It is a wooden deck, not a Buick block but it is a project that has spiraled out of control. Have you seen the price of lumber? OUCH! I'm currently staring at a quote for $2350 to put it back in Trex. If I weren't doing it myself, I'm sure it would cost twice that to have it done. It started like this, dirty and with some nail pops. There's a bow at the far end where it meets the steps that needs looking into. I pressure washed it and blew a lot of the paint off. It is billed as deck restore paint. It is a flexible, rough finish with grit in it to keep it from being slick. I guess my deck was too far gone. With the coating coming off, the wood was obviously in pretty bad shape. I'm guessing it is 30 years old. Lots of popped nails and they were rusty as all get out. So, I started popping boards. I wanted to make sure the joists were OK. About half the nails pulled through the decking when I pried them up. Pretty unusable. The 2"x10" at the end of the steps had a really bad bow in it and that had to go to.
Use tar paper strips on the top of the 2x10s before you put the boards back down. They sell the rolls for this. It keeps the water that drips off the boards from rotting the 2x 10s at the board gaps. Good luck with it
Already got that covered. Trex recommends a flashing. The lumber store (is it still lumber if it isn't actually wood?) recommended Zip system tape over the tops.
I had to rebuild my deck last year for the same reason. I did not use trex, I decided to use wood, Yes, the price of wood is out of control. My deck is not shaded. Trex has a plastic cap on it. I put a sample of trex on my deck on a sunny day and after a couple hours, it was very hot. In decided I did not want to walk on such a hot deck, especially barefoot. Also, even with the full thickness trex, I felt I would have to put a extra joist between each of the existing ones due to future sag issues. If you go trex, I would not use their lower end stuff with the "grooves" in the bottom. Just my two cents. Also, I cut shimgle starter into 1,5 inch strips to put over the top of the joists. I did use trex railings and post sleeves. They were very expensive, but seem like a good product., The directions sucked. I figured out a better way. That is for another discussion. UticaGeoff
I'd double up on some 2x8s or 10s (glued, screwed and especially straight and get them UNDER the joists as a stiffener. If you wanted to go all out, sandwich a piece of 1/8 X 10" steel plate between the header boards. Thats the way 16 foot garage door headers are done to prevent the frame from sagging. Attach at both ends to the posts. Pull a tight string or chalk line across the face and adjust for straight accordingly. You may need to get some gravel, then sand, then some 16 x 16 cement pavers under that header to prevent sagging. Pack the stuff TIGHT, as in using a compactor, or do a footing and a small cement pad. I'd consider using maybe 3-4 vertical 2 x 10s full face fastened to the joists to the pads. Even consider a few more courses across the center of the deck. That 20 foot span is a LOT to rely on just a few single joists to support it with no sagging. Id also consider doing the same with gravel, sand and pavers at the foot of the steps. ONE under each riser. DITCH all the nails and get some "tan" deck screws. They are #3 phillips and monel that wont rust away in our lifetime! Pull them down with a drill to JUST below the surface. Any more and the wood will swell making removal impossible without splitting, PLUS those small pockets will hold water. . TREX is pretty good too, HOWEVER, you need to be more accurate by pre-drilling and countersinking so that ALL the screw heads line up at the same DEPTH for appearance too. Pre paint, stain or seal however WHEREVER weather is gonna make an entry with a cap, tarpaper or whatever. Water is NOT your friend. Also. Id recommend a Harbor Freight chinalaserlevel for 30.00 We used one on the paver job this week and the red dot was visible at least 50 feet in bright sun. It came in handy for grade work UNDER the big roots for a 30 foot long French Drain. Today we do the cap stones. Dirt is all leveled out (need another yard) for the Hosta patch and a small Koi pond. China fish makee yumm yumm! The LRL and MAX DINGLE both said A-O-K on the china stuff. If my livelihood depended on it, I'd upgrade, but for a few light duty jobs they are OK. ws
...I'd set a pt 4x4 post as close to centered in a header/joist junction, level deck, and lag to post. +1 for star drive deck screws...
