Deck Building

[Timber]

The 1st thing to do is prep the area where the deck is to be built.
I had to pitch the ground for water to run off to one side of the deck.
I don't want water running into the pool or back to the house

This is where I anchored the ledger board into the foundation of the house.
I used a Hilty hammer drill & 1/2 X 6" wedjit bolts. There are a total of 90
bolts holding the ledger board up

levering the 2nd side of the caring beam into place

Bolting the beams together

 

[Builder]

If you haven't finished already, try to notch the tops of the 6x6 post in about
1-1/2" by the height of your beam pieces creating a "saddle" in the top of the post for the beam.

That way the beam is supported on the post, not by just the bolts drilled through the post. Much much stronger.

 

[Timber]

Thank you but I am past that point. I did consider that Idea but the Beam and the stringers are 2X10. I might fit saddles under the beam on top of the sauna tubs. The are only 3 inches off the cement

 

[Builder]

Thank you but I am past that point. I did consider that Idea but the Beam and the stringers are 2X10. I might fit saddles under the beam on top of the sauna tubs. The are only 3 inches off the cement

You mean you're putting a hot tub on top of your deck?

 

[Timber]

I added cripples on the end stringers because my edge boards are going to be
90 degrees to the planking. The steps are going to be along 3 sides of the deck
for the entire length

The only problem I have is to pool has a 3 inch discrepancy to the house.
I have yet to decide how to deal with that but I will have to create some kind
of optical illusion

next is to start screwing off the decking.

 

[Builder]

The reason I ask is because you need considerably more than the normal 60-70 lbs.sq.ft. bearing strength than a normal deck for a hot tub. Ideally, depending on the tub, it would be better to be in the 100 lb/SF range.

But I'm not sure if you're putting your tub on your deck or not.

 

[Timber]

I have no plans for a hot tub But I am planning to build a Pergola over the entire length & width of the deck. I was planning to build that out of 2x8 PT 24" on center. I want to use 5 six inch posts with a 10 foot span between them. The deck is 52 feet long. There will be a hight of 9 feet between the deck floor and the bottom of the pergola. The ledger for the will be lagged into the header for the roof rafters. I think I am going to use the same 2x10 construction to carry the weight of the Pergola but it will be sitting directly over the beam holding up the deck

 

[familyman]

I think Timber meant to say "sono-tubes".

 

[kwolfe]

Timber,
Are the lags you use to attch it to your house screwed into lag shields. If so, it would take a full sized dozer to pull it off. My deck is 30' wide and I used 18 of them to hold the ledger board to the foundation. The pull strength of them is amazing.

Great looking deck. Keep the pictures coming.

 

[EddieWalker]

Timber,

You just keep coming up with these fun projects. Thanks for the great pics and description. I've never seen so many bolts into a ledger board, but at least you know it will never move on you!!!! I'm looking forward to following along with your progress and seeing how you finish it off. The pergala will really add allot of "WOW" to it.

Thanks,
Eddie

 

[Timber]

I am using what is a a wedgit bolt. I'll take a picture of it for you so you know what it is. What I did was lay out my ledger boards where my stringers were going (16 on center) and the marked and drilled where the anchors were going to be. I then put the Ledger in place and drilled into the foundation through the pre drilled holes. Then I just taped in my anchors and tightened the nuts.

The deck is very large and with plans for the pergola from the very beginning I wanted to be sure the deck would be secure. 52 X 16 feet can hold a lot of people when the rain comes LOL. The drilling went pretty easy with the right drill. I find renting a nice Hammer drill makes short work of concrete drilling. I have been on vacation this week to build this. I am just laying the decking, pretty boring stuff relay.

 

[Timber]

I think Timber meant to say "sono-tubes".

LOL yea how ever you spell it. sorry about that Builder. its a blond thing

 

[kwolfe]

Deck boards are the worst part. My deck is 24x30. I countersunk 3 screws per board every 16' OC. That adds up to about 3240 screws. Back was soar and tan. Almost all done with 19.2v Crafstman cordless.

