Best Practices for Building a Deck

Building a deck is one of the best ways to expand outdoor living space, increase property value, and create a functional area for relaxing, entertaining, grilling, and enjoying the outdoors. Whether you are building a small backyard platform deck or a large multi-level outdoor structure, proper planning and installation are essential. A well-built deck should be safe, durable, weather-resistant, and designed to match the home’s layout, style, and long-term use.

The first step in building a deck is choosing the right materials. Pressure-treated lumber is a popular and cost-effective option, while composite decking offers low maintenance, strong durability, and resistance to rot, insects, and fading. Cedar and redwood provide a natural appearance but may require more regular sealing and maintenance. Before starting construction, homeowners and contractors should also check local building codes, permit requirements, setback rules, and railing height regulations to ensure the deck is compliant and safe.

A strong foundation is one of the most important parts of any deck project. Posts, footings, beams, joists, and ledger boards must be properly sized, spaced, and secured. Footings should be installed below the frost line when required, and the ledger board must be correctly flashed to prevent water damage where the deck connects to the home. Poor framing, weak fasteners, or improper drainage can lead to sagging, shifting, rot, and costly repairs over time.

Deck boards should be installed with proper spacing to allow for drainage, expansion, and airflow. Using the correct screws, hidden fasteners, joist tape, and corrosion-resistant hardware can help extend the life of the deck. Stairs, railings, and guardrails should be carefully measured and securely installed for safety. For composite decking, always follow the manufacturer’s installation guidelines, including spacing, fastening, and ventilation requirements.

Regular deck maintenance helps protect your investment. Wood decks should be cleaned, inspected, sealed, or stained as needed to prevent moisture damage and fading. Composite decks should be washed periodically to remove dirt, pollen, mildew, and debris. Homeowners should inspect fasteners, railings, stairs, boards, and framing at least once a year. By using quality materials, following proper installation practices, and maintaining the deck over time, you can create a beautiful, long-lasting outdoor space that adds comfort, function, and value to your property.

Tiling a floor properly is one of the biggest factors in how long the floor lasts and how professional it looks. Whether you’re installing ceramic, porcelain, or natural stone tile, the preparation and layout are just as important as the tile itself.

1. Start With a Solid Subfloor

The floor must be:

• Flat
• Clean
• Dry
• Structurally sound

Tile does not tolerate movement well. Even slight flexing can lead to cracked grout or broken tiles.

Best practices:

• Use cement backer board or an uncoupling membrane over wood subfloors.
• Repair squeaks and loose areas before tiling.
• Check flatness with a long level or straightedge.
• For large-format tile, floors should typically vary no more than 1/8″ over 10 feet.

2. Choose the Right Tile for the Space

Different rooms require different tile characteristics.

Good options:

• Porcelain tile → high durability and water resistance
• Ceramic tile → budget-friendly and easier to cut
• Natural stone → premium appearance but requires sealing

Consider:

• Slip resistance for bathrooms and entryways
• PEI rating for traffic durability
• Tile size relative to room dimensions

Popular Floor Tile Styles

3. Plan the Layout Before Installing

Never start tiling blindly from one wall.

Best practices:

• Find the center of the room first.
• Dry-lay several rows to preview the layout.
• Avoid tiny sliver cuts along walls.
• Keep grout lines symmetrical and visually balanced.

Common layout patterns:

• Straight lay
• Brick/running bond
• Herringbone
• Diagonal

Common Tile Layout Patterns

4. Use the Correct Mortar and Trowel

The wrong mortar or trowel size causes poor adhesion and hollow spots.

Mortar tips:

• Use modified thin-set for most installations.
• Use large-format tile mortar for oversized tiles.
• Mix mortar exactly per manufacturer specs.

Trowel size matters:

• Small tile → smaller notch
• Large tile → larger notch for proper coverage

Back-buttering larger tiles improves bond strength.

