple task. We laid the boards down, marked a line using the outside edge of the outside rim board and then cut the board. We screwed each board down with 2 deck screws at each joist. We went with this layout of the deck boards because the inside edge of each board was going to be visible from the pool, because the deck is above the pool. We wanted to use uncut factory finished ends for a more uniform look.

Day 6:
We spent all of Day 6 cutting and assembling the triangle shaped deck boards at the intersection of each section. I was very happy with the aesthetic look of how these turned out. But I was surprised at what a long tedious process this turned out to be. By the end of day 6 we had a completed platform all the way around the pool.

Day 7:
A day off to swim!! One concerned neighbor commented that she thought it looked like the kids could fall off the deck. We assured her that railings were in the plans and would be erected soon. Since this ended my week of vacation, the remainder of the deck was assembled on nights and weekends.

Railings:
We cut 24 posts of identical length and bolted them onto the deck with 4 lag screws. Then, we assembled the top rail and the side rail all around the deck. We measured and marked the center of each section, then leveled and screwed in a precut spindle at the center mark. We then used a 2x4 as a spacer to place the next spindle. This was a big time saver. We simply placed the 2x4 butted the next spindle against it, screwed in the bottom, leveled the spindle and then screwed in the top. My wife and son even did some of the sections while I was at work.

Anchoring the Piers: Our city required us to anchor every outside pier to prevent shifting. We found the pictured anchors at our local home improvement center. They worked slick. There was a 24” cable that I would pound into the ground using a long iron rod. Then when it was all the way in, a sharp tug caused an anchor at the bottom of the cable to shift 90 degrees, thus setting the cable. I then attached the top of the cable to the 4x4 post.

Rim around the Pool:
Because the Splash Pool has no rim around the top edge of the pool, our deck had to be designed to lie over the edge of the pool. We used a composite 5/4” x 6” deck board to create our rim around the edge of the pool. We choose composite because it would not warp and it would eliminate any splinters. It also created a nice finished look around the pool.

Stairs and Gate:
We cut our own stair stringer, because we couldn’t find one at the store with the right drop to end up level with our patio. The posts at the bottom of the stairs were cemented into the ground 18” below the surface. I highly recommend that, as our gate has not sagged at all. We installed a self-closing locking gate at the bottom of the stairs. We purchased the handrail for the stairs. Although, this was a small piece of the deck, I spent most of the weekend on this piece, including a couple of false starts. Stairs are hard!

Dressing the Outside:
A good friend of ours gave us the idea to finish the outside of the deck with 1x8 boards. This really gave the deck a nice look. By leaving a 5” cantilever on the outside of the deck sections, we were able to have the 1x8 boards cover the piers. Even our 9 year old was able to help with this project. I measured and cut the boards and the kids assembled them as fast as I could cut. We finished the outside by adding a 1x4 border all the way around the bottom. We also made large swinging doors in the two sections just to the right of the stairs; great for storing tubes, toys, etc. We also attached an umbrella to the southwest side of the deck for shade. I also made a small swinging door by the pump and filter for service needs.

And we were done!!