Decks, Patios, Porches and Docks - new deck building questions
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wkndwarrior
04-28-05, 04:10 AM
I am building my first deck this weekend and had a few questions to prepare. It is a new home, and currently has a 10 x 10 concrete patio on the back of the house. We are building a 14 x 16 deck over the top of this patio. I have 2 questions: Will I need to rent equipment to dig into the concrete for a support post, or will the boards span this width? Second, what do I do about the approximately 3 feet of lawn that surrounds the patio? The deck will be covering this, so will I need to dig up this sod or use some other method to kill the grass? Thanks for your help.
lefty
04-28-05, 09:37 AM
How far above the slab is your deck going to be? I'm assuming that there is a door someplace along the house wall that will open onto the deck. You want to keep the top of the deck boards at least a couple of inches below the threshold of that door.
Is the deck going to be free standing, or will you be attaching it to the house?
If you leave the grass, you can cut it with a weedeater, assuming that the deck is far enough off of the ground to get the weedeater under it. If you take the grass out, you'll be using the weedeater to cut the weeds out from under the deck. Leave the grass.
Is the deck going to be free standing, or will you be attaching it to the house?
If you leave the grass, you can cut it with a weedeater, assuming that the deck is far enough off of the ground to get the weedeater under it. If you take the grass out, you'll be using the weedeater to cut the weeds out from under the deck. Leave the grass.
wkndwarrior
04-28-05, 10:41 AM
The deck will be approximately 22 inches above the concrete slab, which will leave it a few inches below the sliding glass door. It will be attached to the house.
Could I avoid cutting grass and weeds underneath by digging up the sod, putting the black cover over it to prevent weeds, and then covering it with rock or mulch?
Could I avoid cutting grass and weeds underneath by digging up the sod, putting the black cover over it to prevent weeds, and then covering it with rock or mulch?
lefty
04-29-05, 12:41 AM
With 22" of difference between the slab and the deck, you can leave the slab in place and don't have to cut into it at all.
Through bolt the ledger to the wall of the house, assuming that you can get under the house to put large washers or steel plates and nuts on the bolts. Use joist hangers (Simpson LU26's or larger, depending on the size of joists you opt to go with) on the ledger. With the deck projecting 14' out from the house, go out 6' -- you will have a beam there -- and another at 12' out from the house. Some of the beam at 6' will be over the slab. Anchor AB, ABA, ABE, or similar standoff bases to the slab where the posts will be. Once the beam is beyiond the slab, you will dig footing at whatever depth your local code calls for. How deep is determined by the frost line where you live, if one exists.
The beam at 12' out from the house is not going to be over the slab at all. Dig footings. Set CB44's or PB 44's in the top of each footing, or set pier blocks. Your posts will attach to those.
Digging out the sod and laying landscape fabric or black plastic (2 layers of 6 mil minimum) and covering it with rocks will eliminate the need to mow under the deck.
Through bolt the ledger to the wall of the house, assuming that you can get under the house to put large washers or steel plates and nuts on the bolts. Use joist hangers (Simpson LU26's or larger, depending on the size of joists you opt to go with) on the ledger. With the deck projecting 14' out from the house, go out 6' -- you will have a beam there -- and another at 12' out from the house. Some of the beam at 6' will be over the slab. Anchor AB, ABA, ABE, or similar standoff bases to the slab where the posts will be. Once the beam is beyiond the slab, you will dig footing at whatever depth your local code calls for. How deep is determined by the frost line where you live, if one exists.
The beam at 12' out from the house is not going to be over the slab at all. Dig footings. Set CB44's or PB 44's in the top of each footing, or set pier blocks. Your posts will attach to those.
Digging out the sod and laying landscape fabric or black plastic (2 layers of 6 mil minimum) and covering it with rocks will eliminate the need to mow under the deck.