Thread: Deck support posts

How do you like these? Lag screws holding the 4x4s to the 6x6s.

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Looks like somebody cut the posts too short and threw the 4x4s in to make up the difference.

Instead of buying longer posts and cutting them they bought 8' posts and lengthened them.

It's wrong; the beam itself is not bearing on anything.

I'd write it up as D&H. That's a News at 10 story waiting to happen. Morons, Joe DIY at his finest.

If you look closely the 4x's are notched between 1/2 to 2 inches. That's alot of work to do it so wrong.

After zooming into the picture I see he did the same thing to the stairs.

rick

Actually they did do something similar on the stairs.

Ken -- just looking at the lumber, are the stairs a lot newer then the deck? Or is the deck just a lot wetter?

I write up decks ,porches and stairs hard as I can.
We had two more collapse in the Chicago area this past weekend.
I got in to one of the properties to take pictures the next day after 10 people were injured.
The next day my inspection took me too a place with a dangerous stairway up to a second floor porch and I took a funny video with me rocking the whole thing.
Ledger attached with nails along with the stringer to asphalt based siding.
The nails pulled all the way out and the support post was not anchored.
People get hurt when they are built poorly all the time.

The stairs looked newer as did the posts. But, the thing was such a cobbled up mess it was tough to tell what exactly they were trying to accomplish. This has got to be among my top 5 of structurally deficient (built not rot) decks I've ever seen.

Are the horizontal balusters made from cables Ken?

Reminds me of a newly constructed POS deck I inspected last year...

It always amazes me how many people build decks wrong!! I have seen many many many stairs that I am surprised have lasted as long as they have.

I recently built my own deck. The one that came with the house pretty much rotted away.

I pulled the appropriate permits, but the amazing thing is the inspector only did 2 checks. He checked the depth of the concrete piers to verify frost level depth. Then he checked final. He didn't do a framing check.

My deck is less than 30" above grade so he wasn't able to see how it was attached to the house (yes, I attached it, but used blocking).

I took pictures but he should have required a framing check before I put on the decking or railings (yes, I put railings even though it isn't above 30").

I am not a home inspector, but am a homeowner that likes to increase his knowledge about all things building related.

I don't want to steal the thread, but I am always "inspecting" decks when I see them. Every deck I have seen has had something done on it that was unsafe.

Ken,

The deck is unsafe for many reasons, not to mention:

Spliced columns
Girt beam not full bearing.
Size of girt looks small for span between posts
No sway bracing

And I can only imagine other things that are not shown in picture.

Originally Posted by Bob Elliott

Are the horizontal balusters made from cables Ken?

Yes, loose cables with spacing about 6 inches.

Originally Posted by Ken Amelin

Ken,

The deck is unsafe for many reasons, not to mention:

Spliced columns
Girt beam not full bearing.
Size of girt looks small for span between posts
No sway bracing

And I can only imagine other things that are not shown in picture.

There were many issues with this deck. I'll try to post more pictures this afternoon. According to the buyer there had been conduit nailed to the bottom of the joists as sway bracing when he looked at it. It had been removed and replaced with the joist clips recently.

did anyone look at the handrail on the steps?

Yes the handrail was looked at, along with the rest of the house.

And the rest of the pictures.

Ken,

Love that sky-hook holding the small beam up in photo #1 of post 18.

Originally Posted by Darren Miller

Ken,

Love that sky-hook holding the small beam up in photo #1 of post 18.

Heck, you don't need another post there, the stairs are supporting it.

Originally Posted by Darren Miller

Ken,

Love that sky-hook holding the small beam up in photo #1 of post 18.

That looks like blocking for the rail posts.