5. Maintain Consistent Grout Lines

Use:

• Tile spacers
• Tile leveling systems for large-format tiles

This helps prevent:

• Uneven tile edges (lippage)
• Crooked grout lines
• Height differences between tiles

Tile Leveling and Spacing Systems

6. Check Coverage Constantly

Lift tiles periodically to verify mortar coverage.

Recommended coverage:

• Interior dry areas: ~80%
• Wet areas or heavy traffic: 95%+

Voids under tile can lead to:

• Cracking
• Loose tiles
• Water intrusion

7. Allow Proper Movement Joints

Tile expands and contracts.

Do not grout tight against:

• Walls
• Cabinets
• Structural transitions

Use:

• Expansion gaps
• Flexible caulk in movement areas

This is especially important for:

• Large rooms
• Sunrooms
• Heated floors

8. Grout and Seal Correctly

Grouting tips:

• Wait until mortar cures fully.
• Clean grout haze quickly.
• Don’t overwater during cleanup.

Seal if necessary:

• Natural stone
• Cementitious grout
• Some porous tile

Epoxy grout provides excellent stain resistance in kitchens and commercial spaces.

9. Use Proper Tools

Professional-looking tile work depends heavily on good tools.

Recommended tools:

• Wet saw
• Laser level
• Tile cutter
• Mixing paddle
• Rubber grout float
• Tile leveling clips

10. Don’t Rush the Cure Time

Avoid walking on fresh tile too early.

Typical cure timelines:

• Light foot traffic: 24 hours
• Full cure: 72 hours or more

Heavy furniture and appliances should wait until full cure.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Tiling over an uneven floor
• Using premixed adhesive on floors
• Skipping movement joints
• Poor mortar coverage
• Starting layout from one wall
• Using the wrong grout width
• Walking on tile too soon

Best Rooms for Tile Flooring

Tile performs especially well in:

• Kitchens
• Bathrooms
• Mudrooms
• Laundry rooms
• Basements
• Commercial spaces

Because of its durability and moisture resistance, tile is one of the most cost-effective long-term flooring systems available.

The passage experienced a surge in popularity during the 1960s when Letraset used it on their dry-transfer sheets, and again during the 90s as desktop publishers bundled the text with their software. Today it’s seen all around the web; on templates, websites, and stock designs. Use our generator to get your own, or read on for the authoritative history of lorem ipsum.

Lorem ipsum, or lipsum as it is sometimes known, is dummy text used in laying out print, graphic or web designs. The passage is attributed to an unknown typesetter in the 15th century who is thought to have scrambled parts of Cicero’s De Finibus Bonorum et Malorum for use in a type specimen book. It usually begins with:

“Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.”

The purpose of lorem ipsum is to create a natural looking block of text (sentence, paragraph, page, etc.) that doesn’t distract from the layout. A practice not without controversy, laying out pages with meaningless filler text can be very useful when the focus is meant to be on design, not content. McClintock’s eye for detail certainly helped narrow the whereabouts of lorem ipsum’s origin, however, the “how and when” still remain something of a mystery, with competing theories and timelines. But it seems reasonable to imagine that there was a version in use far.

ID NUMBER	PRODUCT	QUALITY	QUANTITY
1423	Cotton	Good	200kg
3214	Evo	Prime	250kg
4323	Silk	Good	200kg
2342	Elastane	Mediocre	350kg

So how did the classical Latin become so incoherent? According to McClintock, a 15th century typesetter likely scrambled part of Cicero’s De Finibus in order to provide placeholder text to mockup various fonts for a type specimen book. It’s difficult to find examples of lorem ipsum in use before Letraset made it popular as a dummy text in the 1960s, although McClintock says he remembers coming across the lorem ipsum passage in a book of old metal type samples. So far he hasn’t relocated where he once saw the passage, but the popularity of Cicero in the 15th century supports the theory that the filler text has been used for centuries.

Remixing a Classics Interpreting Nonsense

And anyways, as Cecil Adams reasoned, “[Do you really] think graphic arts supply houses were hiring classics scholars in the 1960s?” Perhaps. But it seems reasonable to imagine that there was a version in use far before the age of Letraset.

