Deck Picture Frame Framing

Deck Picture Frame Framing - Copyright 2017 Tim Carter

If you want to really add that special touch to your deck, you should consider using two different colored decking boards.

That's what I'm doing with a deck I'm building. I'm using Trex Transcend and my wife has selected the deep Lava Rock color along with the lighter Tiki Torch for the main deck boards.

Many deck designers are incorporating a picture frame look where the outer edge of the deck is one, two or three boards of the one color and the the field area of the deck is the other color.

To ensure that the decking is properly supported where the picture frame boards run parallel to the main deck joists, you need to put in blocking. You also need to add a secondary joist or nailer that catches the ends of the field boards that would otherwise float in the space between the two end joists.

Look at the photo below. It's the right side of my new deck.

This is classic picture-frame blocking for a deck that has the decking going two different directions.  Read the June 23, 2016 AsktheBuilder Newsletter for more information on the new deck. Photo credit: Tim Carter

Can you see how the blocking between the decks will provide the 16-inch-on-center support for the two 5.5-inch wide Lava Rock boards that will be put on?

The vertical 2x4 that's nailed in the notched blocking will support the ends of the main field Tiki Torch decking boards so they don't droop down should you stand on them.

It's not hard to install this blocking. You just need to think out where the picture frame ends and where the regular decking starts.