Large Backyard Composite Deck

The original deck here was tiered, which broke a large space into pieces too small to use well. The homeowner wanted one level instead: a 27 by 12 foot platform with no step in the middle, so furniture and people could be arranged any way they liked.

We took the old deck apart and recycled the lumber, keeping the existing ledger and adding the structural screws that were not standard practice when it was first built. Then the ground was prepped, drainage corrected, and filter cloth laid for growth and drainage protection.

Reframing meant dropping the high section down so the whole deck sits at one level, then residing the wall above the old ledger line and fitting new siding tight to the new ledger with trim, so the house closes back up weather tight. Every joist run got a row of blocking at the 4 and 8 foot cross sections to stop future movement. Joist tops were wrapped in joist guard, and we checked the underside and drainage on a deck this close to grade so the lumber cannot wick moisture from below. Everything is hung on Simpson Strong-Tie 18 gauge hangers with GRK structural ledger bolts.

The surface is Eva-Last bamboo composite, made in Canada, and it stays cool underfoot through an Alberta August. We ran a picture frame around the exterior plus one centre frame board, which means no butt joints anywhere in the field. Corners are mitred. The field is laid on hidden fasteners, and the few edge fixings are pre-drilled, countersunk and filled with colour matched plugs, so there is no visible hardware.

Two steps were built on site off 2x12 stringers at 12 inches on centre, solid blocked, each picture framed with a three quarter inch revealed nosing over a composite riser cover. A composite face cover carries around the deck frame right down into the grass edge, so the platform reads as one finished unit from any angle. Railing is powder coated aluminum, chosen to hold up to the climate and to pair cleanly with the composite.