As an alternative theory, (and because Latin scholars do this sort of thing) someone tracked down a 1914 Latin edition of De Finibus which challenges McClintock’s 15th century claims and suggests that the dawn of lorem ipsum was as recent as the 20th century. The 1914 Loeb Classical Library Edition ran out of room on page 34 for the Latin phrase “dolorem ipsum” (sorrow in itself). Thus, the truncated phrase leaves one page dangling with.

If the copy becomes distracting in the design then you are doing something wrong or they are discussing copy changes. It might be a bit annoying but you could tell them that that discussion would be best suited for another time. At worst the discussion is at least working towards the final goal of your site where questions about lorem ipsum don’t.

Typographers of yore didn’t come up with the concept of dummy copy because people thought that content is inconsequential window dressing, only there to be used by designers who can’t be bothered to read. Lorem Ipsum is needed because words matter, a lot. Just fill up a page with draft copy about the client’s business and they will actually read it and comment on it. They will be drawn to it, fiercely. Do it the wrong way and draft copy can derail your design review.

We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.

This is quite a problem to solve, but just doing without greeking text won’t fix it. Using test items of real content and data in designs will help, but there’s no guarantee that every oddity will be found and corrected. Do you want to be sure? Then a prototype or beta site with real content published from the real CMS is needed—but you’re not going that far until you go through an initial design cycle.

Websites in professional use templating systems. Commercial publishing platforms and content management systems ensure that you can show different text, different data using the same template. When it’s about controlling hundreds of articles, product pages for web shops, or user profiles in social networks, all of them potentially with different sizes, formats, rules for differing elements things can break, designs agreed upon can have unintended consequences and look much.

Will I receive the same product that I see in the picture?

Chances are there wasn’t collaboration, communication, and checkpoints, there wasn’t a process agreed upon or specified with the granularity required. It’s content strategy gone awry right from the start. Forswearing the use of Lorem Ipsum wouldn’t have helped, won’t help now.

Where can I view my sales receipt?

Consectetur cras scelerisque dis nec mi vestibulum ullamcorper turpis enim natoque tempus a malesuada suspendisse iaculis adipiscing himenaeos tincidunt.Tellus pharetra dis nostra urna a scelerisque.

How can I return an item?

Consectetur cras scelerisque dis nec mi vestibulum ullamcorper turpis enim natoque tempus a malesuada suspendisse iaculis adipiscing himenaeos tincidunt.Tellus pharetra dis nostra urna a scelerisque.

Will you restock items indicated as “out of stock?”

Using dummy content or fake information in the Web design process can result in products with unrealistic assumptions and potentially serious design flaws. A seemingly elegant design can quickly begin to bloat with unexpected content or break under the weight of actual activity. Fake data can ensure a nice looking layout but it doesn’t reflect what a living, breathing application must endure. Real data does.

Authorities in our business will tell in no uncertain terms that Lorem Ipsum is that huge, huge no no to forswear forever. Not so fast, I’d say, there are some redeeming factors in favor of greeking text, as its use is merely the symptom of a worse problem to take into consideration  holds steadfastly to the notion that design.

It’s unreal, uncanny, makes you wonder if something is wrong, it seems to seek your attention for all the wrong reasons. Usually, we prefer the real thing, wine without sulfur based preservatives, real butter, not margarine, and so we’d like our layouts and designs to be filled with real words, with thoughts that count, information that has value.

That’s not so bad, there’s dummy copy to the rescue. But worse, what if the fish doesn’t fit in the can, the foot’s to big for the boot? Or to small? To short sentences, to many headings, images too large for the proposed design, or too small, or they fit in but it looks iffy for reasons the folks in the meeting can’t quite tell right now, but they’re unhappy, somehow. A client that’s unhappy for a reason is a problem, a client that’s unhappy though he or her can’t quite put a finger on it is worse.

