Some rookie DIYers think building a deck is cause for praise. Moxier men, like our Gene, think not. Using hundreds of composite boards—enough to earn him a contractor's discount—he constructed an elaborate octagonal pattern in his new deck that is worthy of the pros. To support the center bits, he cut and nailed mini joists diagonally between the full-length joists. He also spent some quality time doing precise calculations, figuring out all the tricky angled cuts to the nth degree. "Somehow I got it on the first try," says Gene, sounding almost as astonished as we are.
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