[steve dowd]

I have a 16' x 8' 2nd story deck with 10' posts. It is attached to the house on one 16' side and has stairs off one of the 8' sides. The posts are placed at the edges of the concrete on the pad below. The thickness of the concrete is approx. 4". How do I go about adding a proper pier/concrete pour to make a legitimate support for these posts? I really want to avoid removing the posts if at all possible and would be great if it looked good in the end as people are constantly in the backyard. Thanks for the help.

 

[Just Bill]

Decks have been under serious scrutiny for years because of collapses involving injuries, yours was obviously not done under permit as it should have been. The post require footers to below the frost line, check local code for that number. And the only way to do it is install temporary support while the post is removed or at least moved so you can dig out under.

While you are at it, check how the ledger is connected to the house. VERY important on a deck off the second floor. The number and size of bolts varies according to code, but I always think more is better.

 

[Scuba_Dave]

Where are you located?
How long has the deck been there?
Any pic of the deck above?
Any cross bracing?

 

[Ron6519]

You really need to remove the posts you have, cut the patio where the piers will go and reinstall the posts after the piers have cured to the point they'll bear weight.
You can't dig the hole you need with the posts in place.
Ron

 

[Wildie]

I had a similar problem only it was a concrete porch deck that needed to be supported for a new roof that I installed.
With the porch and foundation it wasn't possible to cut it open.
In my case, I dug down and undermined the concrete wall(which had no footing) and poured a footing down at the 4 foot level.
Then I placed a section of 12" SONO tube between the new pad and the base of the foundation wall. It was positioned so that 50% of the tube cross-section was under the wall and the other 50% was open at the top.
Then I poured concrete in the top and filled the SONO tube.
In the case of a pad, I would just saw open enough of the pad to allow a Sono tube to be placed. Fill the tube and install a suitable post anchor.

 

[texas115115]

Humm just wondering, looking at the pics does not look like you have dug down to see if there is a footing or not. So are you sure there is not aq footing already?:thumbup:

 

[Scuba_Dave]

I was thinking the same thing
Yeah never know, may find a surprise
They could have dug holes & then poured the whole slab at once