# Building a deck,,beside ocean



## 1980z28 (Mar 4, 2010)

I have no experience of building a deck close to ocean

Pressure treated or composite,,,


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## Mechanic (Oct 29, 2013)

I'm not on the water, close, but mine is cedar. I would have built with composite but deck was already built when I bought the place. If cost is not a factor, composite would be the best imo. No maintenance either, other than a little pressure washing.


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## 1980z28 (Mar 4, 2010)

The deck will be about 8400 sq ft it total,,,completely new build

If i go composite,i am 56 it may last the rest of my life will only have to build one time


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## Mukhang pera (Feb 26, 2016)

1980z28 said:


> The deck will be about 8400 sq ft it total,,,completely new build
> 
> If i go composite,i am 56 it may last the rest of my life will only have to build one time


I have owned houses with decks within 50 feet of the ocean since 1982. All have been cedar. A cedar deck can easily last 30 years, but it will need a coat of stain every few years unless its a covered deck. Composite I know nothing about and it's perhaps a good choice. We used pressure treated for our dock. 

Looking at your deck area, maybe composite is the way to go. I don't think our decking, which is on all sides of the house, would be more than 2,000 square feet in area on a good day. I would not want to stain more than 8,000! And I would hope that large deck acreage is not exposed to falling leaves or any such thing. Not unless the hired help does the sweeping. I had that luxury at one home, but that was not in Canada. Here, I have to assume the role of live-in staff.


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## 1980z28 (Mar 4, 2010)

I got a estimate for composite,,,,,i will not be using it

Will be doing cedar as i can live with it,,,as for the help being retired i will assume all duties

Thankyou for the info


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## 319905 (Mar 7, 2016)

If you go with cedar my thoughts ... use pressure treated for the framing e.g. joists, western red cedar for the deck itself (although I'm seeing pressure treated being used here and there these days), facings, railings. Put plastic strips over the joists before installing the deck. Use screws ... I found as the wood dried/shrank, the nail heads began to protrude making shoveling the snow off troublesome ... no worries, just re-hammer the nails. My decks/balcony are 23 years old, untreated, I replaced a few butt ends (starting to rot) with short pieces last summer, should be good for another 23 years.

Here's a file pic  of my old school back deck and balcony for your consideration, the front porch is the same design, suits the house I think but if I was doing it today I'd at least look into the newer materials, techniques ...


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## birdman (Feb 12, 2013)

Don't know too much about materials and decking but recently had a deck built with railless glass which we love. For the decking we use treated 5/4 which are really just 1 x 4's. Works fine and we re stain every year but not a big job. The only thing I regret is not screwing the decking in from the bottom and eliminating the screws from showing on the deck. They mill wood specifically for this purpose and it has simply triangle shaped diameter. It is then screwed to the joists and to the decking.


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## Mechanic (Oct 29, 2013)

8400 sq ft is a lot of decking $$$, especially in composite. I have about 1000 sq ft here and figure that's enough to look after, lol. A gas powerd leaf blower works great for sweeping off leaves and debris. When I lived in AB the leaf blower worked good for getting the lighter powdery snow off too. The heavy wet stuff here out west is more likely to need shoveling.


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## marina628 (Dec 14, 2010)

I am surprised you survived the shock of the quote lol .We have a home near the ocean in Newfoundland and it came with pressure treated wood decking that was 26 years old and other than needing re staining it is still very solid.


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## Mechanic (Oct 29, 2013)

Yes, from what I see on home depot, even using the less expensive stuff would come in around $50k. Then there is all the fasteners, hardware etc. You would save a few hundred on stain though, lol


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## Mechanic (Oct 29, 2013)

I suppose another option that may be less maintenance might be to use pressure treated plywood decking and have one of those vinyl surface treatments put on. I see them on a few new places now and they seem like they may be another option.


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## 1980z28 (Mar 4, 2010)

Great to know

The deck goes all around the house


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## Mukhang pera (Feb 26, 2016)

Mechanic said:


> I suppose another option that may be less maintenance might be to use pressure treated plywood decking and have one of those vinyl surface treatments put on. I see them on a few new places now and they seem like they may be another option.


I have a neighbour getting quotes on a small deck replacement. He is here only a few weeks a year, so I am acting as coordinator and paying the bills for labour and materials and he pays me back when he sees me. So all the emails between owner and local builder are copied to me. Here's what the person who will likely build the deck said in an email last week:

"Here are 2 attachment files you can click on. One is the cost of vinyl and plywood and needed supplies for a 500 sq ft deck. The other is the cost of the pressure treated decking. The labour would be more also with vinyl. How much Im not sure.
If you cant open this the plywood and vinyl would be $2,500 just materials not counting joist replacement. The pressure treated is $1,250 decking only. 
I'm willing to do either. I called Tom [the person who did a small vinyl deck for the owner about 10 years ago] and asked some questions. There is also the work of sloping the joist box. Again. Not a problem. Slightly more work. Tom thought that the main advantage of waterproof deck would be dry storage below.
I am guessing that the plywood vinyl method would cost about 2,000 dollars more than pt.that is an educated guess." 

In a further email a couple of days ago, he said:

"I took some decking off of the deck to get a better look. It was so rotted I barely needed one hand to lift the boards. The measurements are as such.
Sill against house 40 feet.
Beams 150 feet
Joists 396 feet
Decking 865 feet

Total length of 2 by 6 = 1451 feet

[Redacted] Builders charges basically 1 dollar per foot for 2 by 6 pressure treated.
1,451 dollars wood material only not including sales tax and labour. I don't charge sales tax but [redacted] builders does. I estimate the labour to be about $2,000. But it really comes down to how long it actually takes.
You might want to consider cedar decking and pressure treated underneath in which case that would add 865 dollars to the cost. Cedar is 2 dollars per foot of 2 by 6. Making the wood materials before tax and delivery $2,316. I believe the advantage to cedar is lack of contact with the surface chemicals on guests and yourself as well as appearance. Its your choice. Metal joist hangars and lag bolts would be extra as would any additional features like more steps or additional railing."

So, this west coast example suggests that building an 8,400-square-foot vinyl-covered deck might get expensive. On the other hand, on the east coast, things might be very different.


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## 1980z28 (Mar 4, 2010)

I have a budget of 20 k so it may have to be PT framing with cedar or PT or a mix of both,,,there will be zero labour cost as my son is a contractor in st john`s and when time is available it will get done on weekends as i can help


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## Mukhang pera (Feb 26, 2016)

1980z28 said:


> there will be zero labour cost as my son is a contractor in st john`s and when time is available it will get done on weekends as i can help


Good to have a contractor in the family.


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## 1980z28 (Mar 4, 2010)

Mukhang pera said:


> Good to have a contractor in the family.



yes he also over the last 8 years or so he built me a 2 story garage and a house,my cost was just materials,,,so no mortgage all cash as i went slow and steady


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