Chances are there wasn’t collaboration, communication, and checkpoints, there wasn’t a process agreed upon or specified with the granularity required. It’s content strategy gone awry right from the start. Forswearing the use of Lorem Ipsum wouldn’t have helped, won’t help now. It’s like saying you’re a bad designer, use less bold text, don’t use italics in every other paragraph. True enough, but that’s not all that it takes to get things back on track.

We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.

Winston Churchill

There’s lot of hate out there for a text that amounts to little more than garbled words in an old language. The villagers are out there with a vengeance to get that Frankenstein, wielding torches and pitchforks, wanting to tar and feather it at the least, running it out of town in shame.

The passage experienced a surge in popularity during the 1960s when Letraset used it on their dry-transfer sheets, and again during the 90s as desktop publishers bundled the text with their software. Today it’s seen all around the web; on templates, websites, and stock designs. Use our generator to get your own, or read on for the authoritative history of lorem ipsum.

Lorem ipsum, or lipsum as it is sometimes known, is dummy text used in laying out print, graphic or web designs. The passage is attributed to an unknown typesetter in the 15th century who is thought to have scrambled parts of Cicero’s De Finibus Bonorum et Malorum for use in a type specimen book. It usually begins with:

“Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.”

The purpose of lorem ipsum is to create a natural looking block of text (sentence, paragraph, page, etc.) that doesn’t distract from the layout. A practice not without controversy, laying out pages with meaningless filler text can be very useful when the focus is meant to be on design, not content. McClintock’s eye for detail certainly helped narrow the whereabouts of lorem ipsum’s origin, however, the “how and when” still remain something of a mystery, with competing theories and timelines. But it seems reasonable to imagine that there was a version in use far.

ID NUMBER	PRODUCT	QUALITY	QUANTITY
1423	Cotton	Good	200kg
3214	Evo	Prime	250kg
4323	Silk	Good	200kg
2342	Elastane	Mediocre	350kg

So how did the classical Latin become so incoherent? According to McClintock, a 15th century typesetter likely scrambled part of Cicero’s De Finibus in order to provide placeholder text to mockup various fonts for a type specimen book. It’s difficult to find examples of lorem ipsum in use before Letraset made it popular as a dummy text in the 1960s, although McClintock says he remembers coming across the lorem ipsum passage in a book of old metal type samples. So far he hasn’t relocated where he once saw the passage, but the popularity of Cicero in the 15th century supports the theory that the filler text has been used for centuries.

Remixing a Classics Interpreting Nonsense

And anyways, as Cecil Adams reasoned, “[Do you really] think graphic arts supply houses were hiring classics scholars in the 1960s?” Perhaps. But it seems reasonable to imagine that there was a version in use far before the age of Letraset.

As an alternative theory, (and because Latin scholars do this sort of thing) someone tracked down a 1914 Latin edition of De Finibus which challenges McClintock’s 15th century claims and suggests that the dawn of lorem ipsum was as recent as the 20th century. The 1914 Loeb Classical Library Edition ran out of room on page 34 for the Latin phrase “dolorem ipsum” (sorrow in itself). Thus, the truncated phrase leaves one page dangling with.

If the copy becomes distracting in the design then you are doing something wrong or they are discussing copy changes. It might be a bit annoying but you could tell them that that discussion would be best suited for another time. At worst the discussion is at least working towards the final goal of your site where questions about lorem ipsum don’t.

Typographers of yore didn’t come up with the concept of dummy copy because people thought that content is inconsequential window dressing, only there to be used by designers who can’t be bothered to read. Lorem Ipsum is needed because words matter, a lot. Just fill up a page with draft copy about the client’s business and they will actually read it and comment on it. They will be drawn to it, fiercely. Do it the wrong way and draft copy can derail your design review.

We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.

This is quite a problem to solve, but just doing without greeking text won’t fix it. Using test items of real content and data in designs will help, but there’s no guarantee that every oddity will be found and corrected. Do you want to be sure? Then a prototype or beta site with real content published from the real CMS is needed—but you’re not going that far until you go through an initial design cycle.

