How To Build A Deck | #5 Skirting

If you want to help support Shannon to produce more videos like this, visit www.house-improvements.com/do...
Visit www.house-improvements.com for help with your deck build. In this video, Shannon shows you how to install the deck skirting to make the space under the deck hidden.
If you have questions about your deck or other home improvement projects, stop by the forum on our website, where Shannon will answer your questions in detail for free.
Website: www.house-improvements.com
Facebook: / 180657245288627
Twitter: / house_improve
Video © 2015 SKS Media. Videos produced by SKS Media (House-Improvements.com) are provided for informational purposes only. The information contained in the videos is intended to give general guidance to simplify DIY (do it yourself) projects. Because tools, products, materials, equipment, techniques, building codes and local regulations are constantly changing, SKS Media cannot and does not assume any responsibility or liability for the accuracy of the information contained therein. Further, SKS Media will not accept any claim for liability related to, but not limited to, omissions, errors, injury, damage or the outcome of any project. It is the responsibility of the viewer to ensure compliance with all applicable laws, rules, codes and regulations for a project. The viewer must always take proper safety precautions and exercise caution when taking on any project. If there are any questions or doubt in regards to the element of a project, please consult with a licensed professional. SKS Media conducts all matters in accordance with the laws of Saskatchewan, Canada.

[@JohnSmith-wb6kq]

What I love about Shannons work is, when he make a few small mistake, he doesn't edit it out, just fixes it in a tradesman way, never seems to be a prob, awesome guy

[@Erated78]

I’m currently halfway through my 12x22’ deck build and have been guided by this wonderful series. Thank you kindly for your work put into this vid series... they have been quite helpful.

[@HouseImprovements]

You're very welcome!

[@grantarchibald3100]

Great job on the skirting. Will solve the problem I have installing mine. Thanks Shannon!

[@joannfagen4457]

Enjoy watching Shannon build his projects. He is possibly the best on KZbin.

[@HouseImprovements]

Thank you Joanne

[@timdare0831]

Awesome job. I just started watching your videos on this series of deck building. I will definitely be watching others.

[@shouldibehere]

This video was NOT sponsored b PL. However, this series is by far the best and most detailed instructional series on deck building I've seen.

[@therifleman8303]

Sleek and not overly complicated...just the way it should be done! Awesome, nice work!

[@HouseImprovements]

Thanks!

[@bigjuiceoverflow8871]

Very well done, I love the overall look and the aluminum you added to the railing makes a big difference.

[@HouseImprovements]

Yes it does!

[@ianchung944]

First time leaving feedback on youtube. You are one of very few that I subscribed to and I have watched most of your videos and I like to say that ALL of the work/videos are meticulously planned and executed with great deal of details and professionalism. I am most positively certain that the quality of work shown and all the know hows and tips you provide would help any diy'ers and alike. Thank you and keep up the great work!!!!

[@HouseImprovements]

Thanks for subbing

[@zlvirag]

By far the best and most informative 'building a deck' videos out there. The one I'm building is quite a different layout, but all the details that you give are very, very helpful. thanks...

[@HouseImprovements]

great, glad to help

[@Larry342516]

Great looking deck Shannon. Thank you for the helpful videos.

[@jasoncain3609]

Our back yard/patio are very similar to this and we are wanting a deck. Thank you for the videos, i'm going to try my best to follow in your footsteps!

[@HouseImprovements]

Good luck!

[@GeorgeB1959]

This was the best Deck video I have seen so far.

[@HouseImprovements]

Great to hear George

[@ethanschwartz]

very informative series great to watch as I am building my deck but man my knees and ankles are so sore watching you install this skirting!!!

[@howboutsomecoal]

one of the best looking decks ive seen awesome work

[@robertparry8425]

Fantastic! Was going horizontal but now vertical!!

[@manuelrapalo9604]

thank you for giving me this great idea. never would've thought wood skirting, neat.

[@HouseImprovements]

+Manuel Rapalo Great.

