Get the Best Joist Leveling Techniques || Dr. Decks

If you live in a wet climate, your wood will bend. This isn't the best thing when trying to make a deck level. Today I will show you some simple techniques you can use with your joists to ensure your deck is perfectly smooth.

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Connect with us:
-----------------------------------------------------------------

#drdecks #deckbuilding #diy #homeimprovement #howto #tutorial #deckbuilding #framing #howtoleveladeck #howtolevelframing #levelingframing

[hunterfitzgerald]

Good video. Very informative. I’m a pro deck builder and we do all these steps as well. It’s very satisfying to see a deck after a rainfall and all the water is evenly distributed. No pooling due to low/high spots. That’s the mark of a pro deck builder who pays attention to levelling the deck. Thanks for sharing.

[calumgannaway]

Gidday mate,
I have a deck to build after Xmas. It's for a friend of ours and I want it to look good. I'll definitely be doing this. A little extra time now lasts for years. Cheers Calum

[KaashiefMartin-qyqn]

First I heard about levelling joist....Interesting info

[zephyr]

Just a master carpenter! Thk u for the video! Could you please go over from beginning to end the deck building process? So I am a finish carpenter but would love to file away a video from you for when I build a deck at my place!

[samu]

The leveling issue is one of the most difficult part of decking, and even more difficult on an overhead deck. For all the DIY home owners out there, knowledge and effort associated with these kinds of issues is why deck projects are extremely expensive. Framing a deck square, leveled and to code is not easy even for the pros. Thanks Dr. Deck for the tips. Learned mine the hard way, and almost had high blood pressure from going back and forth to exchange joists hoping to get them as similar in dimensions as possible. At the end, I failed and ended up still having to engineer and machine them. Very time consuming and frustrating venture.

[stefboulas]

Great video! Very helpful tips. Thank you for sharing.

[svilenstoyanov]

I loved it, really informative and on point!👌🙌

[pennybergmen]

There’s 3 decks in our area. They got them because they promised them they would be done in a week. They got Scarey decks. Ours is GORGEOUS. and safe

[larrys]

Great vids.
Try this
Joists attach flush at house.
No need for grading. (Crowning yes)
Find measurement of smallest joist.
Set combo square to that height and mark all joists at the beam.
Use your oscillating trick to trim them. They all fall level with the smallest joist

[johnventura]

Your Amazing! I would love to work with you to learn all these little tricks first hand, But I probably would get yelled at a lot lol.

[CMCraftsman]

We have SYP here in VT. I track saw all my joists before installing them. I determine the smallest width then I crown them and at the contact points (Ledger and beam) I measure up from the bottom of the joists to the number I determined was the smallest width. Snap a line from point to point and lay the track on that line.

[michaelvanselow]

Love your videos do you have a video on cutting your own stair stringers? I have a top 4x4 landing off the right side by the house stairs coming approximately 7’ down to another 4x4 landing then turning in front of the deck for the remaining stairs to ground

[danthechippie]

Great tips, is it recommended or worth taking the time to rip each board to a uniform width which means every board is the same width and straight?

[Langhorstiness]

Relates to deck joist heights - when you're switching from 1.5" boards to 1" boards I see two possible solutions - rip a bunch of marine plywood furring strips for the tops of joists, OR, just rip a bunch of strips of Timbertech fascia board which is 9/16". I worry that the plywood will not last in the long run. Not many choices in 1.5" PVC or composite decking and you pay for the extra thickness so every option has a dollar value attached to it. Thoughts? Could probably be its own little episode too... this dilemma comes up every time someone switches from 1.5" to something thinner.

[soccovitch]

Do you buy number 1 or number 2 usually? Man, after fighting my ledger and just all the variances of PT Hemlock joists, I am going to spend the money on pressure treated LVL from Pacific Woodtech on my next deck. I see so much time savings with the product.

[kwaskeconstruction]

We've used deck tape products in the past. Going to try Sherwin Williams fluid flashing tape on our next one. It'll stick to anything and UV protection. Ever tried it doc?
:)

[jasonleeker]

How important do you think adding treatment to the top of the joist that you planned down is if your using joist tape?

[bmtvrook]

What type of shims do you use? Can you make shims out of left over pressure treated wood?

[bobbyj]

Would you ever use a moisture meter and check the moisture content of the joists? I've received loads where one joist is obviously waterlogged and therefore is going to shrink a lot more than the dryer joists once they've dried out to the equilibrium water content. I find myself at times leaving the waterlogged joists higher by an 1/8" or so with the idea being that when the water content evens out they'll be at relatively the same height.

[ha]

Joist HANGERS were not mentioned. As you showed in other videos, they should NOT all be installed at the same level. Each hanger should be adjusted so that the top of the joist is at the same level as all the others. But that only makes the ENDS of the joists level with the ledger board and the rim joist. Crown or sag in the center can be handled as you described. If too low flip it. Then plane it flat.