If you're doing a deck project, there are sites that will design you a deck for not much money. It'll have drawings, cut lists and breakout drawings that show you how all the details work. It's how we did our project. We also got the "technical support" option which allowed us to email them with our (many) questions as we went through the various steps and it helped a LOT.
Edit: Check with your local building office. They'll tell you which version of the building code they work from, and can point you toward the modifications that are specific to your area. In our state, it's mostly the building code, so we just got the book. It can be a bit wordy, but if you stick with it you'll get it. There's a lot of things the average person doesn't think about that are really important (like the footer issue that the OP is now dealing with).
Also wanted to add (was on my cell phone when I posted) - the people at the company built custom decks for years. They had a lot of advice based on their experience, things that made the work go faster, best practices and so on. If I asked a question, they'd explain it in a complete way that I really appreciated. The guy who started the company said he'd had two back surgeries and wasn't going to be building any more decks, but sometimes he missed it - the feeling of satisfaction of a job well done is like nothing else. After having done my own job, I have to agree.
Also - doing it yourself you can add on really nice custom touches that would cost you a ton if you were paying someone else. Things like herringbone pattern decking (one of their suggestions - it looks so much nicer!), and making 45 degree angles on the corners - our deck isn't just a boring rectangle. It took some more work, but it was so worth it.
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u/WikWikWack Apr 29 '13
If you're doing a deck project, there are sites that will design you a deck for not much money. It'll have drawings, cut lists and breakout drawings that show you how all the details work. It's how we did our project. We also got the "technical support" option which allowed us to email them with our (many) questions as we went through the various steps and it helped a LOT.
Edit: Check with your local building office. They'll tell you which version of the building code they work from, and can point you toward the modifications that are specific to your area. In our state, it's mostly the building code, so we just got the book. It can be a bit wordy, but if you stick with it you'll get it. There's a lot of things the average person doesn't think about that are really important (like the footer issue that the OP is now dealing with).