Websites in professional use templating systems. Commercial publishing platforms and content management systems ensure that you can show different text, different data using the same template. When it’s about controlling hundreds of articles, product pages for web shops, or user profiles in social networks, all of them potentially with different sizes, formats, rules for differing elements things can break, designs agreed upon can have unintended consequences and look much.

Will I receive the same product that I see in the picture?

Chances are there wasn’t collaboration, communication, and checkpoints, there wasn’t a process agreed upon or specified with the granularity required. It’s content strategy gone awry right from the start. Forswearing the use of Lorem Ipsum wouldn’t have helped, won’t help now.

Where can I view my sales receipt?

Consectetur cras scelerisque dis nec mi vestibulum ullamcorper turpis enim natoque tempus a malesuada suspendisse iaculis adipiscing himenaeos tincidunt.Tellus pharetra dis nostra urna a scelerisque.

How can I return an item?

Consectetur cras scelerisque dis nec mi vestibulum ullamcorper turpis enim natoque tempus a malesuada suspendisse iaculis adipiscing himenaeos tincidunt.Tellus pharetra dis nostra urna a scelerisque.

Will you restock items indicated as “out of stock?”

Using dummy content or fake information in the Web design process can result in products with unrealistic assumptions and potentially serious design flaws. A seemingly elegant design can quickly begin to bloat with unexpected content or break under the weight of actual activity. Fake data can ensure a nice looking layout but it doesn’t reflect what a living, breathing application must endure. Real data does.

Authorities in our business will tell in no uncertain terms that Lorem Ipsum is that huge, huge no no to forswear forever. Not so fast, I’d say, there are some redeeming factors in favor of greeking text, as its use is merely the symptom of a worse problem to take into consideration  holds steadfastly to the notion that design.

It’s unreal, uncanny, makes you wonder if something is wrong, it seems to seek your attention for all the wrong reasons. Usually, we prefer the real thing, wine without sulfur based preservatives, real butter, not margarine, and so we’d like our layouts and designs to be filled with real words, with thoughts that count, information that has value.

That’s not so bad, there’s dummy copy to the rescue. But worse, what if the fish doesn’t fit in the can, the foot’s to big for the boot? Or to small? To short sentences, to many headings, images too large for the proposed design, or too small, or they fit in but it looks iffy for reasons the folks in the meeting can’t quite tell right now, but they’re unhappy, somehow. A client that’s unhappy for a reason is a problem, a client that’s unhappy though he or her can’t quite put a finger on it is worse.

Chances are there wasn’t collaboration, communication, and checkpoints, there wasn’t a process agreed upon or specified with the granularity required. It’s content strategy gone awry right from the start. Forswearing the use of Lorem Ipsum wouldn’t have helped, won’t help now. It’s like saying you’re a bad designer, use less bold text, don’t use italics in every other paragraph. True enough, but that’s not all that it takes to get things back on track.

We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.

Winston Churchill

There’s lot of hate out there for a text that amounts to little more than garbled words in an old language. The villagers are out there with a vengeance to get that Frankenstein, wielding torches and pitchforks, wanting to tar and feather it at the least, running it out of town in shame.

The passage experienced a surge in popularity during the 1960s when Letraset used it on their dry-transfer sheets, and again during the 90s as desktop publishers bundled the text with their software. Today it’s seen all around the web; on templates, websites, and stock designs. Use our generator to get your own, or read on for the authoritative history of lorem ipsum.

Lorem ipsum, or lipsum as it is sometimes known, is dummy text used in laying out print, graphic or web designs. The passage is attributed to an unknown typesetter in the 15th century who is thought to have scrambled parts of Cicero’s De Finibus Bonorum et Malorum for use in a type specimen book. It usually begins with:

“Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.”

The purpose of lorem ipsum is to create a natural looking block of text (sentence, paragraph, page, etc.) that doesn’t distract from the layout. A practice not without controversy, laying out pages with meaningless filler text can be very useful when the focus is meant to be on design, not content. McClintock’s eye for detail certainly helped narrow the whereabouts of lorem ipsum’s origin, however, the “how and when” still remain something of a mystery, with competing theories and timelines. But it seems reasonable to imagine that there was a version in use far.

