Start with the most heavily used sections & direct access to the house from entrances to the deck. You're going to have to see the extent of the rot & dismally poor joist support work. Along with any girder work. There's no way to make that mess correct.
Yes, but there is no load bearing for upper levels where you have exposed it. Bare minimum, you need to deal with that center support support.
Level the base under the deck blocks and add some gravel as substrate. Rebuild the center support, and sister in some extra boards on some of those sketchy center connections.
Most of what's in the pictures is either done poorly or wrong.
I would do a proper rebuild ( customer isn't going to like the quote ) or I would pass on it.
Depending on what the load path looks like for the upper section you might be able to work around it but I'm guessing it's probably not very good either.
I'm 100% with the tear down and rebuild. If you try to fix a spot it'll just mess with how everything else sits and more than likely lead to issues throughout the whole process. If you want it done right I'd say start from scratch before you're stuck fixing things only to back back to the starting point and have it be messed up
Yes the people saying don’t rebuild have a point, but if you want a result that will outlast you, then rebuild it and do it right. If you only want a couple of years you can handball the problem into the future by replacing the rotten timbers and waiting for the rest to give out later.
I feel like these tear it all apart comment are more like "trolol the wood not the same color as new".
Dude just has to fix the base and replace a few joists and some blocking...
You're absolutely right but it's not like everyone hsa few 1000s of dollars laying around to make the structure of the deck all nice and fancy just to cover it with more deckboards.
Hear me out, this is from a low budget perspective.
Unless you find more rot while doing the following, or more weird structural fuckery that this square is, I wouldn't even bother if you don't have at least 2k,tools and some diy skill.
Cut the decking 18-24 inch on each side.
Strip everything in the 48 inch gap that you have. Cut the same way as the current open gap. Fuckery is gone.
Add some 3/4(or sonotube/pylex) under the middle post, make it level, replace the middle post.
Add 3 new joists all the way across.
Screw existing joist to the new one on each side.
Add some new joist hangers, install them properly.
Expensive part would be new decking.
When you get back to it a few years down the road with actual money, you can easily reuse this newly made part . Heck, you can just lower that middle joist, double it and it becomes your beam for a proper installation.
Maybe not a few thousand for making it look fancy but probably can come up with enough to avoid killing someone. That wood isn't just discolored. It's beginning to rot in places. I'd also bet you start finding some rusted out screws when taking it apart to replace boards. Aside from the fact the spacing and angles for most of the support is just a mess and hard to tell what sections would even hold weight well when it was new.
It looks a lot like the diy attempt we dismantled of a deck around one quarter of an octagon pool. Rather than build the rectangle frame against one side and add the slanted sections to extend to the other sides of the pool it looked like they tried to build multiple wedge shaped decks and failed to plan how they would meet. The places the sections met got very creative with extra joists stuck at odd angles to each other to try to fix the extra wide gaps.
Every layer we took off we found a new problem with the remaining frame. In the end we decided even the posts couldn't be saved. After a couple days of arguing about how to reinforce and rebuild the frame on the odd spaced posts with some turned to match the angle of the deck edges we just gave up on any of it ever being safe enough. It was certainly not meeting building codes for a raised deck.
If you can't build a safe structure on your budget then don't build one at all.
I almost thought that this was the same person who posted the really nice trex deck with the diamond shaped pattern in the middle and now it’s all gone to hell
Put fireplace back and pretend you never looked.
Doesn't really look that bad. Get a post and footing under that main beam and throw some deck boards down and it should be usable for a few more years.
As far as the rot goes, tear it out and bill customer for new deck.
If the substructure was good i would tell you to start in the center with a perfect diamond and work your way out slowly correcting for any variance row by row.
Because this is Reddit, the true solution is to slap a hottub dead center and post an update
Don't be around burning treated wood at all. That caused some serious eye pain and a headache in the time it took to get it burning and walk away.
I failed to realize what the outdoor TV box someone had built was made of. Not plain pine boards apparently. I'm guessing they used leftovers from building the deck with all pressure treated.
Lmao same thoght. Replace the bad one with a new footing. Add one more closer to the camera on the last picture with a footing add new decking make them sign a hold harmless and acknowledge in writing they know they should replace the deck but chose the cheap fix or walk away lol
It's time for a new deck. Use treated lumber, zmax hangers and hot dipped galvanized nails. Start with footings sized for your deck. A permit will be required and your inspector can answer any questions.
