While some people will immediately rush to the backyard and start turning over the garden, others will start a home improvement project they’ve been looking forward to all winter long,

a deck is one of the most popular springtime home improvement projects. Adding a deck is also one of the most reliable investments when it comes to home resale values.

If you’re considering adding a deck to your home, you will need to answer a few basic questions to get the project started: Where will it go? How big it will be? What materials will you use? And who will do the work?

Begin by flipping through some gardening or home improvement magazines to get ideas about the look and feel you want. You should also get in touch with your local zoning board to determine what licenses and permits are required. Once that’s taken care of, the next, and most important step is to design your deck.

Deck design steps

1) Decide where the deck will be located -- attached to the back of the house, off to the side, or in an unattached location somewhere in the yard.

2) Determine how big and what shape the deck should be. The possibilities are endless here.

3) Choose materials. Not so long ago, the only choices for decking materials were pressure treated wood or more expensive cedar and redwood lumber. Today decks are also being constructed with composite materials for floors, stairs and railings.

While composite lumbers, typically made from a blend of recycled plastics and recaptured wood by-products, are gaining popularity for the decking and railing, the one common material used in the construction of any deck is pressure treated lumber for supporting trusses, stringers and post beams -- regardless of the exterior material used to complete the deck.

4) Purchase fasteners. Structural connectors must maintain their integrity to continually support the loads they are charged with carrying. If you want your deck to last, be sure to use nails, screws and other fasteners that are designed with longevity in mind.