Attaching a Wood Deck to a Cement Foundation

Save Deck Costs by Bolting the Edges of a Wood Deck to the House Foundation

Given this layout of the house, the decking contractor decided to use the foundation of the house on the three sides of the interior U shape of the house to provide support of the edges of the deck and to ensure that the deck was level with the interior floor of the home at the doors. So the deck is build with a strip of redwood 4×4s that is bolted to the exterior foundation low enough to allow the 2×6 inch boards that overlay the deck foundation to form the deck surface and abut the house. From what I have been able to figure out, the contactor used an electric hammer drill to drill holes into the cement of the foundation, and then he used some red hots to secure the wood to the outside walls of the house foundation.

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The outside foundation framing gave an edge all around to secure the edges of the surface boards. The contractor had not skimped on costs by using only a 2×4 inch stud all around. This provided a much wider lip to affix the 2×6s that formed the surface of the deck. It meant that the nails at the edge were about two inches away for the ends of the 2×6 inch surfacing boards. By the way, galvanized deck nails had been used on the entire deck to secure the surface to underlying structure of the deck. This was a pretty common practice awhile ago.

However, in recent years decking screws have been used more frequently in the construction of high quality decks. Deck screws have the significant advantage of allowing you to remove the deck surface without damaging it. Particularly given the increasing and growing cost of redwood decking materials, the ability of redwood to be saved and reused is a good idea. If you properly care for and treat a redwood deck is should last many decades. This durability cannot necessarily be said for the framework of wooden decks, which is often made of Douglas fir or similar woods. Even when treated for pest resistance and resistance to rot from rainwater and weathering, it is more likely that you will have to replace the framework and foundation of a redwood deck than the redwood, 2×4s or 2×6s that make up its surface.

Being able to screw down and unscrew is a strong reason to choose decking screws over decking nails. Furthermore, decking screws will do a better job of holding the decking to the framework. Over time, even hot dipped galvanized nails will loose their grip as the holes inevitably expand. While you can buy hot dipped galvanized decking nails that are about three or three and a half inches in length and have a ribbed and twisted shaft, these nails are not designed for removal. If you ever try to remove one of these ribbed decking nails, you will obliterate the board in the process.

To wrap things up, I am guessing that by bolting wood all around the inside of the U of the concrete foundation of the house, it probably took a couple of experienced workers a few hours to measure properly and then to use an electric hammer drill to mount the 4 x 4s to the foundation. However by doing this they eliminated the need for post supports all around the three of the four sides of the deck. If you lay out the patterns of posts and compare, I am guessing that this deck design cut down the number of required posts by almost 50%.

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Tags: backyard, backyard, backyard adventures, deck construction, family, foundation, patio, pool

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