Ever had a home project that disrupted your entire life, and you only worked on begrudgingly? Maybe you couldn't cook in your kitchen for 6 months, or drywall dust was everywhere, or you could only use the upstairs bathroom.
Unless your deck is the only access point into your house, you won't feel nearly as inconvenienced or irritated by a partially finished deck. It's probably in your backyard, and if you've moved your materials onto chocks and out of the way, you can minimize the dead grass and lawn-mowing obstacles.
First off, there are a few stages that you'll want to power through, but for much of your deck build, you can take your time. There's no glue or drywall mud that needs to get done all at once and you can drop your tools and end your workday when you please. The most crucial steps to get done in one shot would be laying joists and blocking, and setting stringers. This prevents your treated material from drying and warping because it's not completely secured when it's drying. Tackling this over a weekend should give you enough time to get these framing parts set.
Deck building is satisfying! Decks are unique in that once everything is fastened in place, there is virtually no painting, sanding, refinishing, deep cleaning, or anything requiring a tradesman's skill. If you can confidently read a tape measure, plumb posts, make cuts with a power saw, and understand your plan, you're off to a great start. You may make a bad cut here and there, but hiding the bad cut or getting a replacement part is relatively easy, and shouldn't get you down.
Take some time to read our step-by-step guides, understand your deck plan, and ask us anything you might have concerns about. We want to make sure you feel confident about starting your project, especially when it leads to a finished product you're proud of.
