Most guides on building a deck present the job as a list of tasks. Dig the footings, set the posts, hang the joists, lay the boards. The list is correct and it is missing the thing that actually governs the schedule.
A permitted deck is not one continuous project. It is three or four blocks of work separated by inspections, and each inspection has to happen while the work is still visible. Pour concrete before the footing inspection and you will be digging it out. Lay a single row of deck boards before the framing inspection and you will be pulling it up.
This guide walks the build in the order the inspections require, covers what happens in each block, and gives an honest read on which parts are harder than they look. It assumes you already have approved drawings and a permit in hand.
The Build Order and Where It Has to Stop
Here is the whole job, arranged around the holds rather than around the tasks.
Two things about that structure are worth understanding before you start.
The first is that inspections are scheduled, not instant. There is a gap between finishing a block and the inspector arriving, and that gap belongs in your calendar. A deck that takes eight working days to build routinely takes three or four weeks of elapsed time.
The second is that the holds exist because those connections disappear. Once concrete is in the hole, nobody can see how deep it was dug or whether it landed on undisturbed soil. Once decking is down, nobody can see the joist hangers. The inspection is the only moment the evidence exists.
Block 1: Layout and the Ledger
Everything downstream references this block, so slow is fast here.
Set the deck height first
Measure down from the door threshold to establish the height of the finished deck surface, then subtract the thickness of the decking to find where the top of the joists lands. That number sets the ledger height, and the ledger sets everything else.
Most builders drop the deck surface an inch or so below the threshold so water and snowmelt run away from the house rather than toward the door.
Square the layout with diagonals
Run string lines for the deck perimeter, then measure both diagonals. When the two diagonals are equal, the rectangle is square. This is the single check that prevents a frame that looks fine until the deck boards go on and reveal a taper across the surface.
Install the ledger and flash it properly
The ledger is bolted flat against the house rim, and the flashing that goes with it is not optional. Flashing has to tuck up behind the siding or house wrap above the ledger and lap down over the top of it, so water running down the wall is directed out and away rather than into the joint.
Get the order wrong and the flashing channels water behind the ledger instead of over it. That is the failure that quietly rots the house rim, and it is invisible until something serious happens.
On a brick or stone veneer wall, stop and reconsider. A freestanding frame with its own beam along the house side is usually the better answer than engineering an attachment through veneer.
Block 2: Footings, and the First Hold
Footing locations come off the squared layout, and their depth comes off your approved drawings.
1. Mark every footing from the string lines. Post positions are set by beam span, not by preference. The drawing tells you where they go.
2. Call for locates before you dig. Buried utilities are free to have marked and expensive to hit. Do this several days ahead.
3. Dig to depth, into undisturbed soil. In Davidson County, exterior footings are placed at least 12 inches below undisturbed ground surface. Fill dirt left over from past grading does not count as undisturbed, and a footing sitting in it will settle.
4. Stop and schedule the inspection. Open holes. No concrete.
Middle Tennessee clay makes this block slower than the plan says. Rock, roots, and soil that turns to a solid mass in dry weather all conspire against the estimate. Budget more time here than seems reasonable.
Block 3: Posts, Beam, and Joists
After the footing inspection clears, this is the block that turns a set of holes into a structure.
Pour and set the post bases
Post bases go into the concrete while it is still wet, positioned off the string lines. The base holds the post end up off the concrete surface so water cannot sit against the end grain, which is where posts rot from.
Set posts and install the beam
Posts get set, braced plumb, and cut to height. Then the beam goes on top of them or bolts to their sides depending on the design. This is the heaviest work in the whole build and genuinely a two-person job. A built-up beam is three boards nailed together, lifted as one piece, at whatever height the deck sits.
Hang the joists
Joists land on the ledger in hangers at one end and on the beam at the other. Two details separate a solid frame from a mediocre one. Every hole in every joist hanger takes a fastener, which people skip because it feels excessive and is exactly what the connector rating assumes. And the fasteners have to be rated for contact with treated lumber, because copper-based preservatives corrode ordinary steel.
Blocking between joists goes in during this block too. It keeps joists from twisting and stiffens the whole frame. Any butt joints in the decking above will need blocking underneath them, which is why the board layout has to be decided before this block, not after.
Then stop again
The framing inspection needs to see every connection: hangers, bolts, the ledger flashing, the post bases, the bracing. One row of decking covers enough of it to fail the inspection.
Block 4: Decking, Stairs, and Guards
This is the visible block and the one people look forward to. It is also where two things routinely go sideways.
Decking
Start at the house and work outward, checking your gap and your alignment every few boards rather than trusting the first one. Small errors compound across a deck: an eighth of an inch of drift per board becomes two inches of taper over twenty boards, and it shows against the picture-frame border at the far edge.
