Yeah, we first noticed issues when one side started to feel lower than the other. Blew me away - and the checkbook.
Home addition advice
- Thread starter Mr Janny
- Start date
My in-laws home had some previous owner build a sun room with a vaulted ceiling with skylights on top of what was an existing deck over a walkout unbeknown to all of us. I guarantee at no point was there ever any real thought about the deck footings. We ended up replacing the 5 4x4 posts under the far edge with an I-beam supported by 3 steel jack posts mounted on 12" concrete footings. After the beam was set, we cut out the old 4x4s and found they were buried in the ground less than a foot and the concrete around the base amounted to little more than a shallow puddle of concrete. Frankly, I'm shocked that room never fell off the house at some point.
I’m just wondering if you have any recourse against the builder on this? That really doesn’t seem safe.
This is the issue we are currently discussing exactly.
We have a partial walk out basement, which has retaining walls on both sides. She wants to put a deck off the main floor, that would cover the walk out area and retaining walls. But there is no cover for the deck, and it faces south - it will be a broiling pan imho. And the walk out underneath would become cobweb central.
I am trying to push for a 3 season porch off the walkout, between the retaining walls, but she thinks it would be like a crypt with not enough sidewall ventilation. And she isn't completely wrong. The kicker is she smokes, and a 3 season porch would be ideal for her when raining/cold. That's what she had at her old place. We are still noodling on it, probably will call a designer and get some better ideas.
Yeah when we bought our house we really liked that the deck off the main floor had steps that led down to the patio off of the walkout. We put in a nice big stamped 350-sq-ft patio a few years, but have done nothing with the deck. It's not a huge deck, I'm wavering between renovating and expanding that, or going all-in on the patio with an outdoor kitchen/grill set up, pizza oven, etc. Definitely not in the budget to do both.
I am in MN and these are all over the place. Put them in for my deck and it’s perfectly legal and passes inspection. No problems through 2 winters so far.
Diamond Pier
Diamond Pier Foundations - Structurally rated no dig footings for decks, porches, pergolas, posts, and more. Code compliant, and install in minutes. Also available for larger commercial projects.
There are also lots of helical piles used for decks.
I'm having trouble visualizing this area, but surely it is cheaper to relocate stairs than to cut in a new door. What's more useful to you is a better question?
Yeah, I was assuming Jeremy meant it was just buried treated post with backfilled soil.I am in MN and these are all over the place. Put them in for my deck and it’s perfectly legal and passes inspection. No problems through 2 winters so far.
Diamond Pier
Diamond Pier Foundations - Structurally rated no dig footings for decks, porches, pergolas, posts, and more. Code compliant, and install in minutes. Also available for larger commercial projects.www.diamondpiers.com
There are also lots of helical piles used for decks.
Those helical piers can go in pretty quick.
Yeah, it was just dirt. Amazed us all. Several of our neighbors had same builders in same season and have the same issues. Amazing what people will do to save a few hours worth of work.
Additional information:
* Walkout basement with a covered deck above. Covering is engineered into the structural framing.
* project consisted of outdoor kitchen from the walkout and relocating upper stairs and installing composite decking and screen system.
- Mar 27, 2006
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This is not to scale, but it's a representation of our current walkout basement setup, with the door to the outside on the left, and the stairs heading up to the deck right outside.
And where abouts is the safe with all the gold bullion and negotiable bearer bonds? Just so I can better assist with your decking questions.
If you wanted to keep the stairs where they are, you could always turn the existing deck into a covered 3-season and extend the uncoverd part of the deck alongside the back of the house. That's what a few of our neighbors have as a setup. That way whenever you walk outside, you're into the covered area and can still go out and enjoy regular deck space if desired.
We did something similar last year. Had an existing walkout basement to a small paver patio on one end of the house, then built a new covered deck on the main floor with a door off the kitchen. We have stairs from the covered deck down to the patio, no usable space under the deck due to grading, but this setup works great for us and is nice to have a spot for the grill away from the roof structure.
We also added a chimney pipe for one of these, but I'm forcing myself to finish the screening before I buy it.
- Mar 27, 2006
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That looks awesomeWe did something similar last year. Had an existing walkout basement to a small paver patio on one end of the house, then built a new covered deck on the main floor with a door off the kitchen. We have stairs from the covered deck down to the patio, no usable space under the deck due to grading, but this setup works great for us and is nice to have a spot for the grill away from the roof structure.
We also added a chimney pipe for one of these, but I'm forcing myself to finish the screening before I buy it.
We did something similar last year. Had an existing walkout basement to a small paver patio on one end of the house, then built a new covered deck on the main floor with a door off the kitchen. We have stairs from the covered deck down to the patio, no usable space under the deck due to grading, but this setup works great for us and is nice to have a spot for the grill away from the roof structure.
We also added a chimney pipe for one of these, but I'm forcing myself to finish the screening before I buy it.
I have one of these on my Pinterest design board! I love some MCM vibes.
Some context as to why I don’t think necessarily that we could make the current deck into a three seasons porch. Currently it is right outside of our living room, on the other side of the wall as the fireplace. We have the heat register for the fireplace that would be right in the middle of the room. Additionally, with those being the only windows in to the living room, it would make it super dark in there to cover up the sunlight. It is west facing, so that is our evening light. In theory, we could just always leave all of the windows open, but it would still be a lot darker in the living room. My only complaint with our upstairs is that it tends towards darkness.
My current opinion is to make a screened in porch off of the main living area in the left of Janny’s drawing, and then put a true three season porch above it off of our bedroom. Like a little reading nook.
Random question, wondering if anybody knows. Would it be OK to pressure wash a deck that you plan on staining in 3 weeks? I know someone that’s planning on doing that, and it doesn’t really make sense to me. I would think you’d want to be closer together.