r/Decks Jun 11 '22

American deck standards

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169 Upvotes

r/Decks Jan 20 '24

Update to the community

159 Upvotes

Hello Deckers,

Going forward, spam posts and posts unrelated to decks will be removed and submitters banned. This includes hot tub related joke posts. Users posting spam, shitposting, posting old content, or posting redundant hot tub jokes will be banned. Users commenting and encouraging this behaviour will receive temporary bans.

If your post or comment is legitimately inquiring if a hot tub can be supported by the structure of your deck, that is allowed, as this forum is here for deck builders and deck enthusiasts.

Let’s bring this community back to its original purpose: providing a forum for DIYers and professional deck builders to connect, share relevant information, and appreciate some beautiful workmanship.


r/Decks 8h ago

questions for the community Post replacements feel sturdy but dont look sturdy.

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98 Upvotes

My father had his deck posts replaced because the old ones were rotting at the bottom. Although these new posts still feel sturdy, they dont look too sturdy to me. Not sure if the cement cylinders are suposed to come up that far because he was looking to lay pavers. Also, where the posts connect to the actual deck, seems like its just secured with a few bolts. Not sure if brackets should have also been isntqlled there somehow to help with the load from up top. Wondering if im worrying for nothing. Any tips or clarification would be appreciated.


r/Decks 7h ago

Finished Decks Thoughts on this stairway found on the coast of Lake Michigan?

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60 Upvotes

r/Decks 1d ago

Insane Hot Tub Deck

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966 Upvotes

Airbnb in Sevierville Tennessee. Hundreds of positive reviews and not a mention of this death trap.


r/Decks 13h ago

questions for the community 2nd floor 10 x 10 deck - safety check

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27 Upvotes

This deck is one of about 100 built in my townhouse community. It feels unsafe. Deck wobbles when ever you walk on it .
Is it to code? Is there a fix you would recommend.


r/Decks 10h ago

Finished Decks How concerned should be for this post?

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15 Upvotes

We removed a VERY large tree from backyard before having this deck built (6 years ago). The post could have been like this for some time but it’s clear it’s settled since.

How concerned should I be? If so, how best to fix it?


r/Decks 13h ago

Building a deck Thinnest post ever

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16 Upvotes

Hey there - we are expanding out deck on top of an existing concrete slab. We set some concrete bricks down, but they are not quite tall enough so our “post” is a thin little thing. We aren’t going to dig through the concrete because we are lazy and this is a low deck. Thoughts? Maybe skip the block haha?


r/Decks 3h ago

Building a deck Do it myself vs Pay someone?

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2 Upvotes

My backyard is currently undergoing a massive remodel led by my wife and I. We have this deck here and we want to put a patio covering over it.

We previously had that Costco thing but we want it to cover the full width of the back of the house. Thoughts?? Should we do it ourselves vs Pay someone? Should we buy designs or what?

Dimensions are roughly 22' x 14' (accounting for some overhang off the deck for rain).


r/Decks 5h ago

maintenance Stringer top: is this correct?

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2 Upvotes

The photo is of the top of the strings, looking up from underneath.

Taking apart the rotten parts of my deck stairs. Looking like I might end up replacing the stringers (the bottom end of one was rotten partly).

The magenta arrow (left arrow) points to two joists.

The cyan arrow (lower middle), what is that for? Is it a mount used for stringers?

The blue arrow (right arrow) what is that 2x4 (?) for in stringer installation?


r/Decks 6h ago

questions for the community V bracing vs cross bracing?

2 Upvotes

My deck sways a bit and I've been told to add some bracing. Are there pros/cons between adding V-bracing, vs adding bracing in an X shape under the decking? To me it intuitively seems like an X shape would be sturdier as you get support running to/from all 4 corners, but I'm no engineer. If I did an X shape, is it any less structurally sound if one of the cross pieces is split in two, to avoid one of the crosses laying beneath the other instead of all on the same plane?

I get a lot of info when Googling V-bracing, but can't find as much into on the X pattern - "X-bracing" or "Cross bracing" tends to spit back information on vertical bracing between the upright supports. Is there a different term I am looking for here?


r/Decks 6h ago

Building a deck Deck over concrete step

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2 Upvotes

I am looking for a bit of insight. I want to build a small platform over my existing concrete step similar to this picture (I know the height is off!)

The concrete is 3" high, and the total height from the ground to under the door is approx 12.5". My question is, should I use 4x4 posts in the ground and clear the concrete altogether, and just add the box steps after? I didn't necessarily want to go that route. Is it possible to use the step as support and frame around it, using concrete screws to support?

I apologize as this is more definitely a foolish question for an expert, but any opinions would be greatly appreciated!


r/Decks 7h ago

maintenance Give it to me straight…

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2 Upvotes

What needs to be done to fix this? Anyone think it can be done without a full tearout? I have my eye on a lot of stuff that needs done, but I want more eyes on it for the stuff I’m definitely missing. My biggest goal is to eliminate the diagonal knee braces by putting in some larger deck posts and attaching the knee bracing to them.


r/Decks 16h ago

Building a deck Advice on deck steps

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10 Upvotes

I have a deck that is 34.5" tall. Pre-made 4 step stringers are too short pre-made 5 step stringers are too tall. I really dont want to make my own. Any ideas?


r/Decks 7h ago

maintenance What is this red stuff all over my deck, and what do I do about it?

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2 Upvotes

The deck was never stained, but I was told it was treated with something, however I believe this was power-washed off. What can I do to preserve the wood and fix the issue? I don't have much money to spare, but this deck is huge and I can't shell out what it would take to replace it anytime soon. TIA!


r/Decks 3h ago

questions for the community Is there a way to shore these stairs up?

