Interested in putting in a deck.
#1
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Join Date: Oct 2012
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Interested in putting in a deck.
I would like to update the area at the back of our home. When you step out of our sliding glass door, you must go down three concrete steps to a concrete patio, which has some cracks. The aluminum patio cover has begun to leak. I wonder if a deck might be the best replacement. The house was built in the 60"s, so the patio and cover may be that old.
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Any type of awnings that are not maintained and have started to leak, crack and fall apart are the first stages of structural water damage. If it's been like that for years, chances are the plywood sheathing and/or other structural wood components have already started to absorb moisture and are rotting/ molding more and more daily. Best bet is to tear it down and patch and silicone any holes where water can penetrate. Decks can be built over concrete patios as long as you are able to dig 2'x2'x2' holes for the footers (minimum 1 footer every 8' is a good rule of thumb) and you need to be able to fit at least a 2" rip of the joists + 5/4" for the decking below the entry door if you do not want to remove all the existing concrete stairs completely. That way you can notch out a continual ledger board which will come in handy when doing joist layouts.
#3
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A deck sounds like a good idea. Current line of thought around here is to build free standing, not to use a ledger board and attach the deck to the house.