If you're planning on using deck blocks like TuffBlock here you'll need to figure out how
many you'll need how best to use them and how to arrange them in various applications.
We're going to run through four typical methods of building a deck using deck blocks
take you through the materials you'll need and explain some of the decisions you might need to
make during your planning process. So quickly what is TuffBlock? TuffBlock is a deck block
with a smart design that has two slots for your joists for one and a half and two inch sizing
as well as two slots for your upright posts for both three and a half and four inch cuts.
It's incredibly strong, made from one hundred percent recycled plastic and its base just sits
two inches from the ground making it ideal for ultra low profile decks. The four deck types
you'll typically see built using deck blocks are low profile decks also known as ground level decks
raised decks intermediary decks where deck blocks are used in combination with in-ground concrete
and finally variable height decks if you're building on a slope let's run through the
step-by-step process showing how it all comes together start by measuring out the dimensions
of your deck in this case we're demonstrating a 12 by 24 foot deck but yours will most likely differ
if you're building on grass you'll want to remove the topsoil and compact the earth with a tamper
or compactor we've laid down five rows of paver base where the blocks will sit which helps with
shifting ground and drainage next our outer frame goes down ensuring that TuffBlock is completely
level as you can see with these end joists there's a slight overhang which will allow us to hide
the TuffBlocks under the deck each end joist has joist hangers already attached at 16 inch centers
so as we place down our cross joists they're spaced at the correct distance as you can see
the overhang is braced using blocking that keeps the outer section firmly supported and finally the
decking boards are laid down for the raised deck the biggest difference is that we're using bearers
beneath our joists we have six bearers each requiring three TuffBlocks and the are checked in
so that the weight of the bearer is supported by the post itself and not just the hardware in this
case the bearers are spaced four feet apart but check the span tables for the lumber you're using
to see how far apart your joist supports can be spaced for the size of joists you're using another
note is that by using bearers it significantly reduces the number of TuffBlocks we're using
from 35 down to 18. we then fix down our joists at 16 inch centers which is the correct spacing
to support our deck boards when using in-ground concrete you can choose to support the deck in
just the corners or like we've done here space them throughout the deck by using TuffBlock as
an intermediary we've greatly reduced the number of concrete holes down from 18 to just eight this
solution works great for creating a permanent structure while saving time on site digging
holes and filling them with concrete and lastly we have our variable height deck built on a slope
we have an extensive step-by-step for this type of build which you can watch by clicking
the link either above me or in the description but here's a quick rundown the first step is to
create rows of compacted paver base like before but this time the ground will need to be leveled
out for each row so the TuffBlocks themselves are sitting flat it's important to not build
up under the blocks to level them as this will not ensure a long lasting and sustainable base
we first lay down the outer joists to get our height and with level make sure we're completely
level next our end joists are attached with joist hangers spaced at 16 inch centers the joists are
supported with checked in posts at four foot intervals again these could be further apart
depending on the lumber you're using and in most cases you can go up to five feet this process is
repeated for our remaining joists which are then bridged for additional support and similar to the
ground level deck we've added our additional outer joists to hide the TuffBlocks under the deck.
This top down angle gives you a clearer view of how the joists are spaced apart and based on what
we've shared here we hope you can easily calculate all the materials you would need just to be doubly
sure we do have a debt calculator on our website which you can find linked in the description below
so those are the four main types of deck we typically see built using deck blocks of course
there are numerous applications for TuffBlock beyond decks for example this shed where it was
used as a foundation or this walkway to the front of a home where the owners didn't want to disturb
the roots of their mature vegetation so use your imagination and go out there get building build on