AT, share with me your deck building wisdom

[ManBearPig]

I have to (re)build a 10x8 deck. The deck adjacent to it is the original deck that came with the house (about 15 years old) and amazingly well built. The deck that I'm rebuilding is an extension of the original deck. So on one side it'll just be an extension of the original deck, and on another side it'll touch the house.

We have a brick facade which I'm told should not have a ledger board attached to it, but the original deck does. So I could either add posts near the house or add a ledger board (or some combination of both). Basically I'm just asking for general tips/suggestions/advice on all aspects of deck building. Even things like what materials you suggest I place under the deck. Thanks AT!

 

[skyking]

I'll reach over and grab a ledger for lateral forces, but put any vertical loads on your own pier blocks, etc. That works well and does not compromise the other structure.
I set up a beam at a comfortable distance so I am not fighting the proximity of the building, say 10" out from the building face On Center (OC).
8x10 you can do with a large conventional level, but any larger and I break out a water level. They are a poor man's transit and very accurate, work around corners and under structures, etc.
Be sure to take the time to grade the area under the deck for proper drainage. Sucks to later have some problem you could have addressed easily.

 

[LegendKiller]

I am trying to convince my wife to let me build a deck with a friend who did it professionally for 5-6 years. He built his dad's 4 season beautifully about 10 years ago. I did notice that building codes have changed since then to require lateral supports tied directly to the floor trusses of the house rather than just the ledgerboard. But most decks I have seen put up lately do not have that, nor do they have additional cross bracing, or piers/posts close to the house.

How are they meeting that requirement???

Would anybody suggest building a deck yourself? Tips?

A maintenance free deck around here is $25k, a screen porch ~40k. I find that ridiculous when half the cost is labor.

 

[Blanky]

I'm about to build a small extension to my deck because I've discovered it's quite literally impossible to find a contractor at this time of year willing to do the work (I checked with half a dozen, all are busy).

My extension will be very small. My existing deck has the PT posts sunk directly into the ground, in deep holes, with concrete around them. I am not sure code allows that now or requires all concrete with the posts attached with hardware.

But I have a question: I have a deck book and it shows digging a 4' hole with an auger, then placing a much smaller sonotube into said hole, filling it with concrete. Then backfilling around it after. Wouldn't this backfilled dirt that isn't really going to be compressed allow the column to shift laterally in the ground?

And another question: The best way to dig the hole is to tilt the auger near the bottom to create an underground bell shape. This necessitates floating the sonotube a few inches above the bottom of the ground so that the concrete poured in flares out the bottom, correct?

 

[skyking]

Legendkiller:
I am no contractor. I can only guess the code requirement you mention applies when the home is used for a significant portion of the vertical loads. I prefer building a deck so it is self supporting, and only ties to the house for shear loading and to facilitate the construction.
Bolted on ledgers have failed many times.
Blanky:
You can tamp or water settle the backfilled soil to a high degree of compaction. The concrete column has a much larger surface area to resist lateral as well as the vertical load when compared to a wood post. It will not move laterally.
The posts poured in concrete are prone to rot failure right at the top of the concrete. People slope the mud so it drains, put flashings around them, etc.
I just don't go there. Wood inside concrete is the perfect rot environment. Pressure treated wood in good draining soil will last longer.
Yes you can hold the sonotube up with a couple of cross boards spanning the hole.

 

[Greenman]

I don't know about New York, but here in the land of fruits and nuts we regularly hang a ledger on the house and build off of that. We use a gadget called an "off the wall". It's a spacer that fits around the bolt and holds the ledger off the wall half an inch. Everything has to be framed with PT lumber and Z-Max hangers.

 

[mizzou]

floating deck may be best if you dont want to mess with the house foundation.

 

[monkeydelmagico]

Kill the extension, put in steps, create patio. I've really gotten tired of building, re-building, sanding, painting, and high cost of install for decks. Never again for this guy.

 

[tracerbullet]

Be sure to take the time to grade the area under the deck for proper drainage. Sucks to later have some problem you could have addressed easily.

THIS!!! I had this issue at my last house, water coming into the basement, I had to tear all the boards off the deck and bring in a few yards of class 5, plastic etc. to get it to drain away from the house (the deck was about 2' off the ground). And my new house (new to me, built in the 80's) has the same darn issue but luckily no water in the basement. It'll get fixed too but would of course rather it been right the first time!

Do it right the first time, especially on this front.

 

[edro]

My state's building code required footings to be something like 36" away from the foundation.