Winner: Erin and Grant Walsh - Deck of the year, 2003

Overview

We had a great time building our deck and the Dek-Block system made it so much easier than trying to sink concrete piers into the hard Texas ground. Thanks for designing such a great product.

1. This is our old deck. Though we cannot say for sure, we think it was built in 1981. It was rotting and hazardous because the boards were loose and nails kept popping up. It was a real eye-sore in our backyard.
2. It took about 4 hours to get all of the wood from the old deck torn-out. To our surprise, it had not been built with any type of concrete piers. Rather, the previous builder had simply used wood laid directly on the ground to support the piers which explains much of the rotting. We also discovered old concrete steps outside the back door that would pose a slight challenge for us as with building our new deck. The steps went down to an old concrete patio that was very cracked and uneven. We also discovered a large hold (approx. 7'by 7') where an in-ground hot tub used to be. The hole was mostly filled in but it created some difficulty in trying to find level ground on which to place the Dek- Blocks.
3. Here is how we framed over the old concrete steps. We used 2x4s on the top level of the concrete because a 2x6 would have been too tall. As the picture shows, we placed a Dek-Block on the middle step and connected the support beams to Dek-Blocks on both sides of the steps.
4. This shows the framing of the top level of the deck. We used plans from www.deckplans.com that were designed for a window cut-out, though we modified it a little for our window overhang.
5. This shows the Dek-Blocks as we spaced them out. The back-left portion of this picture shows the mid-level of our three-level deck. We used the design specifications for supporting a hot tub just in case we decide to add one in the future. You can see the old concrete block in the foreground that was used to anchor our old natural gas grill. We decided to simply build over and around the block and get a new grill at Lowe's that would attach directly to the new wood decking we were going to put in.
6. This is the first picture of the 2x6 decking installed. For the stairs, we bought pre-made step supports from Lowe's and cut them to our desired size. The grill is also installed, but it is under the blue cover. We added the flagstone patio and a swing from the tree to the ground level.
7. This is a reverse view of the deck and grill. We originally decided to leave the space between the stairs open, but later decided to fill it in for a more finished look.
8. We wanted to add a rail to the middle level but we decided to make a bench-rail so that it could be more useful. Now our table can seat six rather than four.
9. This shows our new grill as well as a detail of the angles between the three levels of the deck. You can also see that we finished out the spaces between the steps and between the mid-level and the flagstone. We used dwarf money grass to grout the flagstone.
10. We built a bench from the designs on the website, though we have tended to use it more as a table and footrest on the top level of the deck.
11. This is a more detailed picture of the bench-rail that we designed for the mid-level.
12. This is a view of the finished deck from behind the grill.
13. Instead of just building using end boards, we decided to build a flower box to cover the edge of the deck. This also allows us to easily move the flower box aside in case we ever need to crawl under the deck for any reason. We were sure to cut holes to allow water to drain.
14. This shows the whole deck.
15. Our new backyard Paradise!!!