How to Build a Deck: Post Holes and Deck Framing

Dig the holes six inches deeper than the required frost line depth for your area, and slightly wider than the concrete footer tubes you'll be using. A power auger can make this step easier and faster.

Measure to make sure you've dug to the right depth.

Next, lay out landscape fabric and cut post hole openings. Later, you can add gravel over the fabric to help with weeds and drainage.

Pour six inches of all-purpose gravel into each hole and pack the gravel tightly with a post.

Put a concrete form in a hole and mark it a few inches above ground. Pull out the form and cut it to length with a hand saw. Repeat this process for each hole.

Reset your post layout strings so you can line up the anchor bolts. Embed an anchor bolt — this type is sometimes known as a J-bolt because of its shape — in the concrete for each footing. Make them plumb and leave no more than an inch of thread showing.

Backfill around the forms as you're working to keep them in place.

Follow the same procedures for all of your post holes.

Place the posts on the brackets — making sure they're plumb — and secure them with 10d nails or structural screws.

If you're installing on an existing concrete pad, drill into the pad and install concrete anchors to secure the brackets.

When the posts are in place, mark the tops by holding a chalk line on the height mark you made on the house. Extend it along the posts, level it and snap the line.

Use this line to mark the height of the rest of the posts with a level line.

Cut the posts with a reciprocating saw or circular saw.

For each beam, clamp two boards together and drive 16d nails about 8 inches apart.

Next, attach the post caps with nails. Set a beam on the caps — crown side up — and secure it to the bracket. If your beams are constructed of boards laid end-to-end, make sure the joints are over brackets.

Apply waterproofing tape or silicone sealant along the top joint of the beams for a waterproof seal.

Install all of the beams the same way. Once they are all in place, screw diagonal bracing between the posts. The bracing is important for structural integrity and helps prevent racking — a side-to-side or front-to-back shifting of the structure. The bracing for this deck is 2 x 4 treated lumber.

To cut the beams to the right length, start by setting the end of a straight joist against the house at the edge of the deck layout. Square it by marking the house 6 feet from the deck corner and marking the joist 8 feet from the corner. Adjust the joist until the diagonal between the marks measures 10 feet. Mark and cut the beams.

Place each rim joist on a beam and use a framing square to transfer the lines down the face of each joist, marking an X to the side of the lines indicating where the floor joists will be attached.

Drill pilot holes through the innermost rim joist into the end joists and secure them together with deck screws.

Next, attach reinforcing brackets with deck nails or screws. Don't attach the other rim joist yet.

Position the frame on the beams with the rim joist toward the house. Make sure the frame is square and secure it to the beams with rafter ties. If your rim joists are made up of two pieces, you can assemble the frame a half at a time.

Hold a floor joist along the 16-inch on-center line on the rim joist, flush at the top, and drive in a screw through the top of the floor joist and into the rim joist.

Hold a joist hanger against the joist and tap in the prong. Tightly wrap the hanger underneath and against the other side of the joist and tap in the other prong. Now secure it with nails or structural screws. At the angled holes on the hangers, use fasteners long enough to go through the floor joists and into the rim joist for added strength.

Install bracing cut from the same 2 x material you used for the joists — 2 x 8 for this deck — between joists in the middle of the frame to support parting boards. Parting boards, also known as pattern boards, add a distinctive look and can eliminate the need to butt boards together to span the width of the deck. Install the bracing every 16 inches.

When all of the joists are up, strike a line across them to indicate the edge of the deck and trim them to length.

Finish the frame by attaching the other rim joist with hangers and nails.