I'm a handyman/carpenter and see problems like that a lot. First thing I noticed was the absence of support in the front. You need a post drilled and concreted in every 8'. Looking at the front of the deck it looks to be about 14'-16' span unsupported, that's unacceptable! That's why it sunk down in the middle. Easy fix though, lol. Start with drilling a hole in the center of the front and concrete a 4x4 post in. When you replace the face frame board, check and mark the crown and place it with the crown UP. EVERY board has a crown to it, no matter how straight it may look. Make sure to lag it to the new post good. I only use torque bit screws for jobs like that. I rarely ever buy nails anymore, pretty much everything is either screwed or glued together or both. Screws will stay in place and easier to remove in the future if needed. Keith
OK, it is essentially 16'x16' with a dog-eared end that reduces to 12' for the steps with a smaller section that is 5'x 8' for the utility room entrance. Here's what it looked like back in 2016. Based on what I'm hearing, I need to do one thing for sure and then make a decision. I need to set a post in the center of the large step area to attach the center joist and the ledger board for needed support. I've opened a ticket with 811 even though I know there is no electric, gas, water, cable in the area from previous markings. I need to check to be sure my septic tank line isn't near there. I've been avoiding major repairs on this deck since we moved here in July of 2006, bandaiding it with replacing a board here and there and painting it with deck restore paint. My choices are: Go back with Trex Go back with wood Tear it down and Build steps Pour steps Pour a concrete pad with steps
Honestly your lumber seemed fine so why spend the big money there. The sag was design related and wouldn't be solved by Trex. I'd go big with lumber and a solid design. Good Luck
The deck boards are too old and soft to hold up much longer. When I pulled them up, many of the nails pulled through and they need to go. They are splitting and the ends are terrible. The structure that underpins it seems to be pretty good. Trex was my attempt to never do it again. I'm going with saddle color, which isn't that dark.
I have a TREX deck, been in about ten years. One thing, make darn sure the underpinnings are close together. I have a sad condition where the builder didn't put the bracing close enough. We were told we had to use a special screw or Trex wouldn't warrany it for splitting and pull out.
...you're getting there. I like pt 5/4X6 decking and screws (not fond of Trex clips/screws/plugs). Mine's been down over 20 years, but pt's not what it used to be. Finished with Behr semi-transparent stain. Used white on fencing because it weathers off and doesn't require scraping/stripping/sanding like paint, just wash and re-apply. Last thing, is deck open at both ends? Airflow helps deck boards dry after rain/snow...
How far apart are your joists that are a problem? I've got 16" on-center 2x10s. I'm going to use a generic hidden fastener system the lumber yard says all their commercial customers use because it is half what Trex branded costs. They claim 16" is acceptable. Commercial requires 12" on-center. Mine was 17 years old when I moved in. It was rough with lots of splitting and splinters then. That's why I coated it with the thick deck restore paint. It fixed the splinters but it can't save the deck forever. It bought me 4 extra years. Yes, the deck has lattice on all ends. My wife lets her plants grow over it and they leave moldy green areas and I've replaced those boards. She now has some trellis we are going to let her vines grow on so I can keep the deck cleaner. Her hummingbird feeders area also a problem and I've banished them off the deck as well.
Oh, I like watching them as well but they don't need to hang ON or OVER the deck. We've got a few shepherds' hooks that they hang on and they are a foot OFF the deck now.
Greg I think Trex is fine. I prefer the all PVC Decking like Wolfe or Azek... it's more money but never rots as no wood in the core. Is it worth it...Not 100% sure but I think so. To your point, the framing needs to be straight and level. No sense painting a car with a bad frame...worse would be to spend more for better paint for that car. I think 16 in on center is fine but you nave to be sure the foundation is solid.
Doing a 400 SF deck for a customer right now. Right now, PT 5/4 decking is close to 75% of the cost of composite... when it used to be 25%. Look at the Camo fastener system for the 5/4 PT boards; using it on this deck for the first time & really like it. We're about 2/3rds done and no issues. Tool sets small-headed screws in each edge of the board at a 45-degree angle- NO face screws to make splinters / hold water. Gun was $50, 1750 screws was $120. I like composite decking better and I recommend it, it's only downsides are cost and the propensity for it to get really hot in some colors / sun exposure. Agree that the 12-ft span needs a center post / footing.
Trex is all that is available and not all I need is even available until December. I can get all the deck boards but the external edge and top of rail boards are not in stock nor expected to be for a few months. Everything else is not available with unknown dates. They don't even list a price for it. OK, I'm AM an engineer but a NETWORK engineer so I am not sure where that post needs to go. I was thinking it needed to go in the middle of the end where the steps attached and the old 2x10 was sagging. Is that where you are talking about? I was going to lag bolt it to the center joist and the end (is it called a ledger) board where I will attach the stringers. I also plan on adding some stabilizing braces between the joists at the halfway point since the Trex isn't as stable as lumber. I'm actually in no hurry. Are there good odds the price of PT decking will fall to historically normal levels in the near future?
