r/Decks

Yo. Client asked to redo and add a deck on to their front porch. Where the deck will connect to the house is below max height for permitting in this area, but the deck extends out and will be well over max limit without permit.

Also, the standard pre-approved deck plans from the city seem to be for a standard square deck, but this project has a 45 degree corner where cantilevered joists will be different lengths and whatnot.

What I’m trying to get at: Do decking and fencing contractors/companies have an in-house person who is drawing up specs for additions and submitting for city approval or just building them and hoping for the best?

Our draftsman is overloaded with projects rn and our backup draftsman wants a $2000 minimum charge for a 100sqft deck, so we’re trying to design it ourselves by hand. 😝

Noob here! Finding it hard to navigate all the options.

Please see attached pictures of our treated cedar deck steps from the second floor. They're just over a year old and have not had any work done on them since they were built. Originally we were thinking of applying an opaque white stain on everything, but I'd like to get a second opinion.

Yesterday I applied an oxidizing wood wash. However, I was surprised that even this small job was a lot of work — it was very awkward to get all the angles, so when I started to think about sanding & staining next it began to feel like a huge job. There's also the issue of the vegetable garden beds underneath which would be difficult to move.

It left me with some questions about what exactly I need to seal/stain/paint. Do I need to stain everything? Can I get away with just doing the side panels for visual appeal? Maybe put a seal on the steps? Can I get away with leaving the bottom side untouched? What about solid vs. transparent stains?

One idea I had was to use a paint sprayer for the difficult underbody/sides and then stain the steps with an opaque stain like the author of this post.

I also am wondering about how serious that mildew looking stuff is in the third picture. Is it indeed mildew, and if so what should I do about it?

If it's helpful context, we live in British Columbia, Canada and it's fairly rainy.

Thanks in advance!

Me and my girl did this in a few hours and we both love the way it came out. This is 1 coat mostly done with stain pads as they were the ticket for this job.

There's a video I'll link in comments

Those 4x4s are doing a lot of work.

Hi there, this deck was built by the previous homeowner and not sure how good of a job they did. All of the joists have at least some rotting. I attached pictures of one of the worst ones. Obviously, the deck boards sag when walking over these areas and I am afraid one will break soon.

How F'd is this deck? Is there anything I can do to save it/get some more time out of it?

I am creating a shed space under our deck now that it has been converted to a screened-in deck and is covered. I want to add a slat wall (e.g. Gladiator, HandiWall, etc.) along the brick-on-block foundation wall as shown in the photo. However, I don't want to put lots of holes in the wall to mount furing strips for the slat wall panels. I am planning instead to "hang" 2x4 studs by sistering them to the joists above, each 2x4 flat against the brick wall (with moisture barrier) to support against lever forces, 7" overlap of studs with the joists, each connected with three structural screws in a triangle pattern. There will be seven studs coming down 16" OC to support an 8' x 4' panel wall with a max rated weight capacity of 3200 lbs BUT the things I have planned weigh less than 400lbs and I can't imagine ever getting about 1000 if I went totally wild.

Any thoughts on this approach? Strong enough, best structural screws to use, adaptations or alternatives?

Thanks!

Non carpenter here and I’m needing to put some steps on the deck I built. I bought some precut stringers but I’m not sure how I should install them. If I use the stringers as is, my top step would be level with the rest of the deck. Which I know isn’t bad but it looks a little funky and it’s harder to do a railing(which I’m not doing any time soon even though code says I do). If I cut the stringer down a step then the first step off the deck would be higher than the rest. Here’s a picture I took of a very rough mock up. I have 4 stringers total. https://imgur.com/a/yCMf3zC

We had the deck railing replaced in September and the top boards are splitting. Could this be due to improper installation? I would love any thoughts before I reach out to our contractor.

I've been staring at this for too long and need advice from more experienced folks. I have 3 200w bifacial panels I want to set up on this deck, but keep getting stuck. The side with stairs faces west and and gets a lot of sun (we're on a hillside) but the stairs are cantilevered out and don't have posts under them. I also kind of want to put the panels along the deck railing for some shade but since the stairs are right there I can't really tilt out the base of the panels.

