Young House Love

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Sourcing And Buying Materials To Build A Deck

Our deck project kind of got back-burnered amidst all of the party/dollhouse/bedroom stuff, but we have made one decision in that time: much like both of our parents chose for our houses growing up, we’re going the pressure-treated wood route.

But making that call was no easy decision. We actually weighed a bunch of options, got a few quotes from a few different sources, and endured the all important “sleep on it” step. Then we second-guessed ourselves a few times because the right choice isn’t very obvious. Haha. There are so many ways to go, so it really is one of those it’s-different-for-everyone things. In the end it just came down to personal factors about look, price, effort, keeping in line with our neighborhood, etc – so we can definitely see why people come to different conclusions (and also develop some pretty strong opinions, if the message boards I’ve been reading are any indication).

So we thought we’d run through our thought process for anyone else facing a similar decision. For us it quickly came down to two materials: pressure-treated wood vs. composite. We eliminated cedar (wasn’t our favorite color/look), exotic woods (for their cost) and vinyl (looked too unnatural) early on, so I think that helped us focus. But we went back and forth between PT wood and composite options more than a few times.

Deck Composite Brochures

Composite seemed like the obvious choice at first. Lots of friends had “heard it was really nice” and several of you even commented about liking it. We actually even put an offer on a house partially because of its awesome composite deck back when we were house hunting. The pros we kept hearing about were: low-maintenance (it doesn’t need to be resealed or stained) and that it looks good (some might say “upscale”). We personally have mixed feelings about the look and feel of it – sometimes it looks really great to us, but sometimes it also looks really plastic-y to us. It can also fade in the sun, which we hear can be frustrating. But the thing that put the specialty decking screw in the composite coffin was the cost. Various estimates that we got put it between $2,000 and $3,000 more than wood for the same sized deck built exactly the same way! Yup, it more than doubled the total cost of pressure-treated wood – and that was the lower-end composite stuff vs. premium pressure treated wood.

Deck Estimates

So it goes without saying that cost was a big factor in picking pressure-treated wood. We’re still working out final estimates, but using premium pressure treated wood (which is less prone to warping than the basic stuff) is likely to cost us around $1,000. We got estimates from Home Depot and a smaller specialty lumber place about a half-hour away called 84 Lumber, and 84 Lumber came in around $400 cheaper for the same amount of pressure treated wood so we’re happily going with them (like HD, they also came in 3K more for composite). It’s pine wood harvested down south, and is all treated to be safe for human contact, so we’re not worried about scary things like arsenic which used to be used in pressure treated wood years ago.

So 1K seems like a much more digestible figure for our “little deck project” over 3-4K. We realize that some of what we save now will be spent on future maintenance (it’s recommended that wood be sealed every 1 to 2 years) but that was a trade we were willing to make since we’re DIYers through and through – so we’re no strangers to sealing something. Plus, wood is a material that we’re comfortable with – both building and maintaining, so in some way it felt easier to have some staining or sealing projects in our future than the unknown of composite (what if we picked a color that looks “in” now but looks dated down the road? what if we eventually convert a window in our bedroom into a door out to the deck and damage a few boards of the composite stuff which might be harder to repair/replace/match than regular old wood? what if we over-improve our house for the area?).

The thing that ultimately secured the victory for wood was it’s look. Not only do we like the more natural appearance of it, but we also think it’s better suited for the character of our house and our neighborhood. Somehow sticking a swanky composite deck on our little brick ranch felt like wearing Prada loafers with my Sprite t-shirt. If we were in a newer construction home or a neighborhood where people were making these types of upgrades all around us, we definitely would rethink our choice, but we’re surrounding by homes with wood fences, decks, and porches – there’s nary a composite deck to be seen.

Deck Surrounded By Wood

We both grew up with wood decks and remember our parents sealing them every few years (sometimes with our help) and also talked to close friends of ours (who bought a home with a giant wood deck a few years back) and they’ve said they really love it. Even right after spending a weekend resealing it they said they were really happy with it (it was at least 15 years old and hadn’t been sealed or maintained in years before they moved in, but afterwards it looked like new).