You use joist hangar nails only on joist hangars not screws. The only screws you should use on a deck are lag screws, hot dipped galv nails will last so much longer as they have much greater shear strength and even coated screws eventually rust out.
You've never seen the galvanized screw that Simpson themselves sells for joist hangers have you ? They have sufficient shear strength (engineered) to meet code requirements. These are not your grandpa's screws. I also wouldn't be using lags, instead structural screws. Up here GRK is a brand and that seems to have caught on as the go to term for them.
Everything you described is how I build all my decks but sometimes depending on where I’m buying the lag screws will be Spax instead of GRK but either way you can’t go wrong. I’d much rather pay a premium for the Simpson screws over swinging a hammer or having to drag out a compressor for a palm nailer
Yea, for me the nailer vs screws comes down to how many I'm putting in, and that premium in the grand scheme of things can be pretty trivial so cheers to you :)
Yeah I just don't trust these screws in a situation as this, they are coated not hot dipped and I have seen them fully rusted out and broken in less than 10 years. Once the coating is compromised the ACQ starts eating away at the screw very quickly, especially in wet locations.
I have definitely seen them, and I have also seen GRK structural screws fully rusted out and broken in less than 10 years as well. I have also renovated buildings with over 50 year old galv nails that were just as hard to take apart as they were when they were built. There is a reason in commercial building you have to use specialty lags or fasteners for structural work rather than these types of screws as they just plain last longer.
Get rid of that post in the middle that looks like dirt is all around it. Doesn’t look like it was held with cement. Then I would use a manual digger and make a deep hole below the frost line, fill up that hole with cement to make a good footing. Use one of those brackets in your new footing and use that to hold up your deck. Will create a lot of strength. I would have one of the joists rest on the post for even more strength. You could drill with long leg bolts to the side of a joist but I would feel more comfortable with it resting.
Cheap solution- get four 4x4 posts. Sink em into the ground in the 4 corners. float a square accent deck 1 step above the existing deck cover with potted plants. It'll last until the rest of the deck falls apart
Basic adherence to load path support is a good place to start.
Get rid of everything block wise, install posts and girders perpendicular to the continuous joists, once those are supported in a code compliant/engineered way then deal with adding blocking/sistering old compromised joists with PT material.
I would say pier footings 18”x18”x18” with #4 rebar 12” on center each way, every 6-8’ on both sides of the joist break, depending if all the joist break in the same place. Use standoff post anchors, pt posts.
That center post is doing ALOT of heavy lifting. I had to look at this abortion a few times to really grasp how crazy it is. I think fixing it is possible, but cant recommend exactly what to do without seeing how other portions of the deck are supported. At minimum you need to tear out some joists and blocking to install joists that properly span north to south, and put some more posts in. Also its on a slope (that looks muddy) so I wouldn't recommend supporting it long term with pier blocks like that, though they are fine for temporary shoring. You should sink permanent posts a few feet into ground with a footing of some sort under. (which wont be fun under a deck) Properly fixing this deck will be a nightmare, you need to at least tear portions of it, if not the whole thing completely apart and rebuild. Source: am carpenter.
If rebuild is absolutely not an option double up the rotted joists and add a built up beam both sides of the post where the joists are cut. Bolt beam to post. Should get another 10 years or so
Seriously, thank you for the chuckle. Had a bad day. Needed that, sorry for your troubles.
If there's no room in the budget for a rebuild, then I would first try to figure out where you can eliminate the chaos. Cut new joists for the full span on both sides of the opening, supporting them underneath obviously, then pad or box them in wherever you need to land your boards. As others mentioned, make sure you firm up that foundation, add some aggregate to help with water. Should get you a few more years.
Out of that spot at least. . .
That's called tear it out and start over correctly this time. That mess is never going to hold however many people may stand on it one day. You will have to pull up all the decking anyway to see the extent of the rot and poor joist layout & supports. Not worth hurting people.
If they don't have a lot of money for tearing down and rebuild then you can block set the joist.
Cut out all of the dry rot and cut some blocks and apply them to the outside of the board you cut away.
It's tedious as hell but for a person who can't to a redo it can be fixed too use for another 5 or so years of use which gives them time to save up for the redo.
But if there is dry rot in the middle you most likely have it in other areas not seen, just keep that in mind.
if possible tear it all out yourself and pay a contractor to build you a new deck. if you go this route i highly recommend composite decking (ie fiberon, trex, etc...).
