Deck support posts need replacing, how do I do that?


  #1  
Old 05-24-05, 04:39 PM
Delco
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Deck support posts need replacing, how do I do that?

Some of my deck support posts are rotting away and some have been cut and the guy who owned the house before me put bricks under them. The posts are wooden 4 x 4's and some 4 x 6's and it looks like someone dug holes, put the posts in and poured cement around them. I don't know what the code is but let's say I want 6" of cement above ground and that the cement in the ground is already below the frost line. How do I go about resupporting the posts without tearing the deck down?
 
  #2  
Old 05-25-05, 04:29 AM
L
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Welcome to DoItYourself.com and the Deck forum.

Your assumption that the footings are already below the frost line for where you live may not be a good assumption. Since the deck posts were embedded in concrete, I doubt that a permit was pulled when the deck was built. (No jurisdiction that I'm aware of would allow that, and no inspector would have passed it.)

But as a temporary fix, work on one post under each beam at a time, cut the post off at the concrete and remove it. Pour new concrete over the existing footing and set either a pier block in the wet concrete or a Simpson PB44 or better. Let that cure for a few days, then install a new post, using a Simpson BC4 between the top of the post and the beam. Then move to the next posts (again, working only one under each beam at a time), and repeat the process.
 
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Old 05-25-05, 04:42 PM
Delco
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Thanks for your advice lefty, should I put one of those cardboard cylinders around the existing concrete and screw some lags into the existing concrete for the new stuff to setup on?
 
  #4  
Old 05-26-05, 05:21 PM
L
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If you trust the existing footings as being good, then yes, drilling holes and inserting lag bolt or short lengths of rebar to tie the new concrete to the old is fine. Put a 12" sonotube down and fill it up with concrete, and set a Simpson PB44 or better in the wet concrete. Your new posts will be installed in the post base.

Personally, when I see a 4X4 post embedded in concrete, I assume that whoever built the deck had no clue what they were doing, and therefore, I don't trust their footings.
 
  #5  
Old 05-26-05, 05:33 PM
Delco
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Thanks for the help Lefty, I really appreciate it!

Frank
 
 

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