Exterior decks are most commonly made out of redwood. Redwood stands up to the sun and water much better than any other wood. The next best wood to use would be cedar. The other thing to consider is using “fake wood” or composition vinyl “wood”.
Decide where you would like to put a deck. You can put a deck on flat land or on posts over anything. Attach decks to other decks with walkways and steps. It can be as big or small as you want. Bigger is better because you can then use it to put more stuff on, such as chairs, tables, hot tubs, etc.
The first thing that has to be built is a free base for the finish deck to be attached to. This base will vary in construction depending on the shape of the area beneath the deck.
Once there is a base, then the finish deck can be put onto that. The finish deck is most commonly 2 inch by 6 inch with a space of about 1/8th of an inch between each board.
There can be steps from level to level, handrails for looks and for safety in areas where someone could fall, built-in benches that match the deck, planters that match the deck, holes cut around trees that come through the deck, decks that are built on concrete slabs, decks over land areas, decks put onto balconies and anything that you can imagine.
If you put in a real wooden deck, it is very important to maintain the surface every year, or at least every few years, depending on the exposure it gets.
The fastest and easiest way I have found to seal the deck is to use a garden sprayer (the kind you pump up) or a sprayer that is similar to that kind of sprayer that is better designed to spray the sealant. The kind of sealant that you want to use is a type that soaks into the wood and prevents water from getting into the wood. After you put the sealant on you will find that water will bead up on the wood like a new wax job on your car.
When you put the sealant on, it is important that you cover anything under the deck that you don’t want to get water sealed.
First spray under the deck on the support boards and any wood that you can get to that is under the deck. Next spray the top of the deck and spray into the cracks between the boards. It is good to fully coat the boards well as the more sealant that the boards soak up the less water can get in and the longer the wood will last.