Once we get our plans finalized and our permit secured (next week if all goes well!) we’ll be good to place an order for all that lumber and finally get this ball rolling. Of course we’ll share all of the delivery/building details as we go. Oh and when it comes to the actual wood slat pattern, we’re debating something cool like mitering the corners of all the border pieces so it looks like it’s framed out (sort of like how the right edge of this deck looks). We’re also thinking about placing the boards in a modern way, like this shot that we took at the Virginia Museum Of Fine Art:

Deck 1

See how there are these really cool zipper-looking seams?

Deck 2

We’ll share more on the actual design plans as we go (permit permitting, haha). Oh, and if you’re looking for more details about decking materials – here are some of the resources I relied on (in addition to talking to my local Home Depot and lumber yard): The Family Handyman, This Old House, TreeHugger and Better Homes & Garden (<— warning: the lady in this video is very chipper). Anyone else building a wood deck, fence, or porch these days? Or sealing something they’ve had for a while?

Comments

  1. Kristen @ Popcorn on the Stove says

    I can’t believe how expensive the Composite was – yikes! Staining the wood should be nice because you can sort of customize it and keep things looking fresh.

    PS – I love the shot of the VA Museum of Fine Art. Definitely try to lay the deck that way (it looks so cool!)!

    Reply

  2. Elaine says

    After many rained out days off, the hubby finally got our deck sealed. It looks beautiful!

    We considered composite when we built 6 yrs ago but the cost pushed us away. We did opt for vinyl railings to save some maintenance aggravation in that department.

    Reply

    • Dani says

      This is a really good idea ^^ My husband was a professional painter and he says that railings fail significantly faster than decking. After watching him come out to reseal/repaint dozens of customers railings each year vs the multiple years between for the decks I have to agree with this train of thought!

    • mp says

      Elaine, that’s exactly my experience. I had a wheelchair ramp built for my husband in 2008, and at that time Trex wasn’t making railings. So what I got was a Trex ramp and pressure-treated railings. They started warping after about a year, despite treating. Trex now makes railing, so when I have some home improvement pennies I’m going to replace them and top the new railing with the copper end caps/solar lights.

  5. Lynn says

    I thought pressure treated wood was considered a big no-no these days, especially with kids around. It leaches arsenic, doesn’t it?

    Reply

  6. Jess @ Little House. Big Heart. says

    We love our wood deck. When we moved into the Little House, it hadn’t been treated in years. We’re waiting to work on it until we start our big backyard project (after we tear down some unwanted “structures” in our backyard and build a gravel patio), so I can’t wait to see your finished product!

    Reply

  8. Amanda @ Our Humble A{Bowe}d says

    Oh I feel your pain. The house we just bought has a 900 square foot deck (insane, right? You can see it here if you’re interested: http://ourhumbleabowed.wordpress.com/2012/04/16/our-new-less-humble-abowed/) and it’s in okay condition. We’ll have to replace a few boards, pressure wash it, and stain it down the road, but wood is good if you take care of it. We briefly talked about upgrading to Brazilian Walnut down the line, but at $5 a square foot, it’s not in the budget. And composite can fade severely in the sun, so that’s not an option. I’m excited to see your deck and how everything goes!

    Reply

  9. Hannah Deutsch says

    My parents have a wood deck, and my dad refinishes it every other year or so. It’s always fun to go with him to the store to pick out a new stain. Some times he goes lighter, other times darker, and I think they even tried a gray-ish shade before. Such an easy change since you know it’ll only last a few years before it has to be done again, so you’re not stuck permanently hating it forever.

    Also, their deck is in a cheveron pattern, with all the boards meeting up at like a 45* angle. Just something different from the straight-across that most decks have.

