Just bought a house..

[Panakk]

cool. thank you..

KK you seem to know much about this, what would you use?

 

[KK]

Originally posted by: Panakk
cool. thank you..

KK you seem to know much about this, what would you use?

Well, I've been researching decks for about 5 months on and off to build down at the trailer where we go hunting. I have yet to build it so I'm not sure what I have overlooked. For that though I would use treated wood. But if it was my house, I'd look at that trex type stuff if you were going to stay there for awhile.

KK

 

[Panakk]

Originally posted by: KK

Originally posted by: Panakk
cool. thank you..

KK you seem to know much about this, what would you use?

Well, I've been researching decks for about 5 months on and off to build down at the trailer where we go hunting. I have yet to build it so I'm not sure what I have overlooked. For that though I would use treated wood. But if it was my house, I'd look at that trex type stuff if you were going to stay there for awhile.

KK

I got a quote from Lowes - 12x20 with 4 feet stairs and 3 feet off the ground - $2200

The same size deck at Home Depot is $1228

Both places using treated wood. I don't know why the huge price difference. I'm going to take my Home Depot quote to Lowes for a pricematch

 

[JEDI]

Originally posted by: Panakk

Originally posted by: KK

Originally posted by: Panakk
cool. thank you..

KK you seem to know much about this, what would you use?

Well, I've been researching decks for about 5 months on and off to build down at the trailer where we go hunting. I have yet to build it so I'm not sure what I have overlooked. For that though I would use treated wood. But if it was my house, I'd look at that trex type stuff if you were going to stay there for awhile.

KK

I got a quote from Lowes - 12x20 with 4 feet stairs and 3 feet off the ground - $2200

The same size deck at Home Depot is $1228

Both places using treated wood. I don't know why the huge price difference. I'm going to take my Home Depot quote to Lowes for a pricematch

this is just for materials???????

sheesh, i should have had my deck built 5 years ago...15x20 for $2000 total including labor

 

[Garet Jax]

Originally posted by: Panakk
do you know the price difference between trex and wood? I heard that trex has a 40 year warranty.. If it's about 200 dollars more, it's probably worth the investment since i don't have to ever power wash it down.. hmm?

I just did this exact thing. The advantages with Trex are well known, they draw backs are not. I found the following drawbacks by talking to people who had Trex decks:

1) It gets very hot (hot enough to burn) on summer days. You will not be able to walk in bare feet.
2) It gets very slippery when wet. At times too slippery to let your children (or drunk friends depending on your stage in life ) on to it.
3) If it has direct sunlight exposure, then it will fade and will be impossible to restain.

I ended up using a wood decking surface and trex hand rails.

 

[Ornery]

"I want a deck"

Why not a simple patio instead? I could see the reason for a deck, if you were six feet off the ground to the main level, but 3 steps makes no sense. You'll still need 3 steps down to ground level anyway, so what's the point?

 

[Garet Jax]

Originally posted by: Ornery
"I want a deck"

Why not a simple patio instead? I could see the reason for a deck, if you were six feet off the ground to the main level, but 3 steps makes no sense. You'll still need 3 steps down to ground level anyway, so what's the point?

I agree. My deck is ~11 feet off the ground. I have a walk out in the basement that will eventually be turned into a patio.

 

[Kelemvor]

I'd check out the products that look like wood but are really recycled materials. They never need sealing, sanding, etc. Also think about having all or some of it covered if you want to use it in bad weather.

EDIT: Just stumbled upon this over at Lowe's site...

http://www.lowes.com/lkn?action=pg&p=Promos/DeckSolutions.html&rn=none

 

[rahvin]

Originally posted by: Ornery
"I want a deck"

Why not a simple patio instead? I could see the reason for a deck, if you were six feet off the ground to the main level, but 3 steps makes no sense. You'll still need 3 steps down to ground level anyway, so what's the point?

Mud is cheap too, if you do it yourself. Alas I'm more than 6 ft to the back door so I have an elevated deck on my house and a bunch of semi-wasted space underneath (makes a good firewood storage point as my deck is Trex and uneatable by termites).

 

[DrPizza]

My suggestion: 20x15 is going to be almost the same price as 20 x 16. They don't (normally) sell pressure treated or cedar in 15 foot lengths. You're okay on the 20 feet, as you can use 2 10 foot sections for the beams. IFFFFF you can get 16 foot lengths for your joists that are all the same length, then you wouldn't even have to cut them. It took me 2 weeks to design the deck on my house (not rectangular), and in the end, I had a very small pile of scrap. It pains me to cut 1 or 1/2 feet off every board.

btw, someone suggested 750 to 800 for your deck because theirs is $500? (I won't mention any names, so as not to harrass KK over this one)

His deck was 120 square feet. Yours in the OP was 350 square feet. I'm not sure how you could pretty much triple the amount of materials, and only multiply the cost of the estimate by 1.5.

Also, if you're building a rectangular deck, most lumber places will do the plans for free. I haven't been pricing pressure treated for a while or else I could give you a pretty good estimate in only a couple minutes (except for the railing...

the style of railing you put on the deck can make a HUGE difference in the cost of the deck. Difference in price of spindles can range from well under a dollar apiece (if using plain 2x2's to $5 and up per spindle if using something turned on a lathe.

 

[Panakk]

Originally posted by: DrPizza
My suggestion: 20x15 is going to be almost the same price as 20 x 16. They don't (normally) sell pressure treated or cedar in 15 foot lengths. You're okay on the 20 feet, as you can use 2 10 foot sections for the beams. IFFFFF you can get 16 foot lengths for your joists that are all the same length, then you wouldn't even have to cut them. It took me 2 weeks to design the deck on my house (not rectangular), and in the end, I had a very small pile of scrap. It pains me to cut 1 or 1/2 feet off every board.

btw, someone suggested 750 to 800 for your deck because theirs is $500? (I won't mention any names, so as not to harrass KK over this one)

His deck was 120 square feet. Yours in the OP was 350 square feet. I'm not sure how you could pretty much triple the amount of materials, and only multiply the cost of the estimate by 1.5.

Also, if you're building a rectangular deck, most lumber places will do the plans for free. I haven't been pricing pressure treated for a while or else I could give you a pretty good estimate in only a couple minutes (except for the railing...

the style of railing you put on the deck can make a HUGE difference in the cost of the deck. Difference in price of spindles can range from well under a dollar apiece (if using plain 2x2's to $5 and up per spindle if using something turned on a lathe.

After doing some leg work, i found out that i am going to build a 12 x 16.. I'm going to add angles on the left side of the deck. I did get a quote from Home Depot and it was around 1200 to 1300 and this assuming horizontantal decking (i don't know if it's a good idea since it wastes a lot of wood). This was with bare minimal cheap spindles as baluster.

Again, this is treated wood. I do like the look of cedar but i don't know if it's word the price to go to. Any comments.