If you’re not familiar with the Fast-Cheap-Good project triangle, you should be. 这是因为它是一个很好的工具——几乎适用于任何业务领域——用于识别和处理不切实际的客户. 你知道我说的是谁:那些似乎要求在紧张的时间内完成博物馆级作品的人, all at a discounted rate. 当你告诉他们，为女儿的婚礼或今年夏天晚些时候的大公司野餐及时建造一个高质量的甲板要花更多钱时，他们可能会不理解, 当你耐心地为他们解释并解释他们必须从三个中选出两个时，他们可能会理解.
That’s where building efficiently comes in. By figuring out ways to reduce material and labor costs without compromising quality, you can remain competitive. For some builders, that means streamlining the framing process, perhaps by standardizing deck sizes or even prefabricating deck packages off site. For other builders, it might mean closely tracking labor costs to optimize results.
Last fall, PDB jdb电子手机注册app了许多甲板建造者，以了解他们提高工作效率的各种方法. Here is what they told us.
Stage the Job
For Mike Guertin, a remodeler and builder in East Greenwich, R.I., working efficiently means starting each job with a planned lumber drop. 他说，他与他的伐木场协调，以确保他的材料不是随机装载和交付的，这样他就可以很容易地按照他需要的顺序获得他需要的木材.
If the deck is small and all the materials are delivered at once, he starts with the joist stock on the bottom of the pile, then the ledger stock, and then stacks the post and beam stock on top. The decking goes in a separate pile, says Guertin.
Another planning tip from Guertin is to develop a good working relationship with inspectors. Once you’ve gained their trust, many inspectors will allow you to skip some on-site inspections—such as for footing holes, lateral load connectors, and framing details—if you email them good photos that verify the work has been completed. 格廷指出，他通常可以在几个小时内通过电子邮件发送一组照片，而不是等待一天或几天的检查员来工地.
Tools and Jigs
Guertin认为，拥有适合工作的工具是提高工作效率的关键之一. To a standard assortment of saws, compressors, air tools, and hand tools, he has added an arsenal of specialty tools over the years. For example, 他指出，金属接头钉机比手工钉托梁吊架的速度要快得多. For tight spots, he recommends adding a simple palm nailer to your toolbox.
If some deck demolition is involved, 这是有意义的补充你的撬杆和挖掘铁与一个(或多个)各种甲板清除工具，在市场上. Pennsylvania builder Matt Breyer says that his company keeps several different types on hand, including a Demo-Dek (greentektools.com) and a Duckbill Deck Wrecker (duckbilldeckwrecker.com), since each tool works slightly differently and better fits different jobsite conditions. If your company installs a lot of PT or tropical-hardwood decking, you’ll need at least one of the various types of deck-board benders and straighteners.
用剩余材料在现场制作的专业夹具也可以用来提高速度和精度. One of Guertin’s go-to jigs is his joist-hanger installation tool, 这使他能够快速将吊架钉在账簿和横梁上(使用金属连接器钉)，然后将托梁放置到位.
Another helpful aid is a simple post-holding jig, 它基本上是一个中空的盒子，由废胶合板或1-by材料制成，适合4x4的柱子. Before installing a rail post, Guertin将夹具滑过柱子并将其夹紧，以便在他定位柱子时起到停止作用. This allows Guertin to quickly register the post at the right height on the deck frame, rather than trying to eyeball it to a line while fastening it into place. Guertin使用第二个夹子将柱子紧紧地固定在框架上，同时将其固定到位.
Like many deck builders, Guertin runs his 4x4 railing posts a little high when he installs them, then cuts them to height later, using a laser to establish a level line. 但是一个普通的圆锯没有足够的能力，通过一个4x4的职位切割. In order to get a square cut, Guertin有一个夹具，是类似于他的后持有夹具，可以夹在后引导切割. 切割夹具取代了在所有四个侧面周围绘制切割线的位置，同时确保完美的方形切割.
Footings
When a deck is above grade by more than a couple of feet, Guertin doesn’t pour the footings right away. First, he digs the holes and inserts the forms. Then he frames the deck, 用临时支撑物支撑梁，并将完成支撑柱悬挂在基础孔上方.