ID NUMBER	PRODUCT	QUALITY	QUANTITY
1423	Cotton	Good	200kg
3214	Evo	Prime	250kg
4323	Silk	Good	200kg
2342	Elastane	Mediocre	350kg

So how did the classical Latin become so incoherent? According to McClintock, a 15th century typesetter likely scrambled part of Cicero’s De Finibus in order to provide placeholder text to mockup various fonts for a type specimen book. It’s difficult to find examples of lorem ipsum in use before Letraset made it popular as a dummy text in the 1960s, although McClintock says he remembers coming across the lorem ipsum passage in a book of old metal type samples. So far he hasn’t relocated where he once saw the passage, but the popularity of Cicero in the 15th century supports the theory that the filler text has been used for centuries.

Remixing a Classics Interpreting Nonsense

And anyways, as Cecil Adams reasoned, “[Do you really] think graphic arts supply houses were hiring classics scholars in the 1960s?” Perhaps. But it seems reasonable to imagine that there was a version in use far before the age of Letraset.

As an alternative theory, (and because Latin scholars do this sort of thing) someone tracked down a 1914 Latin edition of De Finibus which challenges McClintock’s 15th century claims and suggests that the dawn of lorem ipsum was as recent as the 20th century. The 1914 Loeb Classical Library Edition ran out of room on page 34 for the Latin phrase “dolorem ipsum” (sorrow in itself). Thus, the truncated phrase leaves one page dangling with.

If the copy becomes distracting in the design then you are doing something wrong or they are discussing copy changes. It might be a bit annoying but you could tell them that that discussion would be best suited for another time. At worst the discussion is at least working towards the final goal of your site where questions about lorem ipsum don’t.

Typographers of yore didn’t come up with the concept of dummy copy because people thought that content is inconsequential window dressing, only there to be used by designers who can’t be bothered to read. Lorem Ipsum is needed because words matter, a lot. Just fill up a page with draft copy about the client’s business and they will actually read it and comment on it. They will be drawn to it, fiercely. Do it the wrong way and draft copy can derail your design review.

We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.

This is quite a problem to solve, but just doing without greeking text won’t fix it. Using test items of real content and data in designs will help, but there’s no guarantee that every oddity will be found and corrected. Do you want to be sure? Then a prototype or beta site with real content published from the real CMS is needed—but you’re not going that far until you go through an initial design cycle.

Websites in professional use templating systems. Commercial publishing platforms and content management systems ensure that you can show different text, different data using the same template. When it’s about controlling hundreds of articles, product pages for web shops, or user profiles in social networks, all of them potentially with different sizes, formats, rules for differing elements things can break, designs agreed upon can have unintended consequences and look much.

Will I receive the same product that I see in the picture?

Chances are there wasn’t collaboration, communication, and checkpoints, there wasn’t a process agreed upon or specified with the granularity required. It’s content strategy gone awry right from the start. Forswearing the use of Lorem Ipsum wouldn’t have helped, won’t help now.

Where can I view my sales receipt?

Consectetur cras scelerisque dis nec mi vestibulum ullamcorper turpis enim natoque tempus a malesuada suspendisse iaculis adipiscing himenaeos tincidunt.Tellus pharetra dis nostra urna a scelerisque.

How can I return an item?

Consectetur cras scelerisque dis nec mi vestibulum ullamcorper turpis enim natoque tempus a malesuada suspendisse iaculis adipiscing himenaeos tincidunt.Tellus pharetra dis nostra urna a scelerisque.

Will you restock items indicated as “out of stock?”

Using dummy content or fake information in the Web design process can result in products with unrealistic assumptions and potentially serious design flaws. A seemingly elegant design can quickly begin to bloat with unexpected content or break under the weight of actual activity. Fake data can ensure a nice looking layout but it doesn’t reflect what a living, breathing application must endure. Real data does.