Deck - The planning

We knew we wanted to add a deck for our travel trailer, since it is on the front I guess it is really a front porch. Our motorhome had two steps in side when you opened the door and two steps outside. I had placed two plastic pallets in front of the door as the little rv steps are hard to use.

The travel trailer has no steps inside and four steps outside. The first one being very high. I could had built nice wooden steps but the concrete slab we use for our front patio is level with the ground and every time it rains, mud and trash cover the concrete. The lot is sloped to the back and the concrete slab has two cracks across it. The slope means a deck would only only have 3 steps at the front and you can enter the TT from the deck without adding another step.

So a deck was in order. Our awning is 20 feet long and extends out about 8 feet, so a 16x7ft. deck would work fine. The new deck must meet several criteria.

1. It had to be free standing so it could be moved away from the travel trailer to make moving the TT in and out without hitting it easier. The TT sits just off the slab and the slab is 8 feet wide. The deck would set about 4 inches from the TT so the deck could be moved out a foot or so and still be on the slab.

2. The awning must cover the deck when extended.

3. Had to fit on a standard 16 ft. trailer as I plan to sell it in a couple of years when I retire and start traveling full time.

4. Needed to be sturdy, attractive, and built with the least amount of waste when cutting the lumber. Wasted lumber means wasted money.

5. No joints in the decking.

When drawing up the plans it worked out like this.

2 2x8x16 stringers
7 2x8x12 's could be cut to make 2x8x6 floor joists
6 4x4x12 would make all the posts
18 5/4x6x16 radiused decking, top rail, and steps
3 3-step stringers
4 sheets of 4x4 lattice to underpin (and enough for another project I have in mind).

This would make up the basic deck.

Since I had to borrow a pickup and trailer to haul the lumber. I wanted to pick up all the long lumber in one trip. The smaller lengths could be hauled in my s-10 pickup.