Decks, Patios, Porches and Docks - Fastening sleepers on a porch deck

I have an older home that has several porches. One is off the dinning room, almost completely under the second floor overhang. It is currently made of two materials - fir and concrete. We want to finish the whole surface with new fir. My question is -How best to attach the sleepers to the concrete section? Any other advice would also be welcome....

First question. When you step out of the door onto this porch, how much are you stepping DOWN? If it is 4" or more, then you could anchor pressure treated 2X4's (flat if need be) to the concrete using either a Ram Set or a rotary hammer and anchors. Which tool you use would come down to what you have and what you have access to. Put the sleepers on no more than a 24" center if you are using 2X decking, and no more than a 16" center if you are using 1X or 5/4 decking.

Using fir is OK, but it will be pretty high maintenance. You will have to repaint or reseal it every few years, especially in the areas that are exposed to the weather. Using one of the new composites (i.e. TREX) for your decking would eliminate that. <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by misha:
I have an older home that has several porches. One is off the dinning room, almost completely under the second floor overhang. It is currently made of two materials - fir and concrete. We want to finish the whole surface with new fir. My question is -How best to attach the sleepers to the concrete section? Any other advice would also be welcome....<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

After the old material is removed, it will probably equal less than 3 inches.... Will that affect what I do?
I wanted to put the sleepers flat, and then the fir on top. I was also thinking of a moisture barrier and roofing felt....
I know the fir will be more maintenance, but it is an old house, and that is the material on the other porches.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by lefty:
First question. When you step out of the door onto this porch, how much are you stepping DOWN? If it is 4" or more, then you could anchor pressure treated 2X4's (flat if need be) to the concrete using either a Ram Set or a rotary hammer and anchors. Which tool you use would come down to what you have and what you have access to. Put the sleepers on no more than a 24" center if you are using 2X decking, and no more than a 16" center if you are using 1X or 5/4 decking.

Using fir is OK, but it will be pretty high maintenance. You will have to repaint or reseal it every few years, especially in the areas that are exposed to the weather. Using one of the new composites (i.e. TREX) for your decking would eliminate that. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

How far off of the ground is the top of the concrete you are planning to cover? If it's more than a foot or so, I wouldn't put felt paper or a moisture barrier on it. It won't wick moisture up from the ground that far, so the only thing the felt or moisture barrier would do is trap whatever water got on the deck from above and keep it in contact with the wood. Since you only have about 3" to play with, I would lay pressure treated 2X4 sleepers flat, 16" on center, and use 1 by fir for the decking to match your existing porches ( <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by misha:
After the old material is removed, it will probably equal less than 3 inches.... Will that affect what I do?
I wanted to put the sleepers flat, and then the fir on top. I was also thinking of a moisture barrier and roofing felt....
I know the fir will be more maintenance, but it is an old house, and that is the material on the other porches.

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