I've built a couple of decks, always from the ground up. My friend Mark Clement, however, takes a different approach. He's a pro builder and blogger at MyFixItUpLife who builds his decks from the top down. It's a fairly unique approach (as far as I know), and I've watched his how-to videos enough times that I've now been convinced--the next time I build a deck, I'm building from the top down.
Below are a few screen captures to show what I mean by "top down," but I highly encourage you to watch the actual YouTube videos below to get all the tips and tricks Mark suggests about the building process. -- Matt Weber
(*All images and videos are copyright of MyFixItUpLife, which is a cool home-improvement blog you should check out.)
CLICK TO WATCH THE VIDEOS!