Crappy Decks. Post The Crappy Work You See Here

Ahren

Here's the job I get to start tomorrow. This is why I hate working for builders sometimes. They had their "ace" team come in with the excavator to put the piers in. It's gonna be fun to set up and work here:



Oopsies! Nobody flush while I'm working, please. And the concrete sticking 1 1/2 feet out of the ground is going to look dynamite!



Here's some more to the story. It's going to be a Trex deck. The rails that they had originally specified were going to be PT posts, Trex 2x4 top and bottom rails, and PT balusters (WTF????). I was at least able to talk them into going vinyl. And they still don't want any fascias. Oh, well. It's a living.

RobertCDF

What the hell. The person who thought the trex and PT rails was a good idea should be shot.

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Robert Shaw
Colorado Springs Custom Decks
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Chris G

Properly anchoring the bottom of the stairs can go a long way in reducing the stress at the top.

John Hyatt

Flashing the thing should be fun, I hate working for GC and PaperWork Contractors as well but $ is $ Ghessssssssssss. J.

Ahren

Yeah, that's another thing. There are two rolls of Yorkshield and ledger material in the basement. I guess the framers couldn't be bothered to put it on. Thanx, guys.

BuiltByMAC

If you have plans to build more for this particular builder, talk to him about taking on the job from ground up. I still use the excavator the builder uses, I'm just run point for him when we're installing footing forms. I still use the same concrete and pump guys, I just schedule my pours when they'll already be at the site. The reason why? Same reason you snapped those pics! Coming in to a jobsite where someone else installed the footings was additional work and additional liability for me, not to mention a big freakin' PITA.

Can you still get access to the inside of the rim joist for your ledger blocking?


Too bad the builder's job super couldn't figure out how to coordinate that - either have you out to install the ledger for them to side around or have them responsible for installing it.

I'm laughing at the thought of TREX/pt rails - too much! Glad you could help them change their minds!


Mac

shed-n-deck

Robert, I'm a believer in strapping the stairs too....Maybe it's a Colorado thing, in Missouri, they cut the stringers on a 12' run of stairs, 3 stringers, and only toenail the stringer to the joist at the top and bottom...I'm scared to even look at those stairs let alone walk up 'em. But I learned my stair building in Colorado, where the stairs are strapped at the top, and floated at the bottom. It would take a lot of swinging and swaying to persuade these straps to fail, it wouldn't take much to persuade a block of wood to split.

There is a big company, a box store that specializes in decks. They sell pre-manned decks, and I've had the priveledge of going behind a lot of their older work(4 or 5 years) and making repairs because they used improper fasteners to attach their stairs, typically galvenized lags in treated lumber that has rotted and ultimately caused the stairs to fall. I've also seen the joist hanger trick, and I just don't think it offers enough on it's own to be safe. With straps, you wrap the strap under the stringers(I go about 12" down) and over the joist before decking is installed....It really is about the best and most reliable way of attaching stairs that I have seen.

I don't know about the pictures a few posts back though, seems to me that the stringer meeting with the bottom of the joist like that would be a good shear point.

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Shed

Ahren

I hear you. I usually make sure I am there for the footings. This is a new builder for me. My usual guys aren't doing anything right now. The super called me the other day when I was elsewhere.
He said, "Hey, Ahren. I was wondering if you could come out to meet us to put in the piers."
I said, "Sure. What day and time do you want to do it?"
He said, "I'm actually here with the machine right now. Can you come right now?"
I said "Seeing as I'm 40 miles away and in the middle of something, I don't think so."
And the result is what you see. I'm getting the feeling that the super isn't so "super". You know what I mean? They did manage to get the piers in a pretty staight line, so that's good. And fortunately, when they come back to fix the sewer lateral that they broke, (did you catch that in the picture?) I will have them smooth out the site a little bit.
As far as the rails, I think I embarassed him a little with how hard I laughed when he told me what they were going to be. Not only would they have looked like total garbage, but it would have been a staining nightmare for the new HO's.

Stone Mountain

If I build my stairs 48" wide, the stringers take 3", the 4x4 posts take 7" , which leaves 38" between rails. Mosat of my competitors do 3' steps, so it feels to narrow, and in situations I'll do 3' 6" but there is no reall restriction that I know about as far aas width goes. Hardly any of my competitors know the posts go on the inside of the stringer anyway so they don't care.

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MrRSBMHandyman

What I want to know is what is holding the top of the stringers to the bottem of the deck?

deckman22

It's some sort of metal strap, in my minds eye it looks like a shorter version of a vha windbrace strap that has pre-drilled holes in it for teko nails/screws.

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BuiltByMAC

Found these shots on a website when I was looking for railing parts -

gotta love the "hanging by a thread" landing (that's 8" below deck height) -

and don't forget your lag screws! (They're kinda blunt - getting them started is a pain!)

Mac

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woodbutchr

Wow!!!

Chris G

Even if that would work, the angle is so far off that it defies any common sense.

dlcj

those look like steel post and braces to me so it will be stronger than wood. Still dont look good tho

RobertCDF

It has to be a 45* or LESS for it to work! That is just a decoration and the moron who built it is what gives pros a bad name.

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Robert Shaw
Colorado Springs Custom Decks
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Custom Composite Decks

Chris G

Even if it were 45 degrees, I think it's a bad idea to support a landing like that. The lateral forces on the post will weaken it over time, and the landing attachment to the deck will loosen as that corner sinks.

Double-A

I know that perspective in a photo will make things seem off, but, that doesn't mean it ain't off. That upper landing looks like its sagging already.



I give it 18 months before something falls off. I just hope no one gets hurt.

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master mason

One word discribes the contractor...BOOT!!!!!!

Chris G

I can see some separation with the stringer too. Looks like it is attached to the post. It will break. And metal doesn't give you any warning that it is failing, it just snaps when it feels the time is right.