Is it normal for a professional deck frame to feel different than my old DIY one?

That slight vibration you're feeling near the house is usally a sign that the joists are tight and the energy from your footsteps is transferring into the structure rather than being absorbed by the 'mushiness' of your old pallet setup. A deck will never feel exactly like a concrete slab beacuse wood has a natural elasticity, but it shouldn't feel like a trampoline. If you're getting a high-frequency buzz or tremor, it actualy suggests the framing is well-connected to the ledger and the house rim joist.

You shold check the joist spacing and the span lengths to be sure. For standard 5/4 decking or 2x6 boards, joists are typically 16 inches on center. If they stretched that to 24 inches to save on lumber, you'll get more flex than you want. Another thing to look at is the **blocking**. If they didn't install mid-span blocking (small pieces of wood between the joists), the joists can slightly twist or vibrate when you walk. Adding a row of solid blocking halfway across the span is the best way to stiffen up a floor and kill that vibration. Go underneath and look at the **ledger attachment**. You want to see heavy-duty structural screws like SDS or LedgerLoks, or actual bolts, staggered in a specific pattern. If it's just nailed to the house, that's a major red flag and you need to stop them immediatly. But if the hardware is there and the joist hangers are fully nailed off, you're likely just experiencing the difference between a floating, disconnected structure and one that is now part of your home's thermal mass.

Since they haven't finished the railings yet, keep those wood cutoffs they're tossing aside. Everyone says they'll build planters out of the scraps and then they just sit in a pile for three years before hitting the dump, but they're actually great for testing stain colors later on. Once the railing posts are bolted trough the frame, that usually adds even more rigidity to the whole system, so it might feel even more solid by the time they pack up thier tools.

This is so cool to see the progress! I'm currently dreaming of my own proffesional build becuase my current setup is basially a glorified raft. That vibration thing sounds like it's acutally a good sign then? I wouldn't have guessed that! Since you're finally getting a real deck, are you planning on doing one of those built-in benches or maybe a fancy outdoor kitchen setup? I’ve been obsessed with those pizza ovens lately and I'm wondering if a pressure-treated frame can actually handle the weight of a stone oven or if that's a total disaster waiting to happen.

Don't sweat the vibration too much yet. It's probaly just the wood settling into the hangers. One thing I'd check though is the footing depth. If the pros didn't go deep enugh or the concrete's still curing, you'll get a bit of a shimmy. Once those railings are bolted down, they act like a giant truss and usally kill that extra shake. Are they using composite or just straight pressure-treated for the top? That makes a huge difference in the "heft" you feel when you're walking around.