[@cvetanka777]

thank you for your step by step videos. very helpful.

[@msmeganmole]

You r fantastic. You want to make sure everything is perfect. Wish all contractors were like u.

[@Py_FoeHammer]

Great video! Learning as I go and your videos are invaluable!

[@beerrunner8153]

From what I see on this deck video this carpenter is a perfectionist. And that is the kind of person you want to hire. The perfectionist will only do the best job possible and anything less won't do. The wife calls me that all the time and it's an honer. His deck will still stand long after the house.

[@manuelrapalo9604]

so true, he is very detailed

[@317stitches2]

The man that built us a porch back in 2000 did the same thing with the skirting under our porch as far as a door opening except he made it in a way that it is hidden with no hinges and the wood was cut at an angle before nailing. No one knows except us the home owners, where the door opening begins or ends that he put in the skirting. It is a great feature.

[@tbicaretaker4232]

Always find your videos detailed and easy to follow. Thank you for doing them. It helps novices such as myself.

[@tbicaretaker4232]

Do you have any video's which show how to build a deck starting at a 45 degree angle, having to fix the angle, and also square it up with the initial downward slope of a wheelchair ramp? This is a lot to throw at you without pictures or a video to explain. I built a wheelchair ramp for my wife last year, and now we want to build a deck off of the side of the ramp where it starts the initial decline of the slope.

[@edwinheredia4305]

Beautiful job my brother you're really take pride at what you do beautiful job

[@mercyandpaign]

Excellent! Even though I am going with the lattice skirting, I found your level of detail very helpful. Thank you!

[@HouseImprovements]

You're welcome.

[@josezabalza4312]

@@HouseImprovements O

[@josezabalza4312]

@@HouseImprovements and

[@tyler4164]

enjoyed your videos on deck building. great job

[@whitepinelover]

Enjoy your vids Shannon you are a good hand!

[@Numberladyland]

I love this guy! He has helped me sooo many times! I can't believe I never thought of putting a pilot hole bit on one drill and the 'drill it in' kind on the other!!! I can't tell you how many times I have constantly changed bits back and forth...or forgone the pilot holes!!! Brilliant.

[@HouseImprovements]

Thanks

[@dannyniblett6174]

Wish I had watched these videos before I built my deck. very good info

[@richard16372]

Very informative and excellent workmanship. Very nice video and beautiful deck.

[@johnharrison5615]

best DYI videos out there.

[@danybarceloux7950]

honestly.. thanks a lot for my deck project. really detailed helpful videos. thanks a lot

[@HouseImprovements]

You're welcome, Dany.

[@p.s8950]

I too, love my Milwaukee Tools and PL... lol. Great videos. You have inspired my to rebuild my old deck. Thanks. BTW, I enjoy Not having heavy metal background music or lame standup comedy all through the videos. lol

[@HouseImprovements]

Cool, thanks!

[@safeharbor7]

Thanks Shannon, great job...

[@Mrdubomb]

Under deck pull out drawers would have been a great idea for this deck!

[@carlcarl9290]

Excellent craftsmanship

[@obetmagno]

Thanks, I think I’m ready to build my project... excellent videos!!!

[@Julus65]

Thanks for the video,good explication.

[@artkyger3425]

Outstanding. Love your videos.

[@ricklachaine5406]

Great video. Thank you

[@richardsilva-spokane3436]

Excellent presentation and information 👍👍👍👍👍

[@peady64]

You could've ripped the corner slats with your saw at a 45 degree angle. That way you would have a clean corner and no butt edges. If you take time to do the layout, you could've had wider end pieces instead of the two narrow slats. Instead of two narrow slats, you would do away with a full field slat, add the difference to the end pieces and have wider ends. let's say you have a run that requires 6 slats, and the remaining space is 6 inches. Instead of installing two 3 inch end pieces, you would do away with one field tile. Assuming your slats are 1 X 8's, you simply add 8 + 6, which is 14. then you divide that by 2 which will be 7 inches. Your end pieces are now 7 inches wide instead of 3 inches wide. You would then have 5 field slats and two 7 inch slats on each end. It makes a more professional looking job.

