# Planning a ground level deck.



## gm560 (Feb 22, 2018)

I am in the early stages of planning to build a ground level deck made of composite decking. I am pretty handy and the deck is not that large, so will be doing the work myself. Currently my has a 14 x 12 paver patio. It is surrounded by the house on 3 sides, with the only exposed side facing the back lawn. I have decided on a ground level deck (18 or so inches high) for a few reasons.

1. I want to increase the size. Not in a huge way, but thinking of adding another 6 feet to the end, making it 20 x 12.
2. Because it is surrounded at 3 sides, it gets shade for most of the day. As a result, it stays damp, after it rains, it grows moss, and has a tendency to collect dirt and debris that is blow in by the wind. My thought is a deck will drain better, dry faster, and be easier to wash off than pavers. Also the slight increase in elevation might even keep some of the junk from blowing in in the first place.
3. There are stairs coming out of the house down onto the patio. I have little kids and they struggle with the door and stairs every time they go in and out and it makes me nervous. Not to mention they take up some valuable real estate on the patio. 
Goal is to move the deck as close to the door level as possible.

Does this sound like a reasonable solution? Anyone else build a low deck and have some tips? I am thinking PT structure with Trex surface, but would gladly consider other product recommendations.

Thanks!


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## Rig2 (Sep 3, 2018)

We buried our doughboy pool to where it was about 15 inches above ground. I built a mini deck or a step up area level with the pool height. I used these things called deck-blocks for the pier anchor points. Since the pool is round but the wall buttress are every 7 feet to keep the pool wall round it made for some weird deck angles. Basic high school shop classes and I have a step up deck that everyone who sees it says it's awesome and how much did I pay to have it installed. My only problem is after 4 years the composite kinda bows down in areas. They said 18 inches on cross trusses or anchor points. To my chunky butt it kinda bows in the middle of the 18 inches. I would go 12" on the cross trusses or anchor points if I could do it again. More wood but I think it Would hold up better stability wise in the long run.

And the hidden anchor tab hold down screw hardware sucks! The ones I had were a square drive and about 10% of the time the head would strip out or the screw would break. Be prepared to cut off screw and vice grip out the screw.

Measure twice also. That composite stuff ain't cheap. As far as moss and mold I haven't had any issue. Mine is in shade for about half the day. It does get dingy but a quick pressure wash every few month makes it look new.

Good luck. It wasn't too hard to do myself just a little intimidated. Those tv show and magazine make decks look unrealistic. But if you take your time you can have something that everyone else is beyond satisfied with that you see all the problems because we are our own worst critic. The guest will never know that the one angle is 44.5 and doesn't match with the 45 angle.


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## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

gm560 said:


> I am in the early stages of planning to build a ground level deck made of composite decking. I am pretty handy and the deck is not that large, so will be doing the work myself. Currently my has a 14 x 12 paver patio. It is surrounded by the house on 3 sides, with the only exposed side facing the back lawn. I have decided on a ground level deck (18 or so inches high) for a few reasons.
> 
> 1. I want to increase the size. Not in a huge way, but thinking of adding another 6 feet to the end, making it 20 x 12.
> 2. Because it is surrounded at 3 sides, it gets shade for most of the day. As a result, it stays damp, after it rains, it grows moss, and has a tendency to collect dirt and debris that is blow in by the wind. My thought is a deck will drain better, dry faster, and be easier to wash off than pavers. Also the slight increase in elevation might even keep some of the junk from blowing in in the first place.
> ...


When I was debating building my own deck or having someone do it I watched this guys videos about 60 times each to get idea what I was getting into. He doesn't go into exact details but gives you a good idea of how everything works. He has videos on ground level decks, stairs, handrails, and a bunch more. If you are pretty handy some of this may be below your skill level but I found them very interesting.
https://m.youtube.com/user/Heff2723


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## gm560 (Feb 22, 2018)

Awesome. Thanks guys.


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## gm560 (Feb 22, 2018)

Secondary question. Has anyone ever seen Trex go on sale? I like timing projects to when the main input goes on discount... Since its special order is the price just the price or has anyone ever seen it at a big discount?


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## Jconnelly6b (Mar 4, 2018)

One of the engineers at the construction firm I just hired for a project at work said he is building a deck next week and he is using Brazilian Ipe.

