Deck Tear-Out / New Design, Grading and Build

[UOFan]

Good Morning All,

With 2 months off work, i've decided to tackle rebuilding my improperly built, rotting front deck. I'll post some "before" pictures later today, but the deck was approximately 40' long by 12' deep (5' in some places) and screwed directly into my siding. Not only was this deck an eyesore, it was falling apart and I knew the complete lack of flashing was causing my sheathing and band joist to rot from excessive moisture. Well, see below for some of the damage:

I used the 3025e for the demolition and moving the rotted wood to the burnpile (pictures to follow!) - so I think this counts as a tractor project. Anyways, my initial plan is to replace the rotted band joist, and the lower portion of the sheathing and vinyl siding. It's a double 2x10 band, so i may use some aluminum Z-flashing or butyl tape I have leftover from my back deck. Either way, I need to get the house back in decent shape before I rebuild.

My plan for rebuild (more pictures to follow) is a 10'x10'x concrete entry-way pad poured in a decorative retaining wall block form, with an intersecting gable overhang just above the front door. I'll replace the crappy "french door" with a sliding glass door, put some block stairs in (about a 3' drop from door to grade). The french door is about 40' away from my front door.

Since this is a south-facing deck, i've decided to avoid wood as it will just get destroyed by the eastern NC sun and rain. Plus I already have a covered back deck for the kids to enjoy.

I'll be posting progress here, always open to advice! I have zero formal construction experience, just what I read in books and watch on youtube....and of course trial and error. Like most of you on here, i've been learning as I go - enjoying the process. Thank God I am not a perfectionist!

First order of business today is removing the rest of the rot, and putting in the new section of band joist. I'm using treated 2x10 lumber. Additionally, I need to figure out the below electrical wiring (what is this....?) and either move or remove and cap off the wires in a junction box. Thanks for reading, more photos to follow.

 

[groundcover]

Looks like that was some old treated lumber there, do not burn it ! Smoke and ash are toxic.

 

[dlctcg]

Definitely a project...

The electrical looks to be a 220 / 240V Fusible Disconnect that is currently not being used. Those wires should go back to your panel & be connected to a breaker (or fuse) there. Be careful that could still be LIVE if the breaker is on!!!

Looks like it old power whip that was feeding something (hot-tub, pool, A/C, etc.) was removed from the bottom of the disconnect (hole bottom right, where the bees are getting in) when the equip was removed.

If you don't need that power / disconnect for anything, then it can safely be removed. BUT ONLY AFTER CONFIRMING IT IS NOT A LIVE CIRCUIT!!!

 

[EddieWalker]

The framing looks really bad. It's very common, but hard to comprehend, why so many decks are built with nails being used to support the weight of the deck. Nails are not structural, they are fasteners that hold material in place. Even worse is when nails are put into the end grain of a board to support a load!!!!

 

[UOFan]

Definitely a project...

The electrical looks to be a 220 / 240V Fusible Disconnect that is currently not being used. Those wires should go back to your panel & be connected to a breaker (or fuse) there. Be careful that could still be LIVE if the breaker is on!!!

Looks like it old power whip that was feeding something (hot-tub, pool, A/C, etc.) was removed from the bottom of the disconnect (hole bottom right, where the bees are getting in) when the equip was removed.

If you don't need that power / disconnect for anything, then it can safely be removed. BUT ONLY AFTER CONFIRMING IT IS NOT A LIVE CIRCUIT!!!

It may have been the old A/C unit, good call. I got caught up in working on a fence most of today so didn’t make much progress…I’ll test the circuit tomorrow.

The framing looks really bad. It's very common, but hard to comprehend, why so many decks are built with nails being used to support the weight of the deck. Nails are not structural, they are fasteners that hold material in place. Even worse is when nails are put into the end grain of a board to support a load!!!!

Yes it was a horribly built deck. We’ve been here for over 4 years and it was already falling apart when we bought the house. Here’s some more photos as promised:

Before (2 years ago photo taken)

After:

And here’s what I did today instead of working on the house (which I should have been..)

 

[EddieWalker]

And here’s what I did today instead of working on the house (which I should have been..)


View attachment 1773424

I say almost the exact same thing every day. I've been working on my fence for the last two years, and I'm finally getting to the end of it. At least for the first pasture. Fencing is one of those things that I'll be doing for the next decade plus.

I like how sandy your soil looks. Looks like it's easy drilling for posts!!!

For my place, I found that if I backfill my posts with soil, they rot out in ten years. I have red clay, and the rain will wash out enough of the backfill to create a low area around the post, which is where they rot. Now I use concrete on every post and build up the concrete so water sheds away from the post. I can't find any sign of rot on any of them that have been in the ground a decade or longer.

The ones in concrete are also a lot harder to remove. My full sized loader backhoe can pull a wood post in dirt out as easy as a T Post. But a post set in concrete is a challenge that takes higher RPM's, wiggling back and forth, and the front tires squishing down.

 

[UOFan]

Sandy soil…with lots of shallow pine

I say almost the exact same thing every day. I've been working on my fence for the last two years, and I'm finally getting to the end of it. At least for the first pasture. Fencing is one of those things that I'll be doing for the next decade plus.

I like how sandy your soil looks. Looks like it's easy drilling for posts!!!

For my place, I found that if I backfill my posts with soil, they rot out in ten years. I have red clay, and the rain will wash out enough of the backfill to create a low area around the post, which is where they rot. Now I use concrete on every post and build up the concrete so water sheds away from the post. I can't find any sign of rot on any of them that have been in the ground a decade or longer.

The ones in concrete are also a lot harder to remove. My full sized loader backhoe can pull a wood post in dirt out as easy as a T Post. But a post set in concrete is a challenge that takes higher RPM's, wiggling back and forth, and the front tires squishing down.
View attachment 1773512

roots! Oh well. I’ll be doing the corner posts in concrete, as well as the poles holding gates.

Anyways, after what seems like forever, I got all the rot out and started replacing the double 2x10 band joist. There was more to pull out than expected, so I need to go buy another 2x10.

Next step is fixing the sheathing, adding some housewrap and finishing with some Z-flashing before putting the vinyl siding back on.

After all that….i can finally start plotting out the retaining wall form for the 10x10’ concrete entryway pad, and address the grading around the rest of the front side of the house.

 

[UOFan]

Siding fixed, to be painted and touched up later, but now I can start the project.

The plan is for a 10’ wide by 12’ deep (decided to add an extra 2
‘) concrete landing pad leading up to the front door:

The lines aren’t to scale, but the pad will use retaining wall block for the forms, with some expansion joint in between. I plan to butt the pad up the the house using a flashing technique I pulled from fine home building to prevent rot.

Things I’ll need to consider: grading to make drainage work easier when I landscape, how I’ll cover up the crawlspace vent, how I’ll flash the vinyl siding that will butt up perpendicular to the retaining wall block.

I’ll be putting in some 6x6 brackets into the concrete, the plan is to take down the white aluminum cheapo cover and build an intersecting gable covered overhang. Never done that before. Anyways, that’s the update! Here’s some more pictures, and a big hickory tree that I need to cut down this weekend (it’s dying).