The old deck was built of cedar but it had very ugly railings and most of the boards were rotting away. I didn't go with cedar when I rebuilt it because I plan on having furniture and from my research cedar is very soft.

I built this approximately 500 square foot deck completely by myself. I hand picked all the wood and brought it home. The joists are flashed with flashing tape. Every screw is stainless steel. I made a tool out of a steel bed frame to equally space the floor boards. I also built the deck so you will not see any screw heads. Took me about one month but there was also rainy and very hot days. So I'd say 2-1/2 to 3 weeks.

I'm loving it and look for every excuse I can to go out on it lol. I still have a little clean up to do and straighten out the stones but I couldn't wait to post. I read your supposed to let the wood weather a little before you stain so I'll probably wait till next year and use a transparent stain.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Here I made sure the lattice fences lined up and I calculated the spacing and made spacers for the spindles so they are all exact equal distance apart.This part, the previous deck just went over where you now see red pavers. There was actually a concrete platform. I didnt want to put the deck over it cause all the old deck boards in this area in particular were completely rotten and plants were growing. Also it was difficult to exit the kitchen cause the storm door was hitting the warped boards. So to completely eliminate this problem from ever happening again, I stopped the deck at the concrete and put rubber patio pavers. I also use and underlayment to raise the paver up to the same level and the deck. I am very pleased with the way it turned out.

I used actual 2x6 boards for the floor. I looked at the "thick" deck boards (which are actually 1x6)and didn't like how cheap and flimsy they were. I think going with actual 2x6 will greatly reduce warping, splitting, and definitely make the deck a hell of a lot stronger.