How To Square A Deck Floor

Then he marks the top of the ledger 3 feet from the corner and the top of the side rim.

How to square a deck floor.

From the stake measure out 6 feet on the string and. You can use our feet and inches calculator to convert the board width in inches to feet. Here we will focus only on the decking materials but if you want to know the total cost to build a deck you ll need to take into account the price of the substructure posts beams and joists. Total ft 2 board ft 2.

Building a square or rectangular wooden deck is a big job but building a deck that is not square whether by accident or by design is a much more challenging task. Use the 6 8 10 or 3 4 5 rule to determine square or right angles in deck porch floor wall or roof framing or any other building framing or construction task. This will only work if the form you are testing has symmetrical geometry. Step 3 cut a 10 foot piece of mason s string and tie it to the stake.

If the deck is slightly out of. Measure again before and after your first deck board is installed and every few boards as well to ensure it stays square while building. You can use any multiple depending on the size of your deck such as 6 8 10 in this example. The surface the layer of decks on the joists.

The rule based on basic geometry for a right triangle ensures that a corner is square. First he tacks a double joist hanger to one end of the ledger and slips a side rim joist into place. Nails screws or hidden clips to attach decking boards. Subtract the smaller from the larger then take half of the difference.

To find the number of boards you need divide the total deck square footage by the board square footage eg. Length x width in feet and inches total length of your deck s perimeter board size. One way this old house general contractor tom silva ensures that mason s strings and deck framing are square when he is building a deck is by employing the 3 4 5 rule based on the pythagorean theorem. Once the perimeter boards are in place you can square the deck using two tape measures.

After you staple the moisture barrier to the floor measure the distance between the walls parallel to the flooring at both ends of the room. Use the 3 4 5 method to square your deck. To check a single corner for square use the 6 8 10 rule or if the sides are too short use 3 4 5 technique. The angle of your decking 90 to the joist giving a horizontal straight across look 45 to the joist giving a diagonal slanted look to your floor boards.

If the measurements match your frame is square. If the room is out of square which it probably is one measurement will be larger than the other.