Customer Reviews

Building a Deck: Expert Advice from Start to Finish (Taunton's Build Like a Pro)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Building a Deck (Build Like A Pro)

My construction experience includes home additions, house remodeling/renovation, and many indoor upgrades, but only one deck. So, when we decided to replace our own old deck with one using the latest materials, a how-to book was in order. After reviewing deck books at local stores, this one stood out as the most useful.

Cons:

- This book was written in 2002 and needs a major revision to incorporate current building materials. For example, the deck railing chapter talks mostly about building railings out of wood. The same is true for decking, where almost the entire focus is on wood. The author devotes a page or so to Trex and a few other materials available in 2002, but a host of newer products are now available. Today, there are a wide variety of composite planking (plastics & wood) choices; all synthetic decking such as Azek deck "boards"; PVC and perma-cast balusters; and metal-reinforced vinyl/PVC railing (stainless steel cables, aluminum, steel).

- The book explains attaching the top of a staircase to the deck and methods for anchoring the stairs bottom to a concrete pad; without addressing the frost heave issue. In my area, outside concrete pads frequently frost-heave upwards up to an inch by mid-January. If the author's approach was used here, heaving would jack up the stair bottom, weakening or destroying stairs-to-deck connections. This was inexplicable since the author addresses the frost issue in other places.

- There were a few techniques described that, lacking a diagram or photograph, were too ambiguous to be useful.

- One book can't cover every construction scenario, but it was frustrating that it didn't cover some of the things I needed. E.g., in the section on how to flash the ledger board, the examples show houses with siding above and below the ledger. There were no examples of having siding above the ledger and a masonry wall below.

- If a ledger is lag-screwed against the house sheathing (through to a rim joist), our county building code requires flashing (metal, butyl rubber, etc.) between the sheathing and the ledger. Following the book's approach of having nothing at all there wouldn't pass inspection.

Pros:

- The main focus is teaching the reader how to build a deck, rather than how to deal with a contractor that will build your deck.

- Intelligently organized, with excellent "pro-tips", details, safety tips, building codes, diagrams, and photographs throughout.

- I didn't want a deck book for the novice. Not to worry; the author uses a writing style that worked for me, but should still work for a novice. The book may be too basic for a decking contractor, but it should be helpful for anyone else.

- Multiple approaches are described for most aspects of a deck project, versus having one this-is-the-way-to-do-it, approach.

- Occasional mention of the applicable building code (e.g., balusters can be spaced no farther than 4" apart), with advice of how to exceed standards, when the author believes building codes are too lax.

- Every aspect of a deck project is well discussed, except for financing. It starts with deck planning, and things you should consider, and progresses logically through foundations, ledgers, posts, and beams, joists, decking, railings, stairs, and custom details.

Summary:

This book was clearly worth its small cost, even though it didn't [adequately] cover newer materials or all construction issues. I improved several aspects of our planned deck, based on ideas in this book, and, found out most of what I needed to know in order to do the detail plans required by our county building inspections department.

I am planning to design and build a large (40x15) deck, and I bought several books to learn about the process. This is far and away the best of the lot. Plenty of detail for each part of the deck. Great diagrams and pictures. Lots of great "tricks of the trade." Very readable. Highly recommended.

After doing my own research, I ended up purchasing this book. I agree completely with the other reviews - its the best book, its the only book you need, and I congratulate the author on making this a flexible yet thorough resource that guides you pictorally through every step of the process. Just plain awesome, and I just finished my deck and I love it - it exceeds my expectations and its due to the advice in these pages.

I've been researching decks and screen porches for the last few months, with the intention of building a 16'X 34' elevated deck and screen porch on my home in Southern CT. I've done many home construction project big and small; however, I'm not in the construction business. Scott Schuttner's Build Like a Pro book on decks, is by far the best book on decks, period. It is clearly superior to the other books I've read on the subject (and I've purchase over four of them and flipped through a lot more). This one was really the only one I need to buy; unfortunately, I came across it after studying the other books and still not feeling that I had a full understanding on deck construction and design options. Schuttner's book lives up to its opening dedication: "...to all those who desire to do the best they can."

I though this book was significantly superior to other books in the following ways: 1) Excellent descriptive text and photo detail. 2) The "Pro Tips" were enlightening. 3) The comments made about the style and appearance of deck were very helpful. It discusses what aspect of the deck are the better place to spend your money. For example, is it better to spend more to install a unique floor pattern or on the railing detail? The book is loaded with insightful design and construction stuff. For example, the different choices of railing design and appearance. Other books had one or two railing designs the Build Like A Pro book had several. These somewhat subjective but important insights weren't touched upon in the other books. 4) The scope of this book was much broader than other books, while also being more detailed and insightful. From the planning / drawing, the footing, framing, decking, on through to the finishing, this book does it all in presentation and language that even a non construction person can follow.

The other books I've read were Ok for an easy low frills deck. Those books could also help a homeowner talk to a contract about having a basic deck built. However, this book was much better in those areas, plus provided a great deal more insight for the person actually designing and constructing (workin' da tools), a higher value added / better looking deck. If I could change things, I would have purchased only this book. It's no more expensive than the others and a lot better.

In summary, I believe this is a FIVE STAR book and a must have for those planning and building a deck. My only regret is that the author, Scott Schuttner, obviously a very experienced builder, didn't write additional chapters or another book simply devoted to screen porches. But heck, lets be fair, this book is all about decks from A to Z. OUTSTANDING BOOK!!... Thanks

I am a firm believer in the KISS method of doing things. (Keep It Simple Stupid") Every step is covered in this book so that anyone can learn from it. The "Build Like A Pro" series of books are all laid out like this one. The "Expert Tips" are great. They show you short cuts to help you do the jobs right, but in less time. This is stuff you only learn by doing the job everyday. They are trade secrets.

My wife and I successfully built a deck using this book 2 years ago. Planned, submitted plans to village got building permit and final inspection. It felt good to accomplish such a large task with only 2 people who are not carpenters and haven't built a deck before. The deck is around 300 sq. ft. so it is not small. The book has all the information you need to build a solid deck. It also includes information on problems you could run into and ideas for customizing the deck. We are now building a smaller 100 sq. ft. deck for the front of our house. Believe me, we could not have done this without this great book.

I looked at a variety of deck building books, but this one really tops all of them. It is easy to read and VERY comprehensive with everything from explanation of multiple ways to pour footings / piers, ways to build beams up and a whole discussion on fasteners, decking material, etc.

There are also a variety of 'pro-tips' as side-bars that I found very useful.

Finally, it's a great reference while you are building as it's organized in a way that makes it very easy to find the specific section that applies to the stop you are on.

I learned a lot from this book and my deck not only came out looking great, it's sound as a pound thanks to the author's suggestions on construction.

This book has great details and illustrations. The book flows from beginning to end and is written so that even the novice (me!) can clearly understand and comprehend. I read it cover to cover and can' wait to use it as a reference again and again.

Bought this book as I am planning to design and build my own deck. I bought this book as well as 2 other books to help me accomplish this project. I gave this book 4 stars because it was very useful however, i found the black and decker complete guid to decks a better read.

I bought this book and several others so that I could dismantle and rebuild my deck. This book was by far the best of the lot. I wound up changing the design of my seating based upon some of the examples and am very happy with the results. I'm almost sorry that I am finished with the deck because it was so much fun.

I bought his book used through an affiliate and it was delivered quickly as advertised in like new condition.