Deck Build

[mopowers]

My father in law bought this great house with this awful deck. House was less than 8 years old and the deck was literally falling off the house. A very good example of why building codes are important.

The before
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One of the many problems
[attachimg=2]

The design
[attachimg=3]

The after
[attachimg=4][attachimg=5]

 

[rst]

Fabulous improvement!!

 

[mopowers]

Thanks!

BTW- All the fir beams were cut with the TS 75. Kapex and OF 1100 were used for the Trex decking. Dust collection is really important to me with that stuff.

 

[Kev]

The deck even makes the grass look greener [wink] [big grin]

Awesome job 1,000% improvement.

 

[wow]

Gee, I don't see anything wrong with the old deck?

[tongue]

Just Kidding! New one looks great - nice job! How long did it take?

 

[mopowers]

How long did it take?

The Job took pretty much the whole summer  [blink]. I started a insulation and home performance company about a year ago, the business really took off. My crew and I worked on this when ever we had time between our "real" jobs. I wanted to get away from building for a while but it seems like we are now building more than ever. Most of our weatherization projects turn into major renovations.

The deck even makes the grass look greener [wink] [big grin]

Ha! A few loads of top soil and some seed helped too. But ya, the deck is mostly responsible for the green grass.  [big grin]

The foundation was back filled with mostly clay from the site. A really bad decision by the builder. The sonotubes for the old deck were about two ft deep and shaped like carrots. No surprise they got pushed right out of the ground. Its a miracle the hot tub did not come crashing down. I had the soil removed down to the footings, replaced with proper fill and set the deck on 12- 5' precast piers.

 

[Sparktrician]

My only question is regarding the placement of the posts supporting the deck.  They're unevenly spaced (side-to-side).  I'm sure you had a reason for this spacing.  The thing that brought it to mind is that the post supporting the roof on the right side appears to be right over the deck support column, yet the post supporting the roof on the left side appears to be staggered away from the deck support column closest to it.  I'm also wondering why you didn't use knee braces on the corner posts? 

[unsure]

 

[rizzoa13]

Awesome looking work I bet it was fun to do! I won't lie though you SERIOUSLY missed out on an opportunity to use a hammer beam style bent instead of one with a spanning tie beam, up on that hill and on top of that deck it would have looked ridiculously nice!

 

[Sparktrician]

Awesome looking work I bet it was fun to do! I won't lie though you SERIOUSLY missed out on an opportunity to use a hammer beam style bent instead of one with a spanning tie beam, up on that hill and on top of that deck it would have looked ridiculously nice!

You hit that one on the money.  The hammer beam would be just awesome. 

 

[Michael Kellough]

Had to look it up.

 

[rizzoa13]

Yea it would have left that large arched top window unobstructed but honestly it's just an observation, your work turned out beautiful.

 

[mopowers]

A hammer beam truss would of been sweet! WAY past my skill level. Certainly would of solved the design problem of having the beam in front of the window. I like how that truss shown is from a company right here in Vermont.

My only question is regarding the placement of the posts supporting the deck.  They're unevenly spaced (side-to-side).  I'm sure you had a reason for this spacing.  The thing that brought it to mind is that the post supporting the roof on the right side appears to be right over the deck support column, yet the post supporting the roof on the left side appears to be staggered away from the deck support column closest to it.  I'm also wondering why you didn't use knee braces on the corner posts? 

[unsure]

The uneven post spacing is because i did not want a post right in front of the sliding glass door. Now that it is all built I do think it would of looked just fine. I kept the deck back several ft from the end of the house so the valley run off would not land on the deck. That also added to the challenge of laying out the posts.
Each post supporting the roof is setting on a large carrying beam. The posts fall just short of the center of the deck. I find it a very odd design. In the beginning I was seriously considering cutting back the gable and not have a truss at all.
I did not do a knee brace on the right side due to the post spacing. The brace would of almost touched the one next to it. I thought it looked funny so i left it out. Did not do the left one for some sort of symmetry.

 

[Sparktrician]

My only question is regarding the placement of the posts supporting the deck.  They're unevenly spaced (side-to-side).  I'm sure you had a reason for this spacing.  The thing that brought it to mind is that the post supporting the roof on the right side appears to be right over the deck support column, yet the post supporting the roof on the left side appears to be staggered away from the deck support column closest to it.  I'm also wondering why you didn't use knee braces on the corner posts? 

[unsure]

The uneven post spacing is because i did not want a post right in front of the sliding glass door. Now that it is all built I do think it would of looked just fine. I kept the deck back several ft from the end of the house so the valley run off would not land on the deck. That also added to the challenge of laying out the posts.
Each post supporting the roof is setting on a large carrying beam. The posts fall just short of the center of the deck. I find it a very odd design. In the beginning I was seriously considering cutting back the gable and not have a truss at all.
I did not do a knee brace on the right side due to the post spacing. The brace would of almost touched the one next to it. I thought it looked funny so i left it out. Did not do the left one for some sort of symmetry.

I kind of thought that might be the case, but couldn't see the carrying beam.  Thanks for the fill-in. 

[smile]

 

[kfitzsimons]

I'm remaking a deck with Timbertech next summer. It is at ground level but the decking will look very similar to yours - picture frame border. My question is about the rail system. What are the posts and supporting rails made of? Wood or a Trex product? It's very nice and I want to do something similar. Is the cable stainless?
Thanks and nice job.
  Kevin

 

[mopowers]

I'm remaking a deck with Timbertech next summer. It is at ground level but the decking will look very similar to yours - picture frame boarder. My question is about the rail system. What are the posts and supporting rails made of? Wood or a Trex product? It's very nice and I want to do something similar. Is the cable stainless?
Thanks and nice job.
  Kevin

The post and supporting rails are a local white cedar. Top rail is Trex. All of the cable rail components are stainless steel. I bought everything here Cable Rail. Used this company several times and always happy.  A project this size takes considerable planing to get all the right cable components. The cedar is a bit soft for this system so i did run into a few extra challenges.

I bought a Fasco scrail gun for all the hidden fasteners. Super fast when you have 500 sq ft to put down. I was going to put the gun on ebay if you are interested.

Happy to answer and more questions about the rail system. Good luck with your project!

 

[Scott B.]

Nice job!