Building a Curved Deck With Synthetic Decking

A multilevel deck with built-in benches and a barbecue pit turns a backyard into a living room

by Ted Putnam

For me , part of the challenge of custom remodeling has been the opportunity to prove something raw . When I see the potential to combine an interesting deck design and new cloth , I forthwith go away to my prospective clients , who received the melodic theme enthusiastically .

From their theater near Long Island Sound , my prospective clients had a wonderful view of a salt marsh and the estuary beyond . They also had a small G and require a backyard deck for recreational space .

After several meetings , we draw up a plan for a stacked semicircular pack of cards . The family could watch marsh birds from the top level or sit around a cozy hearth / barbecue on the low-pitched deck . A grand staircase facing the urine , a wraparound judiciary and a minor side stair finish the introductory design .

My client also wanted a deck that would withstand constant photo to salt and the weather condition extremes of New England . Although we would apply pressure - treat lily-livered pine for the framing material , we ruled out air pressure - deal decking because it tends to crack and check after a few season . Wooden lumber would also have require steam - bending to fit the desired curved shape . Having had four years of experience construction decks with woods - polymer composites , I propose Trex decking ( www.trex.com ) , which fit the bill utterly . ( For alternatives , see below . )

Sources for synthetic decking

During the preceding decade , consumers and manufacturer have expressed a grow interest in recycled building material , including decking . There are now several types of decking made from recycled plastic and/or wood products , as well as others made from plastic such as vinyl radical . While by no means inclusive , the list of manufacturing business below will provide some useful seed . Your local lumberyard should be helpful in finding regional suppliers of these synthetics as well .

Carefree Decking ( reuse high - density polyethylene)Earth Care Products , 765 Skippack Pike , Suite 200 , Blue Bell , PA 19422(888 ) 853 - 2784

ChoiceDek ( eminent - density polythene and cedar composite)Advanced Environmental Recycling Technologies Inc. , Farm Road 2169 , HC10 , P. O. Box 116 , Junction , TX 76849(800 ) 951-5117www.choicedek.com

Dream Deck ( polyvinyl chloride)Thermal Industries , 301 Brushton Ave . , Pittsburgh , PA 15221 - 2168(800 ) 245 - 1540

Perma - Poly ( recycled gamy - density polyethylene)Renew Plastics ( division of N.E.W. Plastics Corp. ) , 112 4th St. , Luxemburg , WI 54217 - 0480(800 ) 666-5207www.renewplastics.com

Phoenix Plastic Lumber ( reprocess high - tightness polyethylene)Outwater Plastic Industries Inc. , 4 Passaic St. , Woodridge , NJ 07075(800 ) 888 - 0880

TimberTech ( wood / plastic rosin composite)Timber Tech Ltd. , 894 Prairie Avenue , Wilmington , OH 45177(800 ) 307-7780www.timbertech.com

Trex ( recycle wood and polythene composite)Trex Co. LLC , 20 S. Cameron St. , Winchester , VA 22601(800 ) 289-8739www.trex.com

mountain motortruck make pouring concrete an efficient processAfter digging the post holes and a circular basis for the barbecue , we called for concrete . Normally , we blend small batches of concrete for footings from 80 - lb . bag . When we need more than a few C. W. Post holes but less than a base , we make a call to the local ready - mix company for a concrete batch hand truck . stack trucks are smaller than big mixer and mix concrete on the spot in the strength that we need . We pay for what we use . The normal batch truck can deliver up to 5 yd . It ’s also quite a scrap faster than mixing the stuff by hand .

An underground fixedness becomes the barbecue base in the center of the deckBefore the frame began , we needed to finalize the hearth / barbeque intent . The proprietor were n’t interested in a fancy gas - discharge appliance ; they just wanted a stead where they could make a tangible fire for sing - alongs , s’mores or serious cooking . During the design , we planned for a shallow brick pit progress on some kind of concrete - base platform . We found the bag after some inquiry and a few phone calls : a wire - meshing reinforce concrete tower usually used to domiciliate utility underground . This concrete tube had a 42 - in . dia . We brought in a 40 - in . grandiloquent section of the utility tower and set it in place , concentrate on a orbitual footing 5 foot . in dia . Next , we filled the tug with junk and concrete ; after the deck was finished , a James Neville Mason laid the firebrick inside the barbeque .

Once the concrete had cured , we start out fructify the support C. W. Post and beams . Pressure - treat 4×4 station would endorse doubled pressure level - treated 2×8 beams that would execute under and vertical to the joist . We used galvanized connectors to secure the posts and ray of light , and after bolting the ledger boards to the house , we bent and attached aluminum flashing over the ledger . We then nailed on the joist hangers , cut the pressure - treat 2×8 joist and begin framing . Because Trex has no structural properties , its manufacturer recommends no greater span than 16 in . o. c. for 5/4×6 bullnose decking in residential applications . We let the joists run long past the reenforcement beam and perimeter outline ( photo , below ) to machinate for the next step of lay out the circles .

It ’s easier to frame bend if you start up by couch a squareWith the joist installed and run long , we tag on a piece of 3/4 - in . plywood about in the center of the joist on the upper deck and place the accurate eye of our first circle on the plywood . We then drive a nail through one closing of a 1×3 into the plywood at the centerpoint , and we cut the 1×3 to the traffic circle ’s spoke after subtract 1 - 1/2 in . for the skirtboard , 3/8 in . for the grille and 1 - 1/2 in . for the plywood stripe joist .

We swung the homemade trammel over the top of the joist and marked the curved shape with a fine - point felt - tip pen . We drew plumb lines with a framing lame and cut the joists 2 in . to 3 in . beyond the ancestry with a chainsaw .

