[spiragui]

Hi All,

In the process of shopping around to get my existing deck waterproofed (by replacing the top surface with vinyl / aluminum etc), I have realized that there are a few issues with my deck structure that would also need fixing.

My house is two floors with a finished daylight basement and a concrete patio. The current deck is merely attached with joist hangers nailed into the rim joist. Yeah, I know, so it looks like a total demo and redo.

The problems really start when I try and figure out how to frame the deck structure. Because of the cantilevered structure I can't attach the deck to the house in that area, and it is too wide to frame around. I would really like to not have a free standing deck because then I have to include angled bracing which would interfere with my view, whereas I think that if the structure is attached to the house I can use the fact that I will have a 3/4 ply subfloor (for the waterproof surface) to resist the lateral loads.

Before I suck it up and approach a structural engineer, is there any immediately obvious way around the stoopid cantilevered section. If it helps, the house plans were originally drawn up with only a small deck outside the raised patio doors which stopped at the edge of the cantilevered section.

The pictures below are an attempt to show the rear wall of the house with and without the deck.

Thanks in advance for any help!

Cheers
Chris

 

[joecaption]

Just a real picture of the house now would make it real easy to figure out.
Sure hope you do not plan on have a deck level with any door openings like it's shown in the picture.You need a minimum of 4", more would be even better.

 

[spiragui]

Joe,

That's just my poor drawing. Lowering the deck is another one of the reasons the deck would be demo'd as the total floor height will increase over the existing deck.

I'm trying to find a picture...

Thanks
Chris

 

[spiragui]

Ta da!

 

[robertcdf]

Another option.... that doesn't really work anyways because you are trying to drop the deck... You can remove the rim of the cantilever and rest the deck joists on the wall, then fill in with blocking.

Option 2: drop the deck BELOW the cantilever and hang the ledger UNDER the cantilever (attaching to wall studs) and then build a step outside the door.

My personal option is to use engineering to attach to the cantilever, we do this ~8-10 times a year.

 

[spiragui]

Robert,

Dropping the deck height probably won't work unfortunately as it would drop the deck joists below the top of the door.

So with careful design it is possible to attach to the cantilevered structure, on the proviso that the cantilever (henceforth known as CL to save my fingertips) structure meets certain requirements?

I was thinking of cutting a hole into the soffit under the CL to see how it was framed. The other problem is that there are two fart-fan vents between the joists that are currently attached to the CL, but maybe they could be rerouted to point down through the soffit?

Cheers
Chris

 

[robertcdf]

Dropping the deck height probably won't work unfortunately as it would drop the deck joists below the top of the door.

You must have a low ceiling basement, or a tall door with a short header. Usually the wall is 8' with a 6'8" door leaving you 1'4" of room, likely your deck is 2x10's which is 9.25".

 

[spiragui]

Just been out and measured it and it's just over 12". I would definitely prefer attaching to the cantilever if possible.

Can I just use the tripled trimmer / header approach and attach the header to the cantilever?

Thanks!
Chris

 

[robertcdf]

Just been out and measured it and it's just over 12". I would definitely prefer attaching to the cantilever if possible.

Can I just use the tripled trimmer / header approach and attach the header to the cantilever?

Thanks!
Chris

You can do whatever you can get the building department or an engineer to approve. Personally I'd talk to the engineer, if you get a smart one it's not as bad as you might think.