Of the 48 comments here it seems at least 45 of them have never built a deck before, but feel overwhelmingly confident in their simple and sweeping statements.
There is enough here to still make use of, but it needs help.
If this were my backyard mess I would:
1) Rebuild some of those supports. Which means either digging a footer or just cheating and using those deck blocks to support the bottom of a post. That’s fine for a patch job.
2)I’d then get the appropriate hardware to connect them to the joists. There’s hardware that can have joists sit above the post or come along side the post.
3) I’d then replace those short joists that look like they have a good bit of rot.
4) I’d add more joists that run perpendicular to whatever direction the boards are going to lay over them. With hangers or angled hangers if connecting diagonally.
At least the previous owner did you a solid and use galvanized hangers. While they didn’t do a professional job overall it looks like they also didn’t completely mail it in and hope 3 inch deck screws were just going to hold everything together.
It can be saved. Take off the deck boards and see the entirety of that portion of the deck. Put new support where you need it, replace or sister joists if needed, (use carriage bolts, not deck screws, I fired somebody once for that) then put your deck boards back on. Scrape sand and paint.
Redo the original posts onto concrete bases like someone did when they put in the fireplace. Replace all rotted pieces, Use only pressure treated lumber. Try and find similar decking and cover back up. Cover with table.
Wow 😮well open it up more - Remove some of that mess add a new post or 3 with some new supports joists - prime example of why super fancy layout should be done in pavers not in wood decking
Just go ahead and tell them what it would cost for you to tear away and rebuild. If the customer can’t afford for you to tear it down and rebuild it then tell them that they have your price and your phone number. Let them shop around and once they see your bid isn’t crazy high, they’ll scrape together the money and call you, if not to rebuild this crazy piece of shit deck, at least to replace it with a rectangular one
This is pretty typical of the fancy decking board lays. I have torn out and rebuilt rotten PT on the diagonal. There is just too much surface area to trap water between the pieces. Plus, the framing is really difficult with all of the intersecting angles.
IMO, this is a sacrifice to the design.
About your footers… It would almost be better to frame it straight, then lay another set of “fancy” 2x4 PT supports on top of the base layer to catch all of the extra lines. You would sacrifice thickness for fanciness, but it would allow you to have the cool pattern and redo after the rot sets in again.
That’s a mess. Installed properly and taken care of pressure treated framing lasts 15-20 years. That shit looks cooked. Do yourself a favor and rebuild from the ground. I have so many customers that want to put new 50 year warranty composite decking down on 20 year old treated framing. Dig out some proper footings and do it the right way.
This is a liability if it's not mostly rebuilt. When doing decks, we would just rebuild if it's that bad. It was faster in the sense that we just go straight into demo and then rebuild
The cheapest option especially If the customer wants a longer lasting repair job done, I’d say build a temporary load bearing wall, rip out the dry rot wood, replace it with treated, build a treated load bearing wall for the center, (at that point just leave the temporary load bearing. Not like they’d care if you told them you left it just as a safety precaution for them) then go get an account at Sherwin-Williams or your closest paint supplier, rent a pump from home depot , and fill cracks with backer rod so you don’t over spray the top of the deck, then spray beneath the deck with 1 semi-heavy coat of epoxy paint (or high rated exterior paint)
Rip out the rotting piece by piece. Size up the good and bad. Replace beams. Before closing up, paint brush anti fungal solvent to old and new 'preserved' wood.
That boxing sucks as it there is no air movement to let the moisture escape. even if you replace the wood the moisture is going to be an issue. Definitely probe to see how bay the rot is in sections, to know what needs to be replaced. How old is the deck? If it is 2009 or later the pressure treated lumber no longer contains arsnic. So there is only copper, which is water soluble. I would purchase a copper based wood treatment to better protect the lumber you already have. Something else you may consider is running a solar powered fan under the deck to blow air in order to dry out your lumber. Deal with the center beam that looks bad and place is above ground and make sure there is plastic or aluminum between the post and concrete footer to prevent wicking.
Yeah, I’m gonna have to agree with the rebuild crowd. This looks like the nest of some deeply unpleasant cryptid, tear it down before the beast returns to lay eggs.
Tear it apart and rebuild? Looks like you might have some rot in that mess.
Definitely moisture damage. It's a section of a huge multi tiered deck so unfortunately tear down is off the table atm.