[@jamesomron6545]

Excellent Job. Looks great..

[@LarryDoolittle]

Another great job!

[@operationremodel]

Thanks for your videos, very helpful

[@zaappp1588]

I always just use nails for my spacers. That way if it's a long piece, I can tap the spacer nail enough to hold it in place. You can get by with just tapping the top nail in place and then hold the bottom nail in place long enough to get your spacing. I'll use enough nails that I can put up 3 or 4 pieces of wood and then wiggle them all out and keep going.

[@tonywalls6309]

BINGO ! Yep me too brother.

[@greynand]

Thank you , you are very talented

[@cwc8979]

Wished you would have filmed how you built the steps and the process in figuring that out. Shannon is an awesome Carpenter!!

[@HouseImprovements]

OTC We are editing the stairs video now, it will be the final video in the series. As you can probably tell, the skirting needs to be installed before the stairs. Thanks for your feedback.

[@GunsHarleysUSA]

OTC My thoughts as well....

[@dreamerxxxc]

thank you.. very clear easy simple

[@vbBegin1957]

Awesome deck

[@martinhimself]

awesome job!

[@user-yo4re5eb9y]

EXCELLENT PRODUCT!!

[@donnadavis-howard274]

This was very helpful-thank you.

[@geojor]

thanks for your efforts...

[@grandpanorton5785]

Job well done!😊

[@vietnamvet6474]

real nice deck

[@xngdestini]

Wish you did #5 Steps and #6 Skirting. Was looking foward to watching you build the stairs. Plus I noticed the right angel with the stair gauges on it

[@HouseImprovements]

xngdestini There is stair and stair railing video coming soon! Keep watching

[@tomtang8767]

Thank you so much!

[@GaryGill786]

Greatttt job 👍🏼

[@herculescolon3915]

my man,thats how you do that nice.

[@ananorambuena1381]

Good job amigo from MEXICO

[@marlinweekley51]

Good job. On your skirting consider using roof flashing under skirt - hopefully there is fall in one direction. Solid invented aluminum soffitting is and consideration - if family does have a lot of active kids 😆

[@sabinomartinez6388]

que bonito buen trabajo

[@csle1962]

Great videos.

[@johnson1573]

good job

[@nrfa6229]

Okay. Thanks. They actually do a lot of them.

[@kansascityshuffle8526]

Dollar store cutting boards work good for the spacers

[@ericmontanez7276]

Was anyone else waiting to see a good distanced view of the finished deck ? Or just me? 🤦‍♂️. But what a great job! That deck will still be standing when that house goes down.

[@RKMultiMedia87]

I like the fact that you show the detailed work (as some one mention below, very meticulous and I can relate). Also, I appreciate the normal routine of assembly, handling the tools, screws, accessories etc. Eyeballing is sometimes more efficient if your focused, so good stuff. Spacers are definitely a plus for someone who may run into inconsistency. Sometimes people speed (via video) through all that said above, but fundamentals are important, however, I understand people do have different styles of video representation. I just put up around 70+ treated deck boards for my dirk skirting in a similar fashion. Prior to this, I had a bunch of leaves over the years that I was finally able to fully clean out. It had old wood lattice that was slowly breaking off. Deck is on soil, with some gravel underneath the deck as well and we rarely get little critters, so another reason why I wanted to skirt the deck is to also avoid future issues. I picked up on a couple things here that I can use in the future. I only have the side of the stairs to do and those need to be cut at an angle. Any quick tips on that? I have a couple of ideas, but what's your preferred method? Thanks! I will be watching more of your videos.

[@claudelory1473]

Thanks!

[@HouseImprovements]

Thank you Claude!