 

[Timber]

Hear are some more updated pics

Working with PT the 1 thing you have to do is keep the boards as tight as possible
there is no ? as to it shrinking because it defiantly will

This is the best way to deal with it on this deck. If your deck is 20' up
you will not have a footing on the ground for leverage

These are the saddles I put in under the beam to add support to bolted joints.
They are sandwiched between the sona-tube and the bottom of the beam. Ultimately
it would have been better to cut them into the 6x6 as builder suggested but after the fact
this was what I did to compensate. The weight of the pergola will be directly over this beam

 

[VABlue]

That's a nice looking deck... The pergola will add a lot to it, though. I'll be putting up the 4 posts that will hold my pergola tomorrow. Not as large as yours - only 10'x12 over a brick paver patio (that also gets built this week). Vacation for me, too! Hope you're enjoying yours!

 

[Timber]

That's a nice looking deck... The pergola will add a lot to it, though. I'll be putting up the 4 posts that will hold my pergola tomorrow. Not as large as yours - only 10'x12 over a brick paver patio (that also gets built this week). Vacation for me, too! Hope you're enjoying yours!

Thank You, I am pretty spent today. I am out in front of the bulked now anyway so at least I am on open ground with my planking. I am hopeing to get the rest of the decking done tomorrow. I have to start taking measurements too. I have to start stealing space on one end because the pool is 3 inches out of parallel with the deck. I guess 3 inches isn't bad. I'll take 3/4 of an inch at the deck and 3/4 for each step. That will give me back 2 & 1/4 inches back. I can live with that over 52 feet.

 

[Builder]

Thank You, I am pretty spent today. I am out in front of the bulked now anyway so at least I am on open ground with my planking. I am hopeing to get the rest of the decking done tomorrow. I have to start taking measurements too. I have to start stealing space on one end because the pool is 3 inches out of parallel with the deck. I guess 3 inches isn't bad. I'll take 3/4 of an inch at the deck and 3/4 for each step. That will give me back 2 & 1/4 inches back. I can live with that over 52 feet.

I used to love framing the decks, even the complicated, circular or swirled designs. Lots of fun. You wouldn't believe some of the decks I built. Clear glass panel railings overlooking rivers or valleys, etc.

I hated putting on the decking though, so much bending over....really gets to the lower back.

I bought 2 "Muro" screw guns with extension handles. Awesome machines. They helped speed-up the screwing-down process. I used a lot of Ipe' for decking. Best decking lumber in the world.

 

[ktm250rider]

Nice looking deck, fun projects in my opinion. Have you thought of using Cedar or something other than PT for your pergola?

That way the beam is supported on the post, not by just the bolts drilled through the post. Much much stronger.

It seems the bolted method is more common these days. Im working on a porch this week and noticed that the 12x24 sunroom they added previously is bolted to the posts with 3/8 bolts.

I bought 2 "Muro" screw guns with extension handles. Awesome machines. They helped speed-up the screwing-down process. I used a lot of Ipe' for decking. Best decking lumber in the world

IM torn between Ipe' and Mahogany. Did you hide the fasteners on the Ipe'

 

[Builder]

Nice looking deck, fun projects in my opinion. Have you thought of using Cedar or something other than PT for your pergola?

It seems the bolted method is more common these days. Im working on a porch this week and noticed that the 12x24 sunroom they added previously is bolted to the posts with 3/8 bolts.

That's not enough to support a load like that without notching the posts. According to the bolt design values charts I have, each of the 1/2 " bolts is only capable of supporting maybe 1,000 lbs each without a notch underneath of it. Not nearly enough considering the total weight on ecah post is much greater than that.

IM torn between Ipe' and Mahogany. Did you hide the fasteners on the Ipe'

Ipe' is the easy decision. It's comparable in cost, if not actaully cheaper, than mahogany. It's also much more durable. Most mahogany these days is not real African mahogany. It's usually Philliping mahogany, similar to "luan". You'll see a lot of sapwood in the mahogany. Ipe' will have a real consistent fine grain and feel like steel. Wears like steel, too.

Ipe' is so much harder, you can actually use 1-by rather than 1&1/2-by on 16" centers. Go Ipe' and don't look back.

I hide the fastners using Eb-Ty's

 

[Timber]

My back is killing me. I'll go for another hour or so & then give it up for a couple of days. nothing worth while ever happened quickly. I think I am going to make a design change on my pergola. I think I will go to a 7 post design and set them directly on top of the 6x6 post over the sona tubes instead of on the top of the deck. I only have one post that is off center by about 4 inches. That will give me a support post every 8 feet instead of every 10
I already have a small fortune in this thing as it is. I don't want a failure 10 years down the road because of a heavy snow load