You have to crawl before you can walk. And you have to pour your crawlspace foundation before you can frame the first-floor deck, right? Wrong, says inventor Michael Butler of Fort Bragg, Calif. In Butler's innovative framing and forming system, named Fast Track, the builder first assembles a steel deck skeleton and suspends it in place, adjusting the frame to make sure it's square, level, and right where he wants it. Then he hangs the foundation forms from that skeleton framework, using steel C-channel for the form boards. After pouring the foundation to fit the floor, the builder strips the steel forms and uses them as joists to frame out the remainder of the deck. After building half a
