Aunt's Pool Deck

ChillaWatt

Well, I ended up tackling this deck of my aunts anyhow. Here are some photos during demo of the old deck. And then some after framing the lower level. This project has been full of challenges. I had to rebuild a couple of the retaining walls and add a few more. The new deck is gonna be much larger due to pier clearances of the walls. The piers, 43 of them, were not easy. Extremely rocky soil, and they all had to be dug with a slate bar and shovel. Lots of pool plumbing, retaining walls, and rough terrain to work around. When the original deck was built some 25 years ago, the contractor attached the retaining wall to the outside posts. He built the walls and the deck at the same time. I wonder what he was thinking. I just cut those posts down, and used them as guides. Original girders were 4x4s and I used 4x6s. I left most of them because I didn't want to disturb the soil around the walls. Besides the cross braces, the lower-level framing is done. I'll frame the upper level after this weekend. I'm gonna teach my helper how to scribe with a compass so he can do the tedious task of coping all the decking to the rocks. Happy 4th of July and don't forget to fly your flag.

-Chilla

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BuiltByMAC

Beefy lookin' substructure you got there, man - good job! Looks like I get to eat any disparaging remarks I made about your deck building skills! I like seeing all the blocking...

Hopefully, you and the Aunt figured out the cash flow and you're flush w/ cookies and beer!

Happy 4th,

Mac

buildenterprise

What's with the joist hangers on the blocking? Shouldn't the joists be running side to side between the beams instead of the single joist parallel to the beam with all that blocking? Or am I seeing it backwards?

ChillaWatt

Thanks. Means a lot coming from you. Nothing wrong with cookies and beer!!

-Chilla

ChillaWatt

Before I added any blocking I screwed a 2x6 deck board onto the beams and tested it out. It seemed a bit springy. Not much, but not as solid as I wanted it. So, I split the difference between the beams and added a 2x6 to make it more rigid and also to screw the decking down in a couple more places. Maybe overkill, but I also want all the decking screws to look uniform from above, and they will. Running the beams perpidicular to the pool with joists on top and then decking wasn't an option due to the ground clearance next to the pool. I didn't want to excavate, bust water lines, or unsettle the soil and have to have a soils engineer come in. No delays.

BuiltByMAC

If you're open to advice, when you build the upper area, hang your joists every 2' between the beams and run a staggered line of blocking down the center parallel to the beams. It will be a stronger structure than spanning that distance w/ a center 2x6 and hanging blocking off the beams.

For the lower area, as I see it, you've got 4x6 beams 4' apart sitting on posts every 5' or so on 12" concrete footings with solid 2x6 blocking hanging off a 2x6 joist. The weak point is that long-spanned 2x6 but with all the blocking, I don't see it as a problem. When you install your decking, your structure will be nice and solid. The deck is too narrow around the pool for masses of people to congregate in one spot...

Mac

JonM

Will this deck be done for todays 4th of July celebratory BBQ?...

ChillaWatt

No, and the pool and surrounding area will be used today I hear. That's always at the back of my head with all the kids that will be there. I've put up temp. fencing, but you know kids.

Another concern is access from the outside. Before; the height of the deck, it's railing, and a bit of cyclone fencing prevented access from the outside. What do you all do in this situation when it comes to safety? Yesterday morning I found two drowned wild turkey chicks in the pool and that got me worrying.

ChillaWatt

Thanks for the tip. I'm always open for suggestions.

JonM

http://www.rentfence.com/

neolitic

I'm guessing the aunt's insurance company
would have a conniption if they knew there
wasn't a 5' barrier to pool access.

Looks like you're dealing with the challenges
well so far.

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