Winner: Michael Dulay - September 2007

Overview

The project was started June 28, 2007, just seven weeks after my daughter was born. It took approximately under 2 months to complete the project. I worked on it almost everyday from 8 am to noon, and 3 to 6 pm for the first month then a couple of hours a day. I’m grateful to have a wife who put up with me on this project, never gave me a hard time when I worked on them. I didn’t just work on the deck the whole summer, I kept up with my responsibilities too as a husband and a father.

My house has an existing deck 16' x 11', the plan was to attach it to the new deck. The website was very helpful in my planning. I followed the basic steps in building, then revised it to fit my own specs. I found the deck gallery to be very helpful too.

I had to do quite a bit of customization because I decided to make the main deck same level as the splash deck. The pool is 20’ in diameter with a coping of 10” thick. I initially used the dimension for a 20’ pool, but the sections were too close to the pool, just a little bit small. I ended up using the dimensions for a 21’ pool, which worked out perfectly.

I wanted to keep the pump and the filter under the deck, so a cut-out was made to be able to remove the filter or remove the pump and filter assembly for the winter. I didn’t install hinges yet, I want to wait until the lumber is dry.

I had to revise the railings of the existing deck to match. Some of the wood of the existing deck were warped, so I had to replaced it. I also moved the stairs to the other side of the deck to provide access to the pump and filter.

Overall, I am satisfied with the outcome. It was one of the biggest project I’ve ever done next to my basement. It cost more than the pool itself. It could have been an expensive project if I had professionals build it, but it save me a lot of money by doing it myself and following the website’s sample plans. The Dek-Block piers made the project a lot easier, because my backyard is quite rocky, digging during summer months is no fun.Thank you so much for the help and also thank you to the other do-it-yourselfers who inspired me to build my own deck. I am glad I found the website, I have recommended it already to some of my neighbors.