I have never not had some problem somewhere with free deck design software. After watching Simpson Strong-Tie demo its software—called the Deck Planner—at the International Builders’ Show, I’m impressed.
I should say first, that computers don’t like me. The Internet slows down when I go to work. And the blue wheel of hurry-up-and-wait spins when I am in my biggest hurries. So, I’m still a pen-and-yellow-pad kind of contractor.
But adding this tool to my bag of tricks would have saved me boatloads of time in the last year.
The demo I saw showed responsive, sensibly laid-out commands and cues. Once you get the design you want, it generates a take-off.
Obviously, since it is Strong-Tie—check out the review of its QuickStick framing tool here—every connection will have 10 hangers on it, so you’ll have to adjust the take-off to how you frame your decks. Other than that, I was impressed and saw it work with my own eyes.
