Attached or freestanding deck


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Old 04-02-15, 07:34 PM
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Attached or freestanding deck

So if I go with a wooden deck its going to be 12-18in off the ground. Is it still a good idea to do a ledger board and attach it to the house? Or to just do it freestanding?
 
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Old 04-03-15, 03:53 AM
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Especially with a low deck, free standing is always the way to go. Not much lateral sway in comparison to taller decks, and absolutely no way for water to enter your house's infrastructure by cutting and drilling holes. Your siding will stay in place and do its job.
 
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Old 04-03-15, 05:08 AM
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In addition, a free standing deck it not required to have its supports dug below the frost line for your area, unlike if it is attached to the house.
 
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Old 04-03-15, 10:54 AM
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One more vote for free standing.
 
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Old 04-03-15, 11:13 AM
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Another vote for freestanding, although I would still go below the frost line, unless some unique circumstance warranted otherwise.
 
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Old 04-03-15, 11:21 AM
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Ah, missed Keith's comment. Yes, I would still go below the frost line but Paranoid is my middle name....
 
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Old 04-03-15, 04:25 PM
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The problem with NOT going below the frost line in northern climes, is the ground will heave and corners of your deck will move upward and stay that way. With properly placed footings it won't happen. In places like Fllorida, the use of Dek Blocks is quite common on low decks.
 
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Old 04-04-15, 06:51 AM
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At my old house it had a step down de k where the top was maybe 4 feet off the ground. If u remember rich they didn't attach it to the house and used blocks. Looked liked it was set on a gravel bed. (not sure it was built before I got there. Is that another option? Laying out a pad like for pavers and then using deck vlocks for the post?
 
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Old 04-04-15, 07:04 AM
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Basically nothing on the surface will keep it from heaving. You are looking for blessings on something that may or may not work in your area. Free standing deck with posts sitting on properly set footings is what I recommend.
 
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Old 04-04-15, 07:08 AM
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I have never seen a problem with a free standing deck sitting on the ground with deck blocks here in Canada. Yes, the frost will heave it every year, but it will usually settle down to where it should be in the spring. Depending on the size of the deck, it is easy to shim your posts if the frost does heave it out of whack quite a bit.

Having said that, if this is going to be a larger deck, I would put proper posts in below frost anyway. The only time I will use deck blocks and float it on the ground is if it is a freestanding deck in the middle of a yard or something like that, where of the deck did heave an 1" it would not really matter because there is no doorway to match up to.
 
 

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