Building a Deck, Day 1 – Resources
DAY 1 - Resources
Now, I am not a carpenter, but I do have some decent carpentry skills. I own more than my fair share of tools (don't you always need a new tool for every job?) and I worked on a variety of wood projects: a table saw, bandsaw, compound miter saw (which I have actually used the compound part of and I must say, crown molding, never again), more drills that you can shake a stick at, a drill press, an air compressor with I forget how many tools, orbital sanders, belt sanders, the list goes on...This project, however, will definitely be the largest (before this, my largest project may have been a coffee table that housed 2 10" subs for my entertainment center - gotta love those college days).
Before we started this huge project, we picked up a few books (*gasp* paper!) that I have found extremely helpful, all bought used from Amazon.com (why spend the money on new books when there's a good chance the book is going to get damaged along the way - or highlighted, or sticky-noted like mad). We had done a ridiculous amount of research online, looking for pictures of other people's decks, different construction methods, etc, but nothing beats being able to lay on the couch thumbing through a book, slapping sticky notes left and right for things you'll need to remember later. Don't get me wrong, you could probably find all of the same information online, and I'm sure that I did, but bookmarking 47 websites that contain snippets of the info I need is not my idea of organization, especially when the sites you visit start to contradict each other for what is acceptable. I digress... onto the books:
Build Like a Pro : Building a Deck
The best book of the 3. Lots of "Pro Tips" tucked away in the side columns to let you know of things to do or watch for. My bible in this deck building project.
Home Dept Decks 1-2-3
An OK book, but has less information than the Build Like a Pro book. It does fill in the gaps in a few areas however, like what to do when the top tread of your stairs is going to fall midway against your joist. The above book only takes into account that the top tread will start at the same height as your deck.
Ortho Start-To-Finish Decks
Not really start-to-finish. Lots of good examples and ideas, but no "You like this? Here's how you do it" information.