Things You Must Consider Before Building An Outdoor Deck For Your Home

Your living space is not limited to the inside of your home. Beyond the walls of your hour, you have open access to fresh air, natural sunlight, greenery. The best way to unite your home interior and your exterior is by building an outdoor deck.

Your deck could be the centerpiece of your outdoor social life and a place for gatherings, barbeques, parties, or even for solitary rest. Decks add space to your property along with grandeur and utility.

The experts of Home Renovation in Toronto have come up with the following list of the types of decks you could go for:

1.   Freestanding-

Freestanding decks, also known as floating decks or ground-level decks, can be built alongside your home or anywhere in your yard. There are several municipalities that do not allow outdoor deck designs above a certain height. Hence, your deck must adhere to the building codes of your area.

2.    Attached/ Fixed-

Attached/ fixed decks are more elaborate structures as compared to the freestanding decks. Rising over a minimum height, fixed decks need special footings, guards and handrails, attached to the main house with a ledger board.

Steps to build an outdoor deck:

1.      The process begins with the home-owner meeting the deck builder discussing their visions. The builder will recommend appropriate and in-trend designs that would work best to suit your choices and also the placement of your house.

2.      The builder will draw a detailed blueprint and give a pricing for the materials they will need, all to give you a sufficient estimate of the budget you need to prepare for.

3.      The builder will then submit the deck plan to the building department and technicians will mark the ground for underground services.

4.      After establishing the position of the piers and footers, they dig holes and set the piers & footers.

5.      They install the ledgerboard on your house, along with support posts, beams, and joists.

6.      After they establish the basic structure, they will nail the decking board in place and trim it according to requirement.

7.      They will now add all the additional features that could include stairs, railings, etc.

8.      The deck is then stained and sealed to confirm durability.

Materials used in building your outdoor deck:

The code requirements determine the structural portion of the deck and they usually use pressure-treated lumber. You will get to explore several options for the top deck. If you are renovating your deck, you can just remove old deck materials from an existing deck and replace them. This will cut down your costs because in that case, you will not have to get your entire outdoor deck structure rebuilt.

Mostly, deck builders use composites, fiberglass, tropical hardwoods, redwood, cedar, and pressure treated wood, while building a new deck for you. There are several well-established companies offering services for full house renovation in Toronto.