Hello,

I will be starting my deck tomorrow and I have a question. It may sounds silly but I was wondering if there were any tips you could give on toe-nailing the support boards to the 4x4's. I'll be doing this project mostly alone with some help from my wife. I'm picturing all the 4x4's cut and in the dek blocks. Then I have to balance the support boards on top while trying to hammer in one side. I can see me swinging the hammer and the board falls or the 4x4 kicks out. Is there some trick to this or is it not a problem. Just want to make sure that I don't make this task 10x harder than it has to be.

Thanks for all your help,
Kevin

Skip the hammering, use screws. We actualy recommend that you use 2 1/2" deck screws and "toe-screw" them in.

www.deckplans.com/FAQ/05_FAQ_Supportboards.html

Good Luck!

Deckman

I found that pre-drilling was helpful (before screwing). You can buy a drill-and-drive quick change bit for your power drill that really makes this fairly easy.

Deckman,

With the 2x6's can you place them on the side of the 4x4 so that they are flush with each other. Do this for the outside of the structure and then toe nail as you state for the inside of the structure. Thanks again for your help.

Gerry Orten Jr

Your best connection is going to be to toenail (toescrew) those 2x's to the top of the 4x4's. This is not the only way to do it, but certainly tried and tested as the best way to do it.

Good luck,

Deckman

Deckman,

With the 2x6's can you place them on the side of the 4x4 so that they are flush with each other. Do this for the outside of the structure and then toe nail as you state for the inside of the structure. Thanks again for your help.

Gerry Orten Jr

This is actually going to be a WEAKER connection than if you are putting them on top of the 4x4's. Especially if you are just using screws to make the connection (you would have to use bolts because screws don't have that much lateral strength). I would do as Deckman says and put on top of 4x4's.....