    Reply

  10. Rachel says

    Yay!! We just bought our first house and inherited a great (pressure-treated) wood deck. It has never been stained or sealed so that’s definitely a project we plan to tackle fairly soon. Can’t wait to see the how-to from you guys!

    Reply

  11. Kim says

    I agree about the plastic-y look of composite. Maybe it depends on how you use it, or maybe there are different grades of composite? We wanted to like it, we really did, but the cost kept us from choosing that as well as the look. Wood is renewable, so it’s all good, I think. I figure we go greener lots of other ways, so it’s ok.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Yes, everything we read said that wood and composite were similarly eco since wood is renewable and composite doesn’t break down in landfills (although it is made of recycled material), so there are pros and cons to both. They did say that wood harvested here (ex: the wood we’d get is from here in the south) is more eco than carting over exotics just because it’s a lot of fuel to get them here. Hope it helps!

      xo,
      s

  16. Meg says

    We recently saw a new deck stain at Lowes called “Restore” – one coat seals a wood deck, and a second coat makes it look like composite. We’re hoping to try it on our wood deck soon if it ever stops raining here!!

    Enjoy your deck!

    Reply

  17. Brittany W says

    We would like to put a small deck in our backyard but we might go more the cement slab side… Still not sure. :/ thanks for the resources, I’m going to take a look at them and maybe we will get something else planned.

    Reply

  18. Ellen says

    We’re not building, we’re tearing down! We’re tearing the front off of our backyard shed (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lnboz/4057485315/in/set-72157622694434956), to create a better facade and to make it more secure, since it can’t be locked up right now. But since the entire front of it is off right now, my 14-year-old stepson did take the extra wood and create a “zombie impenetrable” barricade on the alley to the right of the shed between the shed and the fence. It’s pretty cool – it even has bamboo spikes at the top!

    Reply

  19. Emily says

    I just stained the deck outside our kitchen this weekend, and I have to say it took about an hour and a half to do a 10×10 deck, railings and about 100000000 balusters, but it was worth it. I love how our real wood looks and feels under my feet, and an hour and a half every two years or so really isn’t that bad!

    Reply

  20. ClareJR says

    The VMFA deck looks so cool. Thanks for sharing.

    What a blast from the past … E.Claiborne and Lora Robins’ names are all over buildings at UR. I love/miss Richmond.

    Reply

    • Kate says

      The Robins name was what I focused on in that picture, too. Lora Robins Court was my first “home” in Richmond. I miss it, too. :)

  21. Sophie says

    yep, love the look of wood decks. We moved into a house with an existing composite deck, and I have to say I absolutely love it. The main reason? I really like going out on the deck in bare feet and never quite felt as comfy doing that with a wood deck, composite just feels better…for my feet and 3 boys’ feet! Also, now that we have an almost crawling baby on our hands I feel I can more safely put her down to enjoy the deck with us outside. But you can’t beat the price or the look of real wood! Are you diy-ing the whole deck? Looking forward to seeing your progress!

    Reply

  22. Emma says

    What a timely post! I’m grappling with the same decision right now on our deck (that was built by the homeowner, not to code, and needs to be replaced). Composite is twice the price of wood (installed I’m looking at $10K for wood & $20-$25K for composite). I was told that the composite stuff gets stained/discolored and STILL needs to be cleaned and sealed every so often. My boss said fallen leaves left stains on his composite deck. Our deck salesman said there is a 15-year payback on composite vs. wood – not a real gem investment wise. I too am going with wood! Looking forward to reading all about your new deck.

    Reply

  23. Stephanie says

    Very exciting! I can’t wait to see what you do. No decking for me today. That’s the condo assosciations job anyway.

    I’m sitting at home letting in repair people. A handyman (who happens to be my cousin and his father), a plumber, dryer repair, cable & internet. PHEW.