[@donhgr]

I’ve used green wood and found it warps from direct sun, my lumber yard when I mentioned it said don’t ever use it for fences or decks.

[@trumanmonror733]

great jod.....

[@josegoncalves5841]

Amazing how informative this videos are , thank you for that

[@larryparamedic]

For a second there I thought it snowed!

[@leviridge3307]

awesome very helpful

[@HouseImprovements]

Glad to help, be sure to subscribe for more!

[@davidguy1812]

children nursery rhymes

[@muggyruggy]

What would you attach the boards to if your deck was already built and there is not an overhang?

[@goaheadmakeourdayscooterpe9644]

Nice work but the only criticism I got is airflow is needed under deck especially on dirt. I found out the hard way at house I moved to , deck is 2 feet off ground and was completely sealed up around sides not only rotting out the joists but the deck boards too from lack of any air being able to dry out.

[@Rylanodory]

1:18 R.I.P

[@handydan1591]

Really enjoyed the series Shannon my only question is the "how to" on the railings for the stairs. I noticed they are vertical like the rest of the deck but how does the hardware allow you to install on an angle like that?

[@HouseImprovements]

Dan Scott We do have one more video coming out to show that. Subscribe to our channel and you will be advised when the next video is upload to the channel.

[@alexrobinson4287]

Would them outer post be able to support a roof if you left higher instead of cutting them down

[@mattcasto9158]

Deck skirting looks great. But the house I bought had deck skirting and it rotted where it touched the ground and it allowed mold and mildew to grow underneath the deck. The deck needs air circulation underneath.

[@HouseImprovements]

I suppose it depends on your climate and soil conditions. With the deck board spaces and spaces between the skirt picket it is more than enough here to ventilate .

[@PICTUREREADY]

very helpful video. hi I'm planing to built a deck on concrete at lebel ground what size wood would you recommend I use for my framing.

[@HouseImprovements]

+PICTUREREADY If you come to the forum with a few more details I can likely help you out.www.house-improvements.com/forums/

[@harbertmoore2663]

Why did you put tape on your m18 impact driver? 🤷🏿‍♂️ I love this series! 👍🏿

[@stanleykeith6969]

Could you have put it on the other side of the steps. I think that beam/header wood is in the way. The two pc.'s of 2x10's are in the way. Great video's. This was the best deck video I have seen. Could you have put the door in close to the house near the hose. On the other side of the steps. You would of had more room. What do you think?

[@HouseImprovements]

could have ,but in this case the home owner had specific needs for access to that space that the A/C would have been in the way of.

[@roygoody9532]

Shannon, I have a 18' X 18' Cedertone pressure treated deck I am building. I have a couple questions please. On the top, is it okay to space the deck boards 1/8" or should I be butting them tight? I just purchased the lumber and most of it appears pretty dry with only a few boards being much heavier because they're wetter still. And the second question is equally important. Ventilation under the deck. At the house the deck is about 18" off the ground. It slopes gradually to about 2 or 3 feet at the outside end of the deck. I placed permeable weed barrier underneath the whole deck with some rock on top to hold it in place. I want to apply skirting like you did in this video, but I'm worried about proper ventilation and a needed cross breeze under the deck. Should I gap my boards about 1/2" or should I place a 2' square hole on each side with screening to provide air movement? What would you suggest? From what I understand, air movement is critical for a big deck like mine that is so close to the ground. It is in the sun for the hottest part of the day till evening falls. Thanks for your advice.

[@justtryn12]

I’m glad you make little mistakes also in your video,

[@johnvcougar]

Great video, mate! Question: why would you not mount the hinges on the backside of the gate, to hide them? It wrecks an otherwise very clean finish. (IMHO). Thanks for all the vlogs, good stuff!

[@HouseImprovements]

figured it went with all the other black accent metal pieces.

[@scientist100]

My questions is, how much is this roofless deck? Using 2x12 I think is overkill.

