Deck & Fence Planner

Free, no account needed. The whole planner works for everyone. An account only buys you somewhere to save the design.

Most deck projects go wrong in one of two places: the materials list is short and you make a second trip, or the joist spacing was decided by eye and the boards end up bouncy. Both are planning problems, and both are cheaper to fix on a screen than in a driveway.

What you get

• A framing layout with joists, beams and posts placed to your span and spacing
• Board direction and run, including the pattern for a picture frame or a diagonal deck
• A materials list broken down by length, so it maps onto what the yard actually sells
• Fastener and hardware counts, which is the line everybody forgets
• A printable plan and an elevation view

Ordering the lumber

The materials list feeds straight into the cut list optimiser, which works out how to get your required pieces out of the stock lengths available with the least waste. Between the two you can walk into the yard with a specific order rather than a rough guess plus twenty percent.

A word on codes

Span tables, footing depth, guard height and railing spacing all vary by jurisdiction, and in Ontario a deck over a certain height needs a permit. This planner helps you design and buy accurately. It does not certify anything and it is not a substitute for your local building department, who would generally much rather answer a question beforehand than fail an inspection afterwards.