    But I should have all the non-fun stuff done soon and then I can do the fun stuff… like decorating and painting. :)

    Reply

  24. Allyn says

    I think Prada and Sprite go just fine together. I mean, Karl Lagerfeld practically lives off of Diet Coke.
    Do you guys get bad mosquitos in Richmond? Because here in Franklin (right outside of Nashville) mosquitos rule out a lot of outdoor time unless you screen stuff in. So as much as I’d love a big deck, I’d get eaten alive.
    One day, I will have a giant screened in porch that I will pretty much live on. One day…

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Thankfully they haven’t been too bad at this house. At our first house they were worse (we think because it was a flat roof over the sunroom that collected a bit of water which made it a breeding ground- so gross!). Sometimes we’ll light these natural incense sticks that keep them away (got them from a local store called Birds Unlimited). We also hear Badger bug spray is awesome (and natural) so we might pick some up if it’s bad. So far out on the patio it’s ok though. Hope it helps!

      xo,
      s

  26. Abby K. says

    Have you guys seen the Kreg-Deck-Jig?? I was scouring ebay for a Kreg Jig for myself and stumbled upon it and couldn’t stop thinking about how nice it’d be to not have the screw holes in our deck (once we build it, haha!) http://www.kregtool.com/Deck-Jig-Prodview.html My brother is preparing to sand and seal his deck this spring for the second time since he built it 3 years ago, our MN winters are ROUGH on decks. Can’t wait to see your new one!!

    Reply

  27. rebekah says

    Using lumber is definitely the cheaper option. Composite decking absorbs alot of heat that makes is very uncomfortable for bare feet. I work for a vinyl company in Fredericksburg, and we started make our own deck boards, which are pretty sweet and not too plastic looking in my opinion, but they aren’t readily available yet or I’d send you a sample :)
    https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150559804544482&set=a.10150463336304482.369124.98937344481&type=1&ref=nf

    If you need a decking screw recommendation, go with a star bit like the ones GRK Fasteners offer. Because if you use square bits, you’ll want to shoot someone. I speak from experience :)

    Reply

  28. Stephanie says

    We’re contemplating building a wood deck next summer, so I am beyond excited to watch you guys tackle it first, haha. Good luck!!

    Reply

  29. Beth says

    Good luck with your deck! The zipper seams look really cool. I am thankful for any tips on sealing since we need to do that to our sad painted deck (has not been a priority since there were so many other projects when we bought our log home, but we have been here almost 2 years now and it is worse for wear). I am hoping we can save what we have and just power wash then stain it.

    Reply

  30. Siera says

    I used to build decks with my dad during my summers home from college. He always chose to use a pattern that allowed for the most use of solid boards without having to place them end to end to help reduce warping. He generally used a pattern like this, but with 3 in the middle instead of one and used a router on all the edges.
    Good Luck!

    Reply

  31. Erin says

    We put in a deck a few weekends ago – actually probably about the same footprint of yours, though significantly closer to the ground. The nice thing about a low deck is that in Houston, no permit required! :)

    As a (helpful?) tip, I’d actually recommend mitering every top edge of your deck boards. It gives a deck a bit more of a polished look, even if it is a little time consuming. You can see the miter on the edge of the boards in the very top picture you showed!

    Reply

  33. Page says

    We’re actually making plans to put a patio in our back yard. The house we just bought has a huge sunroom (which we love!) but it replaced the deck, so there’s no outdoor living space. No place for a grill! We’re trying to decide between pavers or a slightly raised platform built with wood. Do you have any idea how to cost/square foot compares? It looks like your estimates for this deck vs. the patio you built are about the same, but I don’t know how the sizes compared. Once you factor in all of the materials, I wonder which route is the cheapest for this kind of project.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Hmm, our patio is a little larger than our deck will be, and was a little more than the estimate we got for wood, so perhaps it’s a similar cost per square foot? Of course it depends how you get your pavers (we got them locally for a great deal and they’re made right here in Richmond).

      xo,
      s

  34. Amy S says

    I just had a small deck completed using pressure treated wood, and I reeeeeally love it. I mean, maybe it’s the honeymoon phase sort of love, but WOW I really love it. I like the clean and natural look of the wood a lot.

    http://t.co/T5PYXa5r

    My house is an old farmhouse in dire need of fixing-up, and I’ve just gotten the roof replaced and the deck put on. This summer my son and I are going to lay a patio right off the deck, do some landscaping along the back of the house, and, hopefully, with the help of some friends, fence in part of the back yard for our dog.

