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This small deck is packed with features: composite decking, cantilevered seating nooks, a cedar pergola, custom railing, cascading stairs—all illustrated with solid, easy-to-understand construction details.
After more than seven decades of DIY work, we’ve built our fair share of decks here at Family Handyman. And we’ll most certainly build some more in the decades ahead! I really like the deck project here, which originally appeared in the May 2004 issue of the magazine, because it’s small but mighty, loaded with bespoke features. Like most deck projects, it’s also adaptable, so you can take or leave the various features here, or add to them as you see fit.
Also, if you do build this deck or another one, we’d love to see it. Just head over to our submissions page and share your work with us. Now, get to work! — Ryan Van Bibber, executive editor
This DIY wood deck isn’t huge—about 16 ft. wide x 18 ft. deep plus bays and stairs—but it’s big on features. The upper deck is just the right size for entertaining small groups—spacious but intimate. It has cantilevered nooks on both sides that provide space for seating and barbecue storage. The pergola shades the upper deck and the home’s interior from the sun, and it offers a space for hanging or climbing plants. The lower deck is a great place to hang out in the sun, while the cascading stairs flow into the yard and provide lots of space for planters and pots.
This deck has some out-of-the-ordinary construction details that contribute to its unique look. For starters, the deck joists run parallel to the house and overhang the beams to form the cantilevered bays on both sides. Rather than a bolted-on ledger board, special “long-tail” joist hangers support the deck at the house. The material is a low-maintenance composite decking material with a tongue-and-groove shape that allows you to hide the fasteners by driving them through the tongues.
The rail system combines horizontal boards for privacy and an open design of copper plumbing tubes at the top, allowing you to see out easily. These unusual details make the deck a bit harder to build, so you’ll have to follow the photos and drawings carefully to get everything to fit. If you have some carpentry experience, you shouldn’t have any trouble building this deck. It’s a big project, though, and will probably take you and a helper about two solid weeks to complete. You don’t need any special tools, although a power miter saw speeds up the work.
For these small wood deck plans, you’ll find treated lumber, cedar boards and many of the metal fasteners at your local home center or full-service lumberyard. You’ll may have to special-order the tongue-and-groove composite decking (we used a type called “Geodeck”), the 6×6 posts and the special “long-tail” beam hangers. Make sure to use joist hangers labeled G-185. These have extra zinc coating to prevent corrosion caused by the chemicals in treated wood. Expect to spend around $7,000 on materials for this deck.
Before you order materials, submit a deck plan to your local building department. Include details for the footings, attachment to the house, steps and handrails, and brand of composite decking. Some of the details we show may not be acceptable in your area. A few days before you plan to dig the footings, call to have underground utilities in the vicinity of the deck located and marked (call 811). Then follow Photos 1 – 21 and Figures A – F to build the deck, rail and trellis.
Figures A, B and C in these small deck plans show the construction details of the deck with a cutaway view, framing elevation and framing plan. Use this plan or adapt it to your own site.
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