This is the Hollen deck, a really, really big deck built for some great clients.

The old deck was really just a landing with stairs, hardly enough to get out, much less to sit on.

The old deck was just what was under the roof. We brought the details from the house out, wrapping the belly band around the top of the deck skirt, which is the same cedar siding as on the house. The railing is cedar with a bevel, and mimics the details on the entry porch. Decking is Ipe, which we pre-finished and used colored stainless screws to install.

All the framing sits on top of solid beams with metal caps to protect the beam from standing water. In addition, the picture rail sits on a secondary rim outside of the regular deck framing. This reduces the amount of places where water can be trapped on the deck, and also helped to create an easy detail for the newel posts and skirt framing.

This shot really shows how everything fits together. The framing sits on beams, the Newel posts extend all the way down to the base of the skirt, and provide great attachment for the skirt; they also align with the post-beam connection, allowing the newel post to act as the post-beam connector, reducing the amount of hardware while making, I believe, a stronger connection. The framing for the skirt also holds the picture frame deck section, with a good air space around everything. All the posts are wrapped with a peel & stick waterproof membrane to protect that delicate area from water damage.

This shows a beam with the framing on top, the newel is lined up over the post and connects the post & beam, and the Simpson Post hardware is used to ensure the rim doesn’t pull off. Waterproofing extends over the framing, and the piece of wood added to center the hardware on the post is cut with a bevel on the top and treated with Wolmer end-cut solution to protect the wood.

And this picture shows the picture rail getting notched around the newel. The string line is to ensure straightness of the decking and alignment with the posts. You can see that the skirt will follow the stairs down.

And here is one of the 22° miters with the newel post wrap and finished skirt below.