A well designed and solidly built deck can help extend the usable living space in your house (as well as increasing its value). With a relatively small tool investment, some hard manual labor, and a willingness to "measure twice and cut once", building a deck is a home improvement activity that many people may have the capability to take on themselves.

This following pages outline the process I took to build my deck. As with any construction task, if you get four people in a room, you will have five opinions on how to best accomplish it. Accordingly, it is important to recognize that the materials and methods presented here are only one way of approaching this moderately complex task.

Even the best planned deck will necessitate some creative in-the-field problem solving - no measurements are perfect, no cuts completely accurate, and not all circumstances can be prepared for ahead of time. My basic advice would be to plan well, order extra materials, take extra time, and be willing to hop in the car to make several trips to the local hardware store.

Follow the links below to walk through the process from start to finish.