About this item

Building a deck is one of the most popular outdoor projects for home DIYers. The job takes time and effort, but if you have some basic carpentry skills and the right tools, and you work slowly, carefully, and safely, you can produce a great-looking deck that you can be proud of. Author Dave Toht takes you through every step of the way, from design and planning, choosing tools and materials, installing footings and ledgers, framing, installing decking, building stairs and railings, and adding benches, planters, and other built-ins. The heart of the book is a step-by-step guide to building four different types of deck--a patio deck, a first-story deck, a raised deck, and a multi-feature deck--which include a range of decking and railing types and special features. Decks concludes with a chapter on deck maintenance and repair.



About the Author

David Toht

I had an exceptionally happy childhood growing up in Wheaton, Ill. where I was free to roam the woods and swamps of Lincoln Marsh, building tree forts, catching garter snakes, and once burning down a meadow. (Grass huts and campfires don't mix.) I think it was on my ninth birthday that my dad gave me a one-volume version Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. I read it again and again. A great local library offered books like Homer Price, The Boxcar Children, Robinson Crusoe--all magical in their ability to create new worlds and fascinating characters. Trips to the Art of Institute of Chicago, one of the world's great art museums, led to an appreciation of the pure craft of art, how line and color could convey mood, character--even temperature. I've earned my living editing magazines and books about home repair and remodeling. They involved the enjoyable challenge of putting something across using text and images--hopefully in an attractive and compelling way. In the course of working on more than 60 books and countless magazine issues, I did some illustrations and enjoyed the process.The Goose that Fell from the Sky is my first picture storybook. It stems from bedtime stories I told our kids--Adam, Betony, and Ben. My influences? Robert McCloskey, Ernest Shepard, James Thurber, Graham Oakley, Raymond Briggs, Jean-Jacques Sempé, Walt Kelly, Norman Rockwell are just a few of the illustrators--some are writers too--that I admire.My wife, Rebecca, and I live in Minnesota with a dog, cat, three chickens, and plenty of squirrels stealing from the bird feeder.



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