To make the curved block that would support the plywood banding joist , we used the offcuts and cut them to correspond between the joist , loaded to the top . After apprehend the block , we redrew the electric arc and cut back to the line with a circular saw ( picture below left field ) . ( After trying to cut straight for year , I find that it was surprisingly well-off to foreshorten a curve ; it was also much faster than curve with a jigsaw . ) The bottom block was trace from the top , cut and collar into spot at the bottom of the joist ( exposure below right ) . The joist ends were then trim flush with a reciprocating adage .

To make the band joist , we ripped 1/2 - in . pressure - handle CDX plywood into 7 - 1/2 - in . wide strips and laminate three layer together across the joist terminate . We clamp one ending to the starting item and tardily began to glue , clamp and nail , using building adhesive and 8d galvanized box nails ( photo below leftfield ) . We let the end fall down without gaze to the joist ends and were generous with the glue ; we also were careful to keel the joints on each stratum . After complete the lamination , we used the chain saw and ignore the support beams flush with the plyboard . We shared a congratulatory coffee break and set off to tackle the enceinte lower section .

The lower - deck frame was selfsame to its upper neighbor with one exclusion : The swerve band joist would lean parallel to the frame along one side of the deck and would not be fend for by the joists . Rather than fill in the nihility with curt block , we blast a duration of press - treated 2×8 horizontally to the top of the last joist . After scribing and cutting the arc , we hunt the arc onto a second man of pressure - treated 2×8 that would serve as bottom blocking . The plywood band joist secured the blocking , and vice versa .

The beauty of composites is revealed in the bending

After staple plastic lattice around the margin , we began bending and attach the 2×10 Trex skirtboard . We used scrap 5/4 decking to establish the height of the skirtboard above the flange ; when screwed onto the band joist , the skirt would brood the butt end of the decking . We ’ve retrieve through experience that scribe - fit the decking into the rim yields a more precise joint than set up the decking first . Prebending the 2×10 was a girth , and in prompt chronological sequence we attached the skirt with 3 - 1/2 - in . galvanized decking nookie into the joist . We glued the joints with PVC cement and filled gaps with a smorgasbord of PVC cementum and Trex sawdust .

The author met the challenge of a tightly curved rim joist by laminating three layers of 1/2-in. pressure-treated plywood onto the joist ends with plenty of construction adhesive, clamps and careful nailing.

Take extra care to keep the decking straight and well supported

It was time to lay the decking down . Because the boards are so flexible , we had to watch closely that the course did n’t betray too much . We snapped a serial of chalklines , each representing a dual - display panel width , and screwed a decking board with 2 - 1/2 - in . galvanized decking screw to each chalkline , leaving a board - width space between . We then miss in another board and centered it by eye , using a scraper or flat bar as needed to match the gaps on both sides .

On the upper level , the decking ran flat out across the joists , parallel to the house . We scribe and abbreviate the decking to length with a fretsaw , snip the butt ends with a block plane as necessitate . The bottom floor was n’t so easy . To bring a visual nidus to the barbecue , the terminal intent called for the decking to diversify out from the barbecue like wheel spoke in a wheel . This required a meaning amount of extra block to digest the aslope runs of decking .

Bent rail add a unique blueprint ingredient and are as self-colored as a tilt

With the decking complete , we began the rail off expression . We predrilled each baluster top and bottom , set the heights , plumbed them up and screwed the low ends into the skirtboard .

We prebent the vertical face of the railings by clamping a Trex 2×4 to the inner border of the balusters . After bending , Trex will hold its basic form for quite a while . We then bring the 2×4 to the top of the balusters , clamped it in place and screwed it . We examine several different joints to connect the 2x4s , but because of the crook railing , we could not get the joint nasty to my complete expiation . For future decks , I will exceptional - lodge longer pieces ( Trex can be extruded up to 40 foot . long ) and wo n’t have to deal with seams .

The top of the rail was a raw challenge . We tried bending a Trex 2×6 on border but could not get the radius required , so we rive Trex 2x6s into 1 - 3/8 - in . strips . Using PVC cementum , we paste and screwed the first slip to the top of the vertical 2×4 ; this served as our form . We then glue , clamped and screwed the remain pieces into home , stagger the line as we went . Any irregularities were off with a swath sander .

fter complete our study on the rail , we began to build up the bench for the lower level . We constructed right - angle press - treated 2×4 supports and ensure one to every fourth baluster and to the deck , providing a finished seat acme of 19 in . from the deck . After tie the financial support together with a vertical Trex 2×4 as a facing , we rip , dented , glue and then screwed 5/4×6 Trex for the bench seat as we had for the rail .

New material and designs necessitate meter

For the structural blocking where the deck’s curve ran parallel to the joists, a 2×8 was nailed to the edge of the last joist, and a 1×3 trammel was used to trace the curve onto the 2×8. After the board was cut, another just like it was nailed to the bottom of the joist, and the two were tied together with a laminated band joist.

When I work , I endeavor to learn novel ideas and proficiency . Unfortunately , find out novel techniques can be time - squander and expensive . After this experience , I ’m ready to take on the next challenge . Bent glass rails , anyone ?

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Prebending synthetic decking can be as easy as walking. Because Trex is made from a composite of recycled high-density polyethylene and wood chips, it has little lateral stiffness and can be bent easily. Once bent, the material keeps its shape for some time without reinforcement.

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The skirtboard is screwed to the rim before the decking is laid down. The author scribe-fit the decking to the skirtboard, which helped to maintain precise joints between the butt ends of the decking and the skirt. Scrap decking helped to align the skirt as it was clamped and screwed into place.

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