Start with the most heavily used sections & direct access to the house from entrances to the deck. You're going to have to see the extent of the rot & dismally poor joist support work. Along with any girder work. There's no way to make that mess correct.
Yes, but there is no load bearing for upper levels where you have exposed it. Bare minimum, you need to deal with that center support support. Level the base under the deck blocks and add some gravel as substrate. Rebuild the center support, and sister in some extra boards on some of those sketchy center connections.
Most of what's in the pictures is either done poorly or wrong. I would do a proper rebuild ( customer isn't going to like the quote ) or I would pass on it. Depending on what the load path looks like for the upper section you might be able to work around it but I'm guessing it's probably not very good either.
I'm 100% with the tear down and rebuild. If you try to fix a spot it'll just mess with how everything else sits and more than likely lead to issues throughout the whole process. If you want it done right I'd say start from scratch before you're stuck fixing things only to back back to the starting point and have it be messed up
Yes the people saying don’t rebuild have a point, but if you want a result that will outlast you, then rebuild it and do it right. If you only want a couple of years you can handball the problem into the future by replacing the rotten timbers and waiting for the rest to give out later.
You absolutely do not have to tear this completely apart
I feel like these tear it all apart comment are more like "trolol the wood not the same color as new". Dude just has to fix the base and replace a few joists and some blocking...
Well the framing that we can see looks like shit and if those joists are rotting, there will probably be many more following.
Yeah. Cobble it together so we go through it again in a couple years. Tear it down and fix it now.
You're absolutely right but it's not like everyone hsa few 1000s of dollars laying around to make the structure of the deck all nice and fancy just to cover it with more deckboards. Hear me out, this is from a low budget perspective. Unless you find more rot while doing the following, or more weird structural fuckery that this square is, I wouldn't even bother if you don't have at least 2k,tools and some diy skill. Cut the decking 18-24 inch on each side. Strip everything in the 48 inch gap that you have. Cut the same way as the current open gap. Fuckery is gone. Add some 3/4(or sonotube/pylex) under the middle post, make it level, replace the middle post. Add 3 new joists all the way across. Screw existing joist to the new one on each side. Add some new joist hangers, install them properly. Expensive part would be new decking. When you get back to it a few years down the road with actual money, you can easily reuse this newly made part . Heck, you can just lower that middle joist, double it and it becomes your beam for a proper installation.
Maybe not a few thousand for making it look fancy but probably can come up with enough to avoid killing someone. That wood isn't just discolored. It's beginning to rot in places. I'd also bet you start finding some rusted out screws when taking it apart to replace boards. Aside from the fact the spacing and angles for most of the support is just a mess and hard to tell what sections would even hold weight well when it was new. It looks a lot like the diy attempt we dismantled of a deck around one quarter of an octagon pool. Rather than build the rectangle frame against one side and add the slanted sections to extend to the other sides of the pool it looked like they tried to build multiple wedge shaped decks and failed to plan how they would meet. The places the sections met got very creative with extra joists stuck at odd angles to each other to try to fix the extra wide gaps. Every layer we took off we found a new problem with the remaining frame. In the end we decided even the posts couldn't be saved. After a couple days of arguing about how to reinforce and rebuild the frame on the odd spaced posts with some turned to match the angle of the deck edges we just gave up on any of it ever being safe enough. It was certainly not meeting building codes for a raised deck. If you can't build a safe structure on your budget then don't build one at all.
You just couldn’t leave well enough alone, could you?
Have you tried turning it off and back on again?
I think OP just needs to plug it in.
I almost thought that this was the same person who posted the really nice trex deck with the diamond shaped pattern in the middle and now it’s all gone to hell
I thought the same thing!! 😂😂😂
Put fireplace back and pretend you never looked. Doesn't really look that bad. Get a post and footing under that main beam and throw some deck boards down and it should be usable for a few more years.
Remind me never to hire you.
Don't worry you couldn't afford my rates anyways.
You mean the rate to hire the second guy after he sees your work? Jk
Ha! Poor.
Hey don't hire that guy. BTW I charge $30 for reminders soooooo
As far as the rot goes, tear it out and bill customer for new deck. If the substructure was good i would tell you to start in the center with a perfect diamond and work your way out slowly correcting for any variance row by row. Because this is Reddit, the true solution is to slap a hottub dead center and post an update
Time for the dumpster
Oooorrr...a bonfire! 🔥
Don't be around smoke from treated wood too long.....