    It doesn’t look very impressive now, but I was really amazed at how just adding that deck and awning made the house look…more like a real house somehow. I think it might be something along the lines of what you guys said about how adding a deck in your empty “alley” space will sort of square off your house’s footprint — this deck turned my house from a square with a corner lopped off to a nice, tidy, nearly full square.

    Reply

  35. Stefanie says

    You made the right choice by going with natural wood. My parents have an 1100 sq ft (Yikes! IKR!) deck that extends out around their pool made of composite and while it looks absolutely lovely and is insanely easy to maintain it gets HOT HOT HOT in the summer! So hot that we’re forced to hose it down frequently in the summer when using it. My brother even cracked an egg on it last summer to prove his point. lol.

    Reply

  37. Jessica Willis says

    I LOVE wood decks!

    As far as the pattern, do you think it’d look too silly to combine the two ideas? I love the look of the frame, it’s nice and clean. But the zippered look is amazing, too!

    Although, if you’re planning on putting a rail up, maybe the frame idea wouldn’t work as well….just thinking out loud here! ;)

    Can’t wait to see what you guys decide to do!

    Reply

  38. Sherri @ House & Home{stead} says

    I’ll throw in my love for composite. We put in a composite deck that we DIY’d when we moved into this house 5 years ago. We went with the pricier stuff -Trex – and it was more expensive, but I love it so much more than pressure treated wood. Builder wanted to charge us $1800 for a very small deck and we paid about $5k, did the work ourselves and have a huge composite and cement-board siding deck complete with built-in planters and I LOVE it. Neighbors stop by and ask if they can peek in our back yard to look at it (you can kind of see it from the street). Would do it again in a heartbeat.

    This deck: http://www.familyhandyman.com/DIY-Projects/Outdoor-Projects/Decks/Building-A-Deck/build-a-no-rot-no-maintenance-deck

    Reply

  39. heather says

    This is definitely a very personal choice. If we hadn’t received our composite decking for free, we would have decked it in pressure treated (which is what deck structures should be built with anyway). We used cedar because it fits in well with our surroundings…and it was free. We used mahogany rails…because they were free. (You can see what we value most – cost). Composite is WAY more expensive, and for us it’s just not worth all of that extra cost. So that means our deck will have composite decking, but our porch on the other side will be pressure treated most likely (though it’s covered, so we may be able to go with something else).

    I love your idea for doing a pattern too. I would have loved some sort of herringbone pattern but honestly – it’s just not worth it and won’t fit in, plus it isn’t as traditional and down the line if I hate it man that would be expensive, and a lot of work, to fix.

    Reply

  40. Lauren Tal says

    So glad you went with wood. My parents have composite and they have a big problem…. with mold/mildew. It has stained all of the composite boards and has been really difficult to scrub and power wash off. Also— a hot pot was accidentally put on it after steaming a lobster and it melted two boards. Hot mess of a deck really.

    Reply

  41. N Shirley says

    We encouraged our mother-in-law to go for composite for the ease of care factor and she did. But one thing we didn’t know at the time is the composite gets very slick and slippery with a slight frost or drizzle- makes it very scary for a woman who had had a stroke- she is afraid to walk on it unless it is sunny! I am definitely with you for the wood choice!

    Reply

  42. Carey says

    I’m with you guys – I much prefer the look of real wood (maybe that’s because my dad runs a sawmill and passed on his love of wood to me). Lots of people tried to badger me into getting composite, but I’ve seen lots of composite that looks SO bad once it’s not brand new! I guess that plastic look doesn’t bother some people, but it’s not for me. Can’t wait to see your finished project!