Fastening depends on the material. Wood gets face-screwed. Grooved composite takes hidden clips that set the gap automatically. Either way, the board spacing and the joist spacing under it were determined earlier, and the thickness and width you specified decide how far the boards can span between joists.
Stairs
Stairs are the hardest layout on the deck and the reason experienced builders leave extra time. Total rise gets divided into equal steps, and every step has to match, because inconsistent risers are a real trip hazard and an inspector will measure them.
Stringers get cut from the rise and run calculation, the landing has to be a solid surface rather than bare dirt, and handrails become required once the stair has enough risers. If any part of this build is worth handing to somebody experienced, it is this part.
Guards and handrails
A guard is required where the walking surface sits more than 30 inches above the ground. Residential code calls for guards at least 36 inches high with openings small enough that a 4-inch sphere cannot pass through. Guard posts are structural, so how they attach to the frame matters as much as how they look.
An Honest Read on Doing It Yourself
Plenty of capable people build good decks. The question is not whether it is possible but where the difficulty actually sits, which is rarely where beginners expect.
A few honest signals that a project needs a professional.
- The deck sits more than a few feet off the ground. Height multiplies both the structural demands and the consequences of getting something wrong.
- The house has brick or stone veneer. Ledger attachment through veneer is not a beginner problem.
- The design includes multiple levels or a roof. Each level is its own structure, and a roof loads every footing beneath it.
- You are not confident about stair layout. This is the most common place a DIY deck stalls out half finished.
There is also a middle path worth knowing about. Some homeowners hire out the structure through the framing inspection and then lay the decking, build the railings, and finish the details themselves. That splits the job at the natural line between the parts where mistakes are dangerous and the parts where they are cosmetic.
Mistakes That Show Up Later
| The mistake | When you find out |
|---|---|
| Skipping fasteners in joist hangers | At the framing inspection, or years later as movement |
| Footings poured in fill dirt | First or second winter, as one corner settles |
| Flashing lapped the wrong way | Five to ten years on, as rot in the house rim |
| Ordinary steel fasteners in treated lumber | Slowly, at connections nobody can see |
| Frame out of square | The day the deck boards go on |
| Inconsistent stair risers | At the final inspection, or the first time someone trips |
| Cut ends left untreated | At the joints, where water sits longest |
| No blocking under butt joints | As soft, springy spots at every seam |
Most of these share a shape: they are cheap to do right during the build and expensive to fix afterward, and almost all of them are invisible by the time the deck looks finished. That is precisely why the inspections land where they do, and why what the reviewer expects to see at each stage is worth reading before you start rather than after.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you build a deck step by step?
Set the height and square the layout, install and flash the ledger, dig footings and pass the footing inspection, pour and set posts and beam, hang joists and pass the framing inspection, then lay decking, build stairs, install guards, and pass the final.
How long does it take to build a deck?
Roughly eight to twelve working days for two people on a 300 square foot deck. Elapsed time is usually three to four weeks once inspection scheduling and weather are factored in.
Can I build a deck myself?
For a low, simple, freestanding deck, often yes. Raised decks, brick or stone walls, multiple levels, and roofed structures push the job toward a professional. Stairs are the most common place DIY builds stall.
What comes first when building a deck?
Layout and the ledger. The deck height comes off the door threshold, the ledger is set from that height, and every footing location is measured from the squared perimeter.
Do I have to stop for inspections?
Yes, and the sequence matters. The footing inspection happens with holes open before any concrete. The framing inspection happens after the structure is complete but before decking covers the connections.
How do you build a small deck?
The same sequence applies. A small deck under 30 inches high skips the guard requirement, which removes a meaningful amount of work, and a freestanding design removes the ledger and its flashing entirely.
What tools do I need to build a deck?
A circular saw, a drill or impact driver, a post hole digger or auger, a level, a chalk line, a framing square, a tape measure, and a string line. A miter saw and a second pair of hands both help considerably.
Should the deck be level or sloped?
Effectively level. Some builders add a very slight slope away from the house for drainage, though modern gapped decking sheds water between the boards well enough that a dead level frame is common.
Can I build a deck without a permit?
In Metro Nashville, new decks, replacements, and any footing or framing work require a permit. Building without one creates fines now and a resale problem later, since unpermitted work is not on the official record.
The Bottom Line
Building a deck is not technically difficult work, but it is unforgiving about order. The inspections are placed exactly where evidence is about to disappear, and the sequence exists to keep the important connections visible at the moment somebody needs to look at them.
The practical next step is to map your own build against the three holds and put realistic dates on it, including the waiting time between blocks. Then be honest about the stairs. If you would rather not own that layout, hiring the structure out through framing and finishing the rest yourself is a legitimate plan, and most Nashville TN local deck builders will quote it that way if you ask.
Whatever you decide, do not pour concrete before somebody has looked in the hole. That one is expensive in a way nothing else on this list matches.