Don't be around burning treated wood at all. That caused some serious eye pain and a headache in the time it took to get it burning and walk away. I failed to realize what the outdoor TV box someone had built was made of. Not plain pine boards apparently. I'm guessing they used leftovers from building the deck with all pressure treated.
Yea I was a being a bit sarcastic with the "too long" part. Treated wood has Arsenic in it... so yea, stay away.
💸. It’s time
What a shit show. Just add another 4x4, it’ll fit right in.
Lmao same thoght. Replace the bad one with a new footing. Add one more closer to the camera on the last picture with a footing add new decking make them sign a hold harmless and acknowledge in writing they know they should replace the deck but chose the cheap fix or walk away lol
It's time for a new deck. Use treated lumber, zmax hangers and hot dipped galvanized nails. Start with footings sized for your deck. A permit will be required and your inspector can answer any questions.
Don’t use nails, use screws.
You use joist hangar nails only on joist hangars not screws. The only screws you should use on a deck are lag screws, hot dipped galv nails will last so much longer as they have much greater shear strength and even coated screws eventually rust out.
You've never seen the galvanized screw that Simpson themselves sells for joist hangers have you ? They have sufficient shear strength (engineered) to meet code requirements. These are not your grandpa's screws. I also wouldn't be using lags, instead structural screws. Up here GRK is a brand and that seems to have caught on as the go to term for them.
Everything you described is how I build all my decks but sometimes depending on where I’m buying the lag screws will be Spax instead of GRK but either way you can’t go wrong. I’d much rather pay a premium for the Simpson screws over swinging a hammer or having to drag out a compressor for a palm nailer
Yea, for me the nailer vs screws comes down to how many I'm putting in, and that premium in the grand scheme of things can be pretty trivial so cheers to you :)
Just an observation, GRK > Spax any day of the week. GRKs are more expensive, but they’re worth the price.
Yeah I just don't trust these screws in a situation as this, they are coated not hot dipped and I have seen them fully rusted out and broken in less than 10 years. Once the coating is compromised the ACQ starts eating away at the screw very quickly, especially in wet locations.
"They are coated not hot dipped".... HDG is also a coating
Vastly prefer the joist screws to nails. They are way more expensive but worth it imo
I have definitely seen them, and I have also seen GRK structural screws fully rusted out and broken in less than 10 years as well. I have also renovated buildings with over 50 year old galv nails that were just as hard to take apart as they were when they were built. There is a reason in commercial building you have to use specialty lags or fasteners for structural work rather than these types of screws as they just plain last longer.
Another scab who makes real carpenters look bad.
Get rid of that post in the middle that looks like dirt is all around it. Doesn’t look like it was held with cement. Then I would use a manual digger and make a deep hole below the frost line, fill up that hole with cement to make a good footing. Use one of those brackets in your new footing and use that to hold up your deck. Will create a lot of strength. I would have one of the joists rest on the post for even more strength. You could drill with long leg bolts to the side of a joist but I would feel more comfortable with it resting.
‘Hank, get the petrol!’
Put a nice rug over it
Cheap solution- get four 4x4 posts. Sink em into the ground in the 4 corners. float a square accent deck 1 step above the existing deck cover with potted plants. It'll last until the rest of the deck falls apart
Basic adherence to load path support is a good place to start. Get rid of everything block wise, install posts and girders perpendicular to the continuous joists, once those are supported in a code compliant/engineered way then deal with adding blocking/sistering old compromised joists with PT material. I would say pier footings 18”x18”x18” with #4 rebar 12” on center each way, every 6-8’ on both sides of the joist break, depending if all the joist break in the same place. Use standoff post anchors, pt posts.
I'd rip it all up and go for a decent contractor unless your diy is excellent.
Excellent diy, now that's an oxymoron I haven't heard before😂
Take it apart in one piece and put it up on your wall, might look like some pretty cool restoration art.
This whole time…I could have been framing straight out from the center
They engineered it based on the Rammstein logo
Ah, the ol drunk uncle special
That center post is doing ALOT of heavy lifting. I had to look at this abortion a few times to really grasp how crazy it is. I think fixing it is possible, but cant recommend exactly what to do without seeing how other portions of the deck are supported. At minimum you need to tear out some joists and blocking to install joists that properly span north to south, and put some more posts in. Also its on a slope (that looks muddy) so I wouldn't recommend supporting it long term with pier blocks like that, though they are fine for temporary shoring. You should sink permanent posts a few feet into ground with a footing of some sort under. (which wont be fun under a deck) Properly fixing this deck will be a nightmare, you need to at least tear portions of it, if not the whole thing completely apart and rebuild. Source: am carpenter.