    Reply

  43. Andrea says

    The deck is looking great!

    I have a completely unrelated question. I am painting our kitchen cupboards that were previously painted(really badly). I have sanded( not down to the wood in all areas but they at smooth) most of it has been deglossed through sanding but the cupboards are old and have lots of crevices where I could not get the sander in. I did use a deglossed solution twice and have primed them once.

    Whew lots of background info! Is there any reason I would need to do a second layer of primer? Would that help the paint stick better in the crevices or would be one coat be enough?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      I think if you look at it and it looks pretty well covered you can go on to paint! Probably can’t hurt to do it again, but if you’ve done it well once you’re most likely good to go!

      xo,
      s

  44. Alayne says

    We went the rounds with decking options as well. One thing that really interested us was something called accoya wood or perinnial wood (wood that has been acetylated- basically heat and pressure treated with vinegar) It lasts like crazy, is lower maintenance than regular pressure treated, and has gentler chemicals than found in pressure treated wood.
    The problem is we couldn’t find a dealer anywhere near us. We were so disappointed.

    Reply

  45. Kay says

    My husband is more tech-savy than handyman. After asking him several times to reseal the deck, I kind of woke up and thought, “Why not just do it myself?” So I did. And you know what? It wasn’t that hard. :)

    Reply

  46. Kelly says

    We just had a similar decision about our fence. Vinyl or wood? Vinyl was soo expensive and doesn’t really fit, so we went with pressure treated pine too.

    Have you thought about stains or sealants yet? It will drive you into a world of crazy. Oil versus water poly? Dark stain versus light stain? Poly or Penofin oil? Sooo many choices.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We haven’t gotten there yet- but we promise to keep you posted! We love eco stuff, so if a company like SafeCoat makes something for outdoors/decks we’d be all over that!

      xo,
      s

  47. Kelly says

    I love natural wood! I am a landscape architect and my firm recently designed a wood bridge using a species of wood decking called cumaru, which is so dense and hardy that it doesn’t even need to be treated! The only rub is that it’s super expensive and has to be shipped from Brazil (not so eco friendly in the long run).

    Speaking of, are you looking into eco-friendly wood sealers? (I know you two are greenies :) I know there are some great low to no-VOC brands on the market right now.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Oh yes, we’d love to use something eco to seal it- haven’t gotten that far but we love SafeCoat so we would love to go with something like that if they make an outdoor version!

      xo,
      s

  48. Amy says

    Love, Love this post!
    We are currently about 90% done our all wood deck.
    We are keeping it in the family – in total my Dad and Uncle are on their 4th deck and now my husband has joined in the fun! I can’t wait to read about your deck. DIYing is the best!

    Reply

  49. Ariana says

    Wood is such a classic choice, I’m a big fan. I love how you pointed to the upside of “having” to seal it. Each time you can get the option of refinishing it, or even painting it if you are in the mood for a new look. I LOVE the zipper idea- but I am a sucker for anything modern. Instead of a railing, maybe you could do an over-sized flower box? My family is designing a new resort in Central Florida, and they used them in the dining room as a divider (behind the concrete “tree” thing).

    http://ad009cdnb.archdaily.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/1335288201-streamsong-diningroom-300-1000×562.jpg

    Might add to the modern vibe, create more of a “room” feel, and allow for some garden color- plus I know you are trying to hide the AC. Love everything so far!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Oh yes, we are actually planning on a big planting box at the end of the deck instead of a railing (to further hide the air conditioner lurking beyond, haha) so the ones you linked to are awesome!

      xo,
      s

  50. kate says

    This is so timely! We need to build a lower level deck at our house, and we’re wanting to DIY but extremely nervous (we paid over 5k for someone to build our UPPER level deck – and that’s with us helping on labor – and we don’t want to do that again….especially since it didn’t seem that hard). Maybe we’ll be empowered by your experience to just get it done!

    Reply

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