Decking over Concrete??


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Old 08-10-11, 10:37 AM
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Decking over Concrete??

Hopefully, I can make this understandable:

I have a 20 foot long front "porch" on our home which is a raised concrete slab. It is not much of a "porch" as it is only four foot deep.

I would like to build it deeper by adding a 4 foot deep deck to the full 20 feet long outside of the concrete porch.

But, I now am wondering if I could "cover" the concrete with the "plastic" deck boards so the deck would all look the same. Using 8 foot pieces, four feet would be resting on the concrete and the other four feet would be attached to typical deck framing. Perhaps the deck boards could be glued to the concrete?

Is this a realistic possibility??

Thanks for any input.

Fr. Jeff
 
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Old 08-10-11, 11:46 AM
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Decking right on the patio just doesn't sound like you'll be successful with the rest of the deck that extends out.

I did a job like this once, but I was fortunate in that it was a back deck on top of a patio that was about 8" from the threshold of the door. I only had to chisel out the 3'x3' cement landing step that was right outside the door. The 2x6 joists basically sat just above the cement patio and the 1" thickness of the decking allowed for my entire design to sit above the patio. If your patio is so close to your threshold that you could simply have decking on top of the cement patio, that tells me you're going to have a hard time creating the required footing, beams and joists all sitting down in the dirt to create a free-standing platform to extend the decking the additional 4' onto.

In other words, I'm trying to imagine you building the ledger/beam boards that are usually held by some type of footer/pier block themselves, that then have joists on their sides on top of them that the decking sits on. So even if installing on pier blocks, I'm envisioning excavating down well over a foot just to get the pier blocks low enough so it can have the rest of your structure at the current, low patio level. Just my thoughts without seeing a picture of the actual layout.
 
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Old 08-10-11, 10:53 PM
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Is it a cost issue in regards to why you are not considering just extending the current concrete slab? You could always just do that but not directly tying into what is there and only butting up against it to allow for movement. For a very finished look there are several alternatives to dressing the surface from things like a pattern concrete solution, to solid or veneer flagstone or even brick veneer. I suspect your issue with not building a complete floating deck over all of the area is the current hieght in relation to the door threshold. Being in Texas and knowing about the clay movement, and the sun exposure to wood, I would be tempted to just continue with the concrete pad you already have.
 
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Old 08-18-11, 05:12 AM
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Potential Deck Help Please

I posed earlier about the same possible project and appreciate the helpful response, but I thought a picture might add a clearer understanding:

A 4' deep and 20' long covered concrete porch runs along the front of my home. I would like to extend it so as to be 8' deep.

My thought was to build the posts, beams and joists in front of the concrete porch (all treated lumber) and then deck over the concrete and joists. I have enough height to use 2x8 or 2x10 beams and up to 2x10 joists on joist hangers. I do not have enough height to set joists on top of beams,

I was told that I could lay treated 2X4's (glued and ramset into the concrete) on the concrete, flush and level with the joists to be used as the "nailers (screwed) for the 5/4 deck boards.

Here's my picture and I appreciate all your input. Thanks,

Fr. Jeff+

 
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Old 08-18-11, 05:22 AM
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equinox,

Thanks for the idea. I had not thought about a concrete extension.

I am now in Michigan (Northern) but just got around to changing my profile.

So, to add a 4' deep by 20' concrete slab, I'd likely have to pour pretty deep footings (frost line) and hope that the new concrete did not shift, giving me a terribly uneven look. I like the idea and especially a tile covering.

Just unsure if it would all stay even and level???

Any thoughts?
 
 

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