... This isn't really a Deck question, probably more like a Fence Post, but it's pressure treated lumber - so here I am. I want to put a pole in the ground to support one end of a hammock. ( An oak tree takes care of the other end.) I was thinking pressure treated 4X4. I planned on setting the post in cement, but how deep of a footer hole would I need to prevent the pole from eventually leaning?

Hi All, My house is a raised ranch, so my back deck is a bit on the low side. Underneath the deck there's a hatchway to the basement. The builders must not have accounted for the swing of one of the hatchway doors (the other door actually swings past the end of the deck), so they just took the circular saw and cut a notch out of one of the joists - problem solved... It's the original deck on the house, now about 30 years old and really in need of being replaced. I'm hoping to have the whole deck rebuilt this summer. I'm assuming the circular saw to the joist trick is a terrible hack. The deck is 12' x 12'. The bottoms of the 2x10 joists are 5'6" from the ground and spaced 16". The notch removed from the joist is 3" deep and just barely lets the door swing through. Any ideas how to avoid this when the deck is rebuilt?