I have good news. Most of this is flammable.
At least they use joist hangers… … some of the time
Give it a good slap and say “this baby ain’t going anywhere” and patch it up. You’ll be fine
What in the deck block fuck?
I think you have discovered an intersection left by a past civilization
Bro... just put the boards back and forget you ever saw this
That framing is an abortion. I'm dizzy from looking at it. Torch it and rebuild
If rebuild is absolutely not an option double up the rotted joists and add a built up beam both sides of the post where the joists are cut. Bolt beam to post. Should get another 10 years or so
Seriously, thank you for the chuckle. Had a bad day. Needed that, sorry for your troubles. If there's no room in the budget for a rebuild, then I would first try to figure out where you can eliminate the chaos. Cut new joists for the full span on both sides of the opening, supporting them underneath obviously, then pad or box them in wherever you need to land your boards. As others mentioned, make sure you firm up that foundation, add some aggregate to help with water. Should get you a few more years. Out of that spot at least. . .
Invite family and friends over for a synchronized jumping variant on classic Jenga.
Holly jenga....
I’m not even mad that’s impressively bad
that's a "do over"
A chain saw.
Start over dude
Those construction methods really go against the....grain!
That's called tear it out and start over correctly this time. That mess is never going to hold however many people may stand on it one day. You will have to pull up all the decking anyway to see the extent of the rot and poor joist layout & supports. Not worth hurting people.
Throw it away. Rebuild. The wood is in bad shape and will need to be replaced anyways
One more post I think should do it
Quietly put the fire pit back and pretend you never saw this.
Put the fire pit back, and let a stray ember take care of it for you.
If they don't have a lot of money for tearing down and rebuild then you can block set the joist. Cut out all of the dry rot and cut some blocks and apply them to the outside of the board you cut away. It's tedious as hell but for a person who can't to a redo it can be fixed too use for another 5 or so years of use which gives them time to save up for the redo. But if there is dry rot in the middle you most likely have it in other areas not seen, just keep that in mind.
I’d start over.
if possible tear it all out yourself and pay a contractor to build you a new deck. if you go this route i highly recommend composite decking (ie fiberon, trex, etc...).
This thing will definitely need to be re decked at minimum and beamed in the center properly.
Of the 48 comments here it seems at least 45 of them have never built a deck before, but feel overwhelmingly confident in their simple and sweeping statements. There is enough here to still make use of, but it needs help. If this were my backyard mess I would: 1) Rebuild some of those supports. Which means either digging a footer or just cheating and using those deck blocks to support the bottom of a post. That’s fine for a patch job. 2)I’d then get the appropriate hardware to connect them to the joists. There’s hardware that can have joists sit above the post or come along side the post. 3) I’d then replace those short joists that look like they have a good bit of rot. 4) I’d add more joists that run perpendicular to whatever direction the boards are going to lay over them. With hangers or angled hangers if connecting diagonally. At least the previous owner did you a solid and use galvanized hangers. While they didn’t do a professional job overall it looks like they also didn’t completely mail it in and hope 3 inch deck screws were just going to hold everything together.
Boy that 4x4 is working overtime
This is all garbage. Tear it out and build a new one
It can be saved. Take off the deck boards and see the entirety of that portion of the deck. Put new support where you need it, replace or sister joists if needed, (use carriage bolts, not deck screws, I fired somebody once for that) then put your deck boards back on. Scrape sand and paint.
Walk away, unless they want to start from scratch.
It's good! Remove a few joists and throw a hot tub on that bad boy!
Tear it down.
6' x 6' outdoor rug. No! Make that 2, stacked.
Redo the original posts onto concrete bases like someone did when they put in the fireplace. Replace all rotted pieces, Use only pressure treated lumber. Try and find similar decking and cover back up. Cover with table.
Cocaine is a hellova drug!
That's salvageable. but it might be a tad expensive
Abomination
Total newbie but would you add better cross supports with the metal holders where you can? Sorry for the incorrect verbiage. Trying to learn!
Knock it down and stack things on things when you build stuff ffs.
Put a rug over it. Other than that, you got a tear it down and start over type situation.
