Using a 1/4" per foot grade sounds good to me for a sewer line, but not a deck. I do give decks some grade away from the house, maybe 1/8" per foot if a short deck, and 1/16" per foot on a longer run, say 10 ft. or more. This will affect the appearance of a deck's surface a lot. As far as the gravel under the footing blocks: I would do that, this promotes drainage away from your blocks instead of allowing water to stand around them. Actually we set our deck post in concrete with gravel at the bottom around here to promote drainage, leaving the concrete about 1" above grade and tapered to allow run-off from the post.
DIY'er vs Framer - Deck Questions
I have a neighbor who has been a construction framer for the past 20 years and he always looks over the fence to tell me I am doing it wrong. Two items I would like to clear up. He says I need to put a gravel under my footing blocks. I have never seen this before on deck footings, it seems like it would do nothing more than isolate a pond around my footing. (I am using (4) of the 12"x12" pre-cast footings) And the second he says there needs to be a slope to the deck of 1/4" per foot for drainage. Again never heard this or understand why this would need to be done. My deck is 8' deep so I would need a 2" drop?? 
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Decks don't have to be pitched. This guy has no idea what he's talking about.I have a neighbor who has been a construction framer for the past 20 years and he always looks over the fence to tell me I am doing it wrong. Two items I would like to clear up. He says I need to put a gravel under my footing blocks. I have never seen this before on deck footings, it seems like it would do nothing more than isolate a pond around my footing. (I am using (4) of the 12"x12" pre-cast footings) And the second he says there needs to be a slope to the deck of 1/4" per foot for drainage. Again never heard this or understand why this would need to be done. My deck is 8' deep so I would need a 2" drop??
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