Decks, Patios, Porches and Docks - decking in picture frame design
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calico
09-13-06, 03:27 PM
I am putting down my decking in a picture frame design.The area is 16'x20'ft.would I start in the middle of deck or at an end? Design is hard to describe,imagine looking down at deck and on the left&right sides wood is vertical & on the top & bottom it is horizontal,with the center being a 5'x10' rectangle with 45 degree angles coming off corners of rectangle to outer edges.Wish I could draw a diagram......or would it be better to do a perimeter board all the way around the deck & continue working inward, toward the center
Thanx
The people here always come up with good advice,hope I'm a winner again...... Thanx again
calico
Thanx
The people here always come up with good advice,hope I'm a winner again...... Thanx again
calico
swandog1
09-13-06, 04:03 PM
I'm in the middle of doing the same project...I'm using GeoDeck but I don't think it matters on material type...Here is what I was told and after putting most of the main deck boards on I can see how this will work out...
You put the main deck boards on first...and you figure out their length then add a couple of inches to it...after all of the deck boards are on (or as many as you can) then you snap a straight line across the ends at the point where your picture frame board will intersect the ends...cut along this straight line and then fit your picture frame board on...you should have some support underneath this intersection (assuming your picture frame board runs parrallel with a joist and your cut ends are hanging over nothing)...this can be accomplished with a 2x4 sistered to the joist and a 2x6 attached to the top of the 2x4 to give you kind of an upside down "L"....on the sides of the deck that you don't have to cut the main deck boards make sure you start/stop the deck boards the proper distance from the end so that your picture frame board hangs over the edge the proper amount...
hth
Doug
You put the main deck boards on first...and you figure out their length then add a couple of inches to it...after all of the deck boards are on (or as many as you can) then you snap a straight line across the ends at the point where your picture frame board will intersect the ends...cut along this straight line and then fit your picture frame board on...you should have some support underneath this intersection (assuming your picture frame board runs parrallel with a joist and your cut ends are hanging over nothing)...this can be accomplished with a 2x4 sistered to the joist and a 2x6 attached to the top of the 2x4 to give you kind of an upside down "L"....on the sides of the deck that you don't have to cut the main deck boards make sure you start/stop the deck boards the proper distance from the end so that your picture frame board hangs over the edge the proper amount...
hth
Doug
Ubob
09-14-06, 08:40 AM
See if I have this correctly...
You want a 5'x10' rectangle in the middle of your deck, with the decking running square (perpendicular to the floor joists), and increasingly larger mitered frames outside of that extending out to 16'x20'. In the outside frames, the two of the sides would remain perpendicular to the joists, and the other two would run parallel to the joists. (More about that later.)
If I got that right, I would start on one of the long sides (the one adjoining the house - if one of them does), and lay the boards with the ends mitered, decreasing in size until you got to the inside rectangle. I would then fill in the inside of the inside rectangle, being careful to keep the ends square. Once you have covered the inside area, you now have a square base (and one side mitered) to help align the boards that run parallel to the joists. Fill in the last side with increasingly longer boards.
Like what was suggested in the earlier response, it might be easier to lay the boards with the ends square, then miter them in place on the first section, then on the open ends of the sides.
Make sure you mark off a real 45 degrees, not just corner to corner (5x10 won't expand at a 45 to measure 16x20, more like 16x21 - so corner to corner will leave you with an odd angle that you will have to match).
Now back to that "parallel" statement - obviously you can't lay deck boards parallel to the floor joists without something between them like (or changing the direction of the joists). And, you need something solid below the ends of each miter. Ideally that should be blocking, just like your floor joists and attached to your floor joists, running at the same 45 as the miter under the miters, and perpendicular to the joists (spaced just like your joists - possibly 16" o.c.) for the middle of the boards.
As you can see, the decking design adds quite a bit to the support structure underneath. Changing the design, but keeping the same feel, you might consider laying the outside all perpendicular to the joists, and mitering just the inside 5x10. That will reduce the amount of blocking, and miter cuts. It will also focus your attention on the center of the deck as your eye will tend to follow the angled lines. Sort of depends on what your intended focus is.
Hope this helps.
You want a 5'x10' rectangle in the middle of your deck, with the decking running square (perpendicular to the floor joists), and increasingly larger mitered frames outside of that extending out to 16'x20'. In the outside frames, the two of the sides would remain perpendicular to the joists, and the other two would run parallel to the joists. (More about that later.)
If I got that right, I would start on one of the long sides (the one adjoining the house - if one of them does), and lay the boards with the ends mitered, decreasing in size until you got to the inside rectangle. I would then fill in the inside of the inside rectangle, being careful to keep the ends square. Once you have covered the inside area, you now have a square base (and one side mitered) to help align the boards that run parallel to the joists. Fill in the last side with increasingly longer boards.
Like what was suggested in the earlier response, it might be easier to lay the boards with the ends square, then miter them in place on the first section, then on the open ends of the sides.
Make sure you mark off a real 45 degrees, not just corner to corner (5x10 won't expand at a 45 to measure 16x20, more like 16x21 - so corner to corner will leave you with an odd angle that you will have to match).
Now back to that "parallel" statement - obviously you can't lay deck boards parallel to the floor joists without something between them like (or changing the direction of the joists). And, you need something solid below the ends of each miter. Ideally that should be blocking, just like your floor joists and attached to your floor joists, running at the same 45 as the miter under the miters, and perpendicular to the joists (spaced just like your joists - possibly 16" o.c.) for the middle of the boards.
As you can see, the decking design adds quite a bit to the support structure underneath. Changing the design, but keeping the same feel, you might consider laying the outside all perpendicular to the joists, and mitering just the inside 5x10. That will reduce the amount of blocking, and miter cuts. It will also focus your attention on the center of the deck as your eye will tend to follow the angled lines. Sort of depends on what your intended focus is.
Hope this helps.