The 12' x 8' 3-Wall Deck Sukkah

I built this Sukkah last year. It was intended to be easy to put together, compact to store, strong enough to take a beating from the wind, and durable enough to last many years. Probably, it is over-engineered.


It is made from plywood panels and 2"x2" pine lumber, joined with bolts and screws. It has 7' high walls, and is the perfect size inside (about 12'x8') for a 6' rectangular table and 6-8 chairs.

It is a 3-wall design, which uses the door-wall of the house as its main entry and 4th wall.

I didn't record how much the materials cost, but at the time I think it came in at around $250 for everything, including the pre-manufactured bamboo roof material.

The Walls

The Sukkah walls are made from 8 panels of thin 4'x8' Luan (a thin plywood with one smooth side). I cut the panels down to 4'x7', and then attached 2"x2" lumber to make a "H" frame for strength. The Sukkah is 6 panels long by 2 panels wide.

To join the wall panels together, I used 5" long bolts, with nuts and washers. Note that it is hard to measure these holes, it is much easier to drill them in pairs. To do this, before I attached the 2"x2" pieces to the Luan, I clamped the tall edges of the "H" together and drilled the holes in pairs.

To keep track of which holes go together, I marked each panel with a letter on each side of the joint. to re-assemble the Sukkah quickly, you just line up A with A, B with B, etc.

The two corners of the Sukkah are made from a pair of these panels, joined with hinges on the inside. I used two hinges per corner, and I added extra pieces of 2"x2" to the "H" frame to provide a strong point for the hinges to screw into. In retrospect, it would have been simpler, and just as strong, to join the corners with bolts, as the wall panels were.

The Roof Beams

The roof beams are 2"x2"x8' pine lumber, as straight as I could pick from the pile at Home Depot. I nailed a 24" extension on to each of the diagonal pieces, and for the one nearest to the house, I added a 12" extension on each side. There are a total of 6 roof beams, which zigzag from one corner to the missing wall.


The roof beams are laid at an angle, forming triangles. This provides rigidity to the box shape of the walls.


They are anchored in place with metal bolts and nuts, the same way the walls are joined.

The Roof

To be a kosher Sukkah, the roof must be made of a material that grows from the ground, and it must be sparse enough that some light can show through it. I used bamboo matting that is sold for this purpose, because it is easy to work with, though not cheap. To cover my 12' x 8' Sukkah, I used two 8'x6' mats.

These mats can be obtained from your local Sukkot supplier (ask your local Rabbi).


I attached the bamboo mats to the roof beams with cooking twine (it is what I had on hand).

Electrical System

Sure, it's a primitive booth, but that doesn't mean it can't have lights!

I used Christmas lights (heh) from Home Depot, the kind that are embedded in clear plastic tube. To power them, I plugged in a light socket outlet adapter.