The south facing side of the deck has more room to cantilever the panels but gets some shade and is very close to my neighbors so I'm worried about glare shining into their faces or being too close to the property line.

If I put them on the stair landing, would I need to add support posts under the corners? Am I just overthinking this???

So we want to completely rebuild this deck and eventually connect to a currently also poorly-built deck (that would also be a complete tear down), but at this point we have neither the time nor money. Got quotes to rebuild the deck in picture (28x10) and they were all around $50k.

There are a lot of issues that I feel pretty confident about but these beams are fucked and I'm not sure what to do. Picture #1 is the middle of 3 beams. Everything has fascia and is hidden. Middle beam is actually a steel I-beam running at least half way into the house. But it only goes about 9' out away from the house. The post is at 10' and the second to last joist has about 1/2" sitting on a 2x6 laying on the I-beam. There's some MacGruber "sistering" going on to "extend" the beam the post, but when we get to the next beam, I know shit it sitting on stuff that shouldn't be structural, so until I can get some shoring posts under this, I don't want to pull anything off to see more.

Q#1: Is there any actual legit way to extend a steel I-beam with lumber?

Q#2: if there is, is there any way that post doesn't need to be moved under the joint/seam of the Frankenstein's monster of a beam?

Q#3: other than tearing it down, putting a hot tub on it, putting my MIL on it, or putting my MIL in a hot tub on it and then tearing it down, any suggestions for a halfway dees bandaid?

Q#4: for future build, if I'm considering extending this, and there's a legit way to do it, and I put a post in at 9'... is my backspan the 9' to the house, or does it include the 20+ feet running through my house?

On to the second beam. That's a 4x4 only going out to about 8.5" from the house. The timber post is actually rotted out at the bottom and shimmed at the top to prevent it from falling over. It is/was "supporting" just the 1x fascia trimming the 4x4. The real support is somewhere on the foundation at 0' and a 4x4 post, also on the foundation. It's a mountain house, split level, so the concrete foundation has multiple steps. I'd love to shore this up too. The ground is pretty dicey where the timber beam rests, and there's a gas line running like 12" from that. There is a concrete footer but with no hardware. I know I will have to deal with that eventually, but I'd rather not deal with digging and concrete until I'm ready to tear it all down.

Q#5: I'm running out of words - how do I unfuck this? Can I sister this somehow? Get it out the 10' mark and replace the post?

Thanks, my hot tubs and MIL are grateful.

I noticed a bounce and a sway, amongst other things. I took a look and my face turned white!

Previous owner built this for a hot tub…A HOT TUB

So, I have been working with a hardscaper who was leveling my bluestone patio and adding 6 concrete footings under the patio so I could anchor a 20 x 10 metal pergola (Mirador 111DA - Costco version).

After much debate the contractor insisted pouring a 10 inch cylinder would be good enough for me to anchor off of and I don't think it is. Even if I angled the anchor inward and use an epoxy anchor, I think I run the risk of cracking. We are in Western Mass so we will get rain, wind, snow, freeze/thaw. Can this be salvaged?

the footings are 30 in deep, but I'm wondering if I can get away with digging an 8 inch deep 14x14 square around the current form, cut away the exposed cardboard and pour some high strength cement to give some added support. Would I need horizontal dowels to connect new and old concrete? Totally new to concrete work, so any advice is appreciated!

Blocking for the breaker board and picture framing joist still need to be done. Removable panel for the hot tub access panel. Stairs and joist tape as well.

Having a deck built with a cement board skirt painted to match the house.

Left side of the deck is 12” on center (OC) and the right side by the stairs is 16” OC. Phase two would be a screened in porch on the 12” OC side. Had a 10x10 pad poured exiting the deck.

Had an architecture design and stamped for permits.

Hit me with the do again/do better and what I need addressed ASAP !

Note:
Cost included the demo of existing deck and all house trimming, paint and landscaping around deck when done.

Appreciate it.