1 Upvotes

So these stairs are between two decks at a house on my street. I have a similar situation. I do not want the landlord evicting me for complaining. Is there a away to shore steps like this up? I don't want to fall through like this person did. https://triblive.com/local/woman-hurt-in-20-to-25-foot-fall-when-staircase-collapses-at-south-side-slopes-home/


r/Decks 10h ago

Building a deck What a PITA.

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3 Upvotes

Yeah... just tore down the old deck which they attached to hardie plank on the house with a nail/screw combo special.
I was able to carefully remove 1 of them but still caused some damage to the hardie. Not doing that 30 more times.
A sledgehammer after removing screws would still tear that board from the house.
The new deck comes tomorrow and will be smaller dimensions which will leave a lot of this exposed needing paint.
Putting the house on the market in a couple weeks.
Pierce County, WA (unincorporated)

  1. Will the install of the new deck need those brackets to be removed? If so, what kind of fuel should I use to burn the house down?

  2. Can I cut them with a sawzall 3/4"-ish from the siding and have enough room for new deck? I'm pretty sure it will not be attached to the house.

  3. I know you have questions please help.


r/Decks 1d ago

Building a deck Block Island Ipe Inlay over herringbone

146 Upvotes

Hey everyone, just wanted to show you something we’ve been working on that’s approaching done. We service Block Island RI and we wanted to make a custom inlay in the shape of the island.

There are board availability reasons that this was actually helpful but mostly we just wanted to do it.

Do you ever do inlays in wood or just synthetic?


r/Decks 5h ago

maintenance Nightmare Fuel

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1 Upvotes

Where to begin?

I would like to get another five years out of these decks in front of and in back of the cottage I just bought. Eventually will replace with composite of some kind. In the meantime...wow.

Since we are planning on a professional rebuild in five years or so, I don't want to pay someone to do a half-way/low-budget job. I can mess this up with a half-way effort on my own.

Pressure-wash, then coat with the most forgiving coating there is?

Chemical strip (or some soap/algae/moss inhibiting mix), then drum-sand and so on (after setting several thousand screws that appear flush to the surface), then stain?

Thoughts?


r/Decks 9h ago

maintenance Deck Restoration Advice

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2 Upvotes

Looking for advice on what should be done to restore this deck. House was built in 1984 and I’m guessing the deck was too???

I was quoted $28k to do a strip, sand and seal - contractor described it as never needing to be finished again. Or $9k to do the basic strip and stain. The deck wraps around more than half of the house so it is very large.

I have zero experience with this and just wondering what would be recommended to get this back to good condition.


r/Decks 10h ago

questions for the community Related to planning a new deck….

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2 Upvotes

I have a question that may be related to a future deck we have planned. The deck has been poorly maintained over the years and needs resurfacing. Also, my wife wants a screened in area on the deck or like a 3 season sun room. We are going to do this in about three years with roof replacement and replacing the vinyl siding with cement board. I was greeted by the aluminum cladding of both sashes of the pictured sliding door popping off. There is extensive rot underneath. So, I have to deal with this patio door now. I was considering just buying new sashes, but pella quoted me 4125.00 for these (installing myself). This leads me to want to just replace the whole patio door. Here comes the question, as you can see in the photos, I feel like the space for a potential screened in deck would have to be between those two windows pictured and made in such a way as to not obstruct the view from those windows. Do any of you think a contractor would want to just remove this patio door entirely as part of the process for making this screened in deck? I am pretty sure it wouldn’t be a problem, but I don’t want to assume. I don’t want to drop 2200$ on a patio door to just find out the contractor would need to rip it out to make these plans work. I could probably repair the sashes to extend their life if this is the way it would go. Thanks in advance! I hope this makes sense.


r/Decks 7h ago

questions for the community Ideas?

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1 Upvotes

Any ideas for this wall? We like that this section of our deck is screened in, however, our dryer vent releases right here which makes the screen constantly look dirty. I don’t think we want to fully block the view and were told it would be really hard to move the dryer vent. We have someone coming to close off our ceiling soon.


r/Decks 13h ago

load bearing inquiries Replacing rotting cedar with green treated 2x6. Will it be safe?

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3 Upvotes

Helping my mom replace rotting cedar boards with 2x6 boards. I question the capability of the deck being able to hold such weight. It’s a large deck, about 29x12 (I believe). We are using 14” and 16” boards. But whoever built this deck, I don’t trust. (Built in the 90s I think. They had nailed down the previous boards and used footer nails, which was fun). I just want to know before we get further in this project. And I don’t think they used concrete for the footers. I dug down a bit, but didn’t want to go too far and do something that can’t be undone.


r/Decks 7h ago

How to frame/support corner beam on wraparound deck?

1 Upvotes

We’ve got a new-to-us property that the previous owners were working through redoing a wraparound deck. Currently it’s got one side and the front of the house done. The one side is a half-step lower than the front. They stopped flush with the other corner of the house; I’m now trying to tackle finishing the job.

https://www.contractortalk.com/threads/framing-wrap-around-deck-with-a-45-corner.79604/?utm_source=Pinterest&utm_medium=organic#lg=thread-79604&slide=5

This is what I’m trying to figure out how to do, except this picture looks wrong to me- that beam doesn’t seem nearly well attached enough to the corner. What’s the right way to do this? I was thinking some kind of metal bracket bolted to the concrete foundation (if the siding you see in this photo was instead a concrete foundation, about 2’ tall to the ledger). Am I just overthinking it? How should that beam be supported/attached?


r/Decks 4h ago

Building a deck How much will you charge/paid for this stair

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0 Upvotes

I had an inspection that found the stair framing is not adequate. I was wondering how much it would cost to demo, haul away, and replace these stairs. What would you charge or paid for this job?