The deck felt a 'little bouncy'. The back sliding-door frame seemed to warp during the winter(harder to shut), a small corner crack appeared next to it as if the wall was being pulled outward, plus the gate fence seemed to shift sometimes.
-There were originally three 4x4 posts at the outside, next to my beefy stairs added.
-A single one in the center.
-The deck boards next to the house rested on pieces of 2x4s attached with a few nails into the cantilevered rim joist of the house.
Here are the 4x4 posts which were holding up the entire deck...
USE A LONG THIN SCREWDRIVER AND CHECK WOOD POSTS FOR ROT BELOW GROUND
Once had a party with 7 adults on it. Aladdin's magic floating deck. Why did it not collapse?
Instead of 4x4 I chose twelve 6x6 posts (beveled to shed water). Each sits on a bag of #2 paver base pounded with a 4x4 until the windows rattled. Doubled-up all the joists and screwed together. Hangers for all ends, and bridged every other one with 2x4s attached with beefy Spax structural wood screws. Replaced a cantilever with good overlap bolted together with heavy duty corner angle. Everything got two coats of CopperCoat preservative before installation. Top of joists got joist tape so no water sitting.
The deck should now be 'fully floating' and doesn't pull on the house structure. Hopefully it will last a long time.
One thing for sawing easier was spraying the blade with WD-40. No pinching or burning and much cleaner cuts. Try it, seriously.
Nearly took off a knee cap a couple times using the post hole digger machine. There wasn't room for the other type which is stationary with an arm. Be careful with those things.
I reverted to the manual post hole digger.
Select your deck wood carefully in the daytime (unlike what I did after several trips to return junk because half of it was). The ring circles must face down to prevent cupping later on. I also should have stained both sides before installing but it was still wet.
Yes Viginia, you can haul 2x10x14 in a 6ft bed. Just drive 40mph on a Sunday morning.
Menards had Cabots and ReadySeal stains available. No Sikkens or other. Thomsons is usless.
-I'd tried a ton of Cabots very generously before, to the point of peeling, but wood underneath still rotted. Not happy about that. On the inside of the front porch it still looks good.
-The ReadySeal feels like it might have a wax additive, which may be a problem in the future with additional application. It has a nice soft feel when walking barefoot. No smell and it applied well. IDK. First time using it.
-I waited a few weeks until the surface was dry.
I got my side frames installed. They were taking up half the garage. Made of laser-cut plastic panels stuck inside a frame. Cut slots all the way around and embedded in caulk for more strength. The pins are removable to take apart. There was barely enough room and had to trim an inch off the sides to get them to fit. They were supposed to be half that size and just an accent screen but I guess I ordered the wrong ones.
I used the wrong deck screws at first. Most have been replaced with the larger bevel head type. It's tedious. Have to shim and finish up the perimeter lattice but it's mostly done.