[@JohnDoe-jq3qf]

I wonder why people come to this channel to dislike the video haha if you dont like what Shannon teaches go to a different channel or create your own vids. Its easy to criticize.

[@MichelAllard]

I live in Ottawa, Canada where it is cold up to minus 20 degrees in celsius so I am wondering if I shoud put my 2 X 4 decking board on the top of the deck nice and tight or leave a 1/4 inch gap between the board. You said in one of your videos that you put them nice and tight! Why? Is it because the deck board is gone shrink after 6 month installation and a gap of about 1/4 inch is gone showed up after 6 month? Thanks very much for all the details in your video!

[@HouseImprovements]

When using pressure treated decking it is usually pretty wet still and will dry and shrink. When dried out it should cleave around 1/8" -1/4" gap

[@iamknadn]

The reason you had to trim off the edge of the 1x6 backing on the door was because you measured the opening as 16", but didn't allow for a gap at the bottom of the gate. But then again, we don't know if the exact distance from the deck to the concrete was 16" and you eyballed it down to 16" for the gate.... just an observation. Also, why did you start in the middle when skirting the deck? if you started at one end, wouldn't you then have only a partial deck board to cut at the one end? or did you start in the middle on this deck because it would've left too narrow a skirt board to fasten? I'm enjoying your videos and finding them very helpful....

[@HouseImprovements]

iamknadn Yes I was wanting the two boards on the corner to be close to the same size instead of a full board at one end and a small strip at the other.

[@p.s8950]

On my deck I'd like to incorporate a pergola shade system. Would you think it would be ok to take the railing post up to 8' hight to support a light lactic shade top ? Or would that be be too heavy for how those rail posts are installed ? Thanks Shannon

[@HouseImprovements]

The roof structure should be supported and anchored to the ground.

[@travisrichardson9925]

Why do you use screws for the hurrican ties? We use stub nails or hanger nails to attach the hurrican ties and why no tool belt it help with having to reach for everything. But awesome videos and very nice work you do. Also do the camera men get in the way sometimes? Sorry for all the questions.

[@HouseImprovements]

I just prefer the screws although they are more costly then the nails. My tool belt tends to get in the way and make extra noise during filming so I generally don't wear it while we shoot as you have noticed.we try to plan out the camera angles to not be in the way but still try and get the best angle.

[@rmljr52]

Hello. You stated that you had those plastic spacers on hand. Where did you purchase them. What I can find is very expensive sheets of PVC.

[@DyLemmaOG]

so you used fence picket for skirting? Not 1in deck boards?

[@c1peewee]

Nice but what if moisture get in under the home ..

[@herbsu4330]

What material did you use for the "wood preservative" and where did you get it?

[@HouseImprovements]

there are different colours depending what you are doing. www.homehardware.ca/en/rec/index.htm/Paint-Décor/Painting-Supplies/Stains-Preservatives/Preservative/Napthanate/946mL-Clear-Zinc-Wood-Preservative/_/N-2pqfZ67l/Ne-67n/Ntk-All_EN/R-I1874975?Ntt=wood+presrvative

[@cam1297]

Can I ask Why skirting? I had a hard time with stain peeling off my deck. Once I took off the skirting it allowed for air circulation and put up lattice it helped tremendously. However I like the skirting because it keeps the critters out. Was there something I did wrong?

[@HouseImprovements]

Chris Maybe just not enough circulation? We have used about a 1/2" gap for circulation. Staining pressure treated lumber to soon can cause issues with finish. It really should be left to weather for about 6-12 months before staining.

[@MJRose1008]

How do you do this as pool skirting?

[@brans7269]

how long till you can paint a deck with treated wood like this on the video?

[@HouseImprovements]

Usually anywhere from a few weeks to a few months depending on the weather and also how wet the wood was when laid down.

[@brans7269]

HouseImprovements ok thank you n great videos

[@LOCOSCLAN718]

Would like to see an uneven dirt ground job. Looks too easy on concrete 😅

[@HouseImprovements]

measure each board and secure it.