That approach allows Guertin to schedule the framing and footing inspections at the same time, instead of waiting a day or two for the inspector to come out and check the footing holes. When the inspection is complete, 混凝土可以放置，工作人员可以继续并开始在框架顶部的甲板安装.
Greg DiBernardo, owner of Peachtree Decks & Porches, in Atlanta, is another deck builder who recommends framing from the top down. DiBernardo says it’s easier to accurately locate the footings, especially on irregular terrain, with the framing in place. 这也使他的工作人员能够在最有效的时间挖掘地基. For example, if two workers are laying decking, a third worker can start digging the holes.
Another advantage of top-down framing is that it allows a crew to work around the weather. DiBernardo同意Guertin的观点，即有时可以同时进行立足点和框架检查(检查员也喜欢这样), because it saves a trip for them). Occasionally, says DiBernardo, 如果与检查员关系良好，项目将接受最终检查以及基础检查.
Framing
On composite decks that are between waist and eye level, 很容易在甲板上看到由树冠或框架厚度变化引起的倾斜和波浪. Instead of trying to correct the problem after the joists have been installed, 迪贝尔纳多的工作人员首先撕开所有的托梁，以确保它们的尺寸均匀，顶部边缘完全笔直，然后才开始框架.
DiBernardo说，只需要10分钟左右的时间，就可以沿着托梁的长度画出粉笔线，并将它们撕成大小. The reduction in strength is minimal, since only 3⁄16 inch or less is removed from the width of each joist, and the result is a very flat surface for the decking. On taller or lower decks, this step isn’t necessary, since the variations won’t be visible.
密歇根建筑商贝恩伍德认为，边缘托梁和托梁阻挡是一个强大的关键组成部分, long-lasting deck frame. Taking the time to reinforce these areas during the framing process avoids callbacks later on.
For example, Wood explains that the rim joist typically bears the load of all the railings, fascia, 和边界(如果使用)，但通常是固定在主甲板的托梁只有螺钉或钉子打入托梁的端粒. To reinforce this connection, 伍德沿边缘托梁每隔6到8英尺安装一个或两个辛普森强tie DTT2Z横向负载支架(伍德说，这是他所在地区大多数市政当局要求的措施，以确保适当的铁路柱子连接。.)
接缝板-安装甲板板的地方，甲板板与主现场甲板成直角, 通常是为了避免对接和最好地利用桥面长度，通常需要额外的支撑块. Most deck builders simply nail (or screw) joist blocking between two main deck joists, with no other connection to hold the ladder-like assembly together. But Wood has found that as the decking expands and contracts over time, 由于与阻塞端粒的连接较弱，阻塞从托梁上被拉离. 因此，Wood每隔6英尺安装一次DTT2Z托架或直径1 / 2英寸的螺纹杆(或两者都安装)来加强封堵，将组件固定在一起.
When you’re installing blocking, Wood cautions that it should always be installed vertically, rather than on the flat. While flat blocking offers more surface area for nailing, vertical blocking is stronger. And even when the flat blocking is protected by a peel-and-stick membrane, 伍德发现，水仍然能够渗透到组件中，并进入附着点. Before long, the connection loosens, allowing water and debris to accumulate, eventually leading to rot.
Railings and Stairs
If deck plans include a poured concrete landing for a set of stairs, Guertin tries to cast the landing at the same time as the footings. That means one less delivery for the batch truck, or—if the concrete is mixed on site—less time setting up and cleaning up the mixer.
When you’re installing the stair stringers, 马特布雷耶指出，它可以很难保持底部的框架从扭曲与所有的虐待较低的铁路柱子得到. To help strengthen this assembly, Breyer installs both vertical and horizontal blocking, which not only locks the posts in place and ties the stringers together, but also provides solid support for the decking.
Finally, when you’re installing guard posts, Guertinjdb电子试玩2000网站优化护柱间距，以匹配所使用的轨道系统的长度. By precisely positioning the posts so that the rails fit exactly between them, you’ll save cutting time, and the spacing between the last baluster and post will match the spacing between the balusters.