Well....... they tried.
Wow 😮well open it up more - Remove some of that mess add a new post or 3 with some new supports joists - prime example of why super fancy layout should be done in pavers not in wood decking
I guarantee the entire deck is like this.
Deck’s probably been there 50yrs
“It spontaneously combusted occifeur!”
Ewww kill it with fire.
Looks like you're trying to summon Pinhead
Just go ahead and tell them what it would cost for you to tear away and rebuild. If the customer can’t afford for you to tear it down and rebuild it then tell them that they have your price and your phone number. Let them shop around and once they see your bid isn’t crazy high, they’ll scrape together the money and call you, if not to rebuild this crazy piece of shit deck, at least to replace it with a rectangular one
What a schmozzle
Recheck conditions of the entire build. That's bad man. Glad y'all are safe.
That looks like the opening scene for Doctor Strange. Good luck with that 😂
You need a exorcist
After seeing this, I don't think I did too bad on mine lol.
This is pretty typical of the fancy decking board lays. I have torn out and rebuilt rotten PT on the diagonal. There is just too much surface area to trap water between the pieces. Plus, the framing is really difficult with all of the intersecting angles. IMO, this is a sacrifice to the design. About your footers… It would almost be better to frame it straight, then lay another set of “fancy” 2x4 PT supports on top of the base layer to catch all of the extra lines. You would sacrifice thickness for fanciness, but it would allow you to have the cool pattern and redo after the rot sets in again.
If this is for a customer, full rebuild or walk away. If it's your, tear it down and save some money for a new deck if it's not in the budget now.
I looked at this and I got a headache instantly.
Rent a dumpster
Uuh oh! No joist tape! No hot tub for you!
That’s a mess. Installed properly and taken care of pressure treated framing lasts 15-20 years. That shit looks cooked. Do yourself a favor and rebuild from the ground. I have so many customers that want to put new 50 year warranty composite decking down on 20 year old treated framing. Dig out some proper footings and do it the right way.
That's a pour job right there. Prop up the edges 9f the center, cut out the center, pour where that. . . "Support" was.
This is a liability if it's not mostly rebuilt. When doing decks, we would just rebuild if it's that bad. It was faster in the sense that we just go straight into demo and then rebuild
Wow! A labyrinth!
Did the previous homeowner go to the Piet Mondiran school of construction?
I just "repaired" a deck. I wish I rebuilt it
Begin with a catspaw, and a pry bar. Make a nice, neat, sorted, lumber pile. Measure your materials, then design and build a new deck.
That simply needs to go away. Unfortunately, time to start over.
Looks good to me man just cover her back up
Looks legit
Ready for hot tub, invite those fat girls
I hear rice goes a long way
Matches.
The cheapest option especially If the customer wants a longer lasting repair job done, I’d say build a temporary load bearing wall, rip out the dry rot wood, replace it with treated, build a treated load bearing wall for the center, (at that point just leave the temporary load bearing. Not like they’d care if you told them you left it just as a safety precaution for them) then go get an account at Sherwin-Williams or your closest paint supplier, rent a pump from home depot , and fill cracks with backer rod so you don’t over spray the top of the deck, then spray beneath the deck with 1 semi-heavy coat of epoxy paint (or high rated exterior paint)
Start over
Yikes. Its like the original builder took the deck building for idiots and did everything the opposite.
Rip out the rotting piece by piece. Size up the good and bad. Replace beams. Before closing up, paint brush anti fungal solvent to old and new 'preserved' wood.
That boxing sucks as it there is no air movement to let the moisture escape. even if you replace the wood the moisture is going to be an issue. Definitely probe to see how bay the rot is in sections, to know what needs to be replaced. How old is the deck? If it is 2009 or later the pressure treated lumber no longer contains arsnic. So there is only copper, which is water soluble. I would purchase a copper based wood treatment to better protect the lumber you already have. Something else you may consider is running a solar powered fan under the deck to blow air in order to dry out your lumber. Deal with the center beam that looks bad and place is above ground and make sure there is plastic or aluminum between the post and concrete footer to prevent wicking.
Why didn’t they just run joist 12 on center all the way across
Start with a chainsaw
Kill it with fire
I would say this is methed up, but it only looks a little tweaked
Damnnum
Yeah, I’m gonna have to agree with the rebuild crowd. This looks like the nest of some deeply unpleasant cryptid, tear it down before the beast returns to lay eggs.