Progress on my largest deck so far, on a steep hillside

Cowan custom finishing CCB-225044

acowan1216@gmail.com

503 791 7473

Here is a steep hillside, With a rotting deck, the client bought the house last fall. 

First I had to draw a blueprint, and come up with a framing plan.

After looking up codes (I always do even though I’m very familiar with most of them)

I decided to use 4x6 and 4x4 and not span more than 7 feet anywhere with 2x8 framing. 

In the code book you can span 12 feet. But I like making things, building them to LAST longer than I will.

So first came demo....

Then came the pier posts and footings. 

I laid those out with string lines according to my blueprint.

Next we poured concrete. By hand since it was less than a yard total needed. 

After the concrete set 12 to 24 hours, 

We started setting ledger boards. Normally I’d set all the ledger board then frame to it, 

But this site had unique challenges.

I couldn’t set a ledger board 12 feet in the air where nothing else was set.

So I decided to tackle it one 7 foot section at a time. 

As we needed more ledger board as we framed, I set it with temporary braces. And that’s basically how we built a 650 square foot deck , 12 feet in the air!

We still have handrails to build , that should be done next week. 

I’m super proud of myself and my crew, this hasn’t been an easy job at all. But the thing about doing hard things is, you’ll never learn anything by staying in your comfort zone! 

My prices for decks are average 25/30$ a square foot for composite (trex) and 20/25$ a square foot for Cedar or pressure treated wood. That’s for ground level, no handrail or stairs. 

20x20 deck as composite= $10,000.00

Cedar = $8,000.00

12x20= trex $6,000.00.   Cedar $4,800.00

I can give estimates with pictures and measurements via email or text! 

Thanks for stopping by!

I’ll make another post when this monster is complete!