Deck Joist construction

[BobJobst]

Hello,
I am in the middle of a project to rebuild a deck off the back of my house. The original owner had built a deck off the existing juices of the house, they extend 2 feet from the back of the house. The deck was installed nailing 6 foot 2x8 to the two foot section. There are no support posts or beams supporting the deck, it’s more of a 6 foot overhang.
The rest of the deck was constructed relatively safely. I am completely demolishing this deck and want to rebuild it roughly the same way but I am not sure how safe the original design was. I plan on using bolts instead of nails for the juices. Do I need to put in posts and support beams?

Thanks
Bob

[lefty]

BobJobst,

Welcome to DoItYourself.com and the Deck forum.

I ABSOLUTELY will not build a deck that done with extending the existing floor joists of the house!!

My preference is to make the deck freestanding. The only other option is to ledger it to the house.

Sawzall the joists off flush with the siding, flash over the raw ends to prevent rot, and go from there. Better yet, if possible, remove some siding and cut the joists off flush with the rim joist of the house, then reside.