I remember seeing it when I was looking for hardwoods for our house. He said he found it cheaper than Trex and it's natural vs. synthetic. You can choose to either put a finish on or leave it natural.

https://www.hardwoodstore.com/ipe-brazilian-walnut


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

@Movingshrub just finished an ipe deck. Can you share pictures of the final results?


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## Movingshrub (Jun 12, 2017)

I built a 16' by 28' deck that's 30" off the ground. I used pressure treated pine for all the training and then used ipe for the decking and railings. 
This is the almost complete photo. I still need to do the railings for the stairs, top rail, skirting, and a fascia wrap of ipe.

I found ipe to be priced comparable to composites. I will say, ipe takes a lot of time to install and work, but I think it looks beautiful.


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## Movingshrub (Jun 12, 2017)

gm560 said:


> Secondary question. Has anyone ever seen Trex go on sale? I like timing projects to when the main input goes on discount... Since its special order is the price just the price or has anyone ever seen it at a big discount?


My local place had better pricing if it was a color they stocked, which also allowed returns if I purchased excess. Everything else was special order and non returnable.


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## gm560 (Feb 22, 2018)

Jconnelly6b said:


> One of the engineers at the construction firm I just hired for a project at work said he is building a deck next week and he is using Brazilian Ipe.
> 
> I remember seeing it when I was looking for hardwoods for our house. He said he found it cheaper than Trex and it's natural vs. synthetic. You can choose to either put a finish on or leave it natural.
> 
> https://www.hardwoodstore.com/ipe-brazilian-walnut


Yea. My parents have an ipe deck. The stuff is amazing. They put it in ~20 years ago. It is western facing and gets pounded all afternoon by the sun. The power washed it last year and it looks literally like the day they put it down. From my research it is more expensive than trex at least the prices I have found online. Here is the place I looked (which is a great lumber yard for anyone in NJ looking for exotic woods). If someone has cheaper sources, I would definitely consider it.

http://www.woodboardsandbeams.com/Decking.html


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## gm560 (Feb 22, 2018)

Movingshrub said:


> I built a 16' by 28' deck that's 30" off the ground. I used pressure treated pine for all the training and then used ipe for the decking and railings.
> This is the almost complete photo. I still need to do the railings for the stairs, top rail, skirting, and a fascia wrap of ipe.
> 
> I found ipe to be priced comparable to composites. I will say, ipe takes a lot of time to install and work, but I think it looks beautiful.


Looks great!


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## Movingshrub (Jun 12, 2017)

Find a wholesaler for ipe. I found one in mobile, AL. Pricing on my receipt here.


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## hsvtoolfool (Jul 23, 2018)

Ipe (EEE-pay) a.k.a. "Brazilian Walnut" is amazing wood for outdoor projects. It can be left natural but the sun fades it and turns it grayish. All the deep, red Ipe photos you see online show either fresh wood or have a some type of varnish UV protection....

https://www.wood-database.com/ipe/

Ipe is extremely heavy, dense, and very hard. It's definitely an "ironwood". Ipe is almost twice as hard as American Hop Hornbeam and only about 20% less than Lignum Vitae itself! Like teak and other jungle exotics, it's full of minerals that wear out carbide cutting blades. Everything you do with Ipe will be more difficult than with North American woods and man-made materials. I would pre-dill holes for deck screws and have several carbide blades ready for your circular saw. You might even burn up the circular saw motor itself on big jobs.

When working any jungle exotic (teak, cocobolo, ipe, jatoba, etc.), I'd wear a mask and treat the dust like it was rat poison. Many jungle trees are semi-related to the poison ivy family and you can develop severe allergic reactions to the wood dust. I can't remember which tree is which, and I don't like trips to the emergency room, so I just wear a dust mask when using power tools on any jungle woods.

By the way, another neat jungle exotic for outdoor projects is Jatoba (ha-TOE-ba) a.k.a "Brazilian Cherry"...

https://www.wood-database.com/jatoba/

Just to give you some idea how hard and dense these exotic woods are...

American Black Walnut: Average Dried Weight: 38 lbs/ft3
American Black Walnut: Janka Hardness: 1,010 lbf

Jatoba Average Dried Weight: 57 lbs/ft3
Jatoba Janka Hardness: 2,690 lbf

Ipe Average Dried Weight: 69 lbs/ft3
Ipe Janka Hardness: 3,510 lbf

Lignum Vitae Average Dried Weight: 79 lbs/ft3
Lignum Vitae Janka Hardness: 4,390 lbf


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