[atticwalker]

Hi all,

I have a very old deck that needs to be replaced. I do not know how to proceed or what I should do.

First, as you can see in the attached pictures, the deck comes right up to the rear sliding door. Water splatters off of the deck, onto the sliding glass door when it rains. Where I live, it can rain pretty hard. One condition of the new deck is that has to be much lower than the sliding glass door. However, the current deck is only about 10 inches off the ground. Can the deck go lower than what it currently is at? How much lower would you build a new deck than the sliding door to prevent this problem? I did install a rain gutter last year, but that was in response to, and after the damage to the boards you see in the picture got soaked in too many rain storms. I am not sure if the deck came with the house as it seems if the deck had been built properly, it would be much lower than the sliding door, but I am not sure.

Does anyone know of any possible designs that might benefit me in replacing this deck? I'm not sure which direction to take. Looking for ideas.

 

[Nealtw]

No good answer, you can see that you are already to close to the ground but likely don't have a drain plane under the deck to help dry the area. You might be better off with a concrete pad with one step down. So the top of the pad would be 14" below the door.
One step does not need to be ugly.

 

[3onthetree]

You should remove some decking and check the structure underneath. There could be a very slight chance it's in good shape, and that could weigh in on your decision of what to do. Check flashing at house and ledger as well.

However you decide to rebuild, if it stays wood, you need some plastic + gravel below there, and lower the grade on the left side to allow air to flow thru.

 

[House Designer]

It is possible to successfully build a low deck on grade beams. I built a deck onto my lake cottage that rested on three 4x6 treated wood grade beams running the length of the deck. The grade beams are visible in the framing picture. One grade beam is 12" from the house, and the other is 12" from the end of the deck.
The deck is free-standing, and is not attached to the house. I leveled up the area beneath the beam with a little sand to ensure that the grade beam was in full contact with the earth, to minimize settling. The tall porch posts rest on concrete pads at 36" depth. The tall posts are not fastened to the deck at all. The deck can heave up or down during the freeze-thaw season, because it simply slides up and down on the tall posts. The short deck railing posts do not penetrate the ground at all; they are simply attached to the deck rim joist and floor joists.
This has held up very well for 12 years. The decking is Fiberon composite with hidden fasteners. This is in a freezing climate (Cleveland), but it has held up very well. No sign of rot, and no sign of settling or warping.

 

[atticwalker]

Looking good, everyone. Keep the ideas flowing. You already mentioned things I didn't think about---keeping the underside dry and letting the rain dry quickly. I do have someone who can help me rebuild. I don't know if he knows how to build the deck so that it, and the underside drain properly in a heavy rain storm.

Is railing necessary? A friend of mine said that I needed railing in case I had people over and, say, someone fell off the deck (say at a party) and they could sue me. Is that anything to worry about? That is, of course, if I stay with the deck. I do feel like, if the deck is low enough, it would just be a glorified step and no railing would not be needed. Some of the decks in the picture ideas did not have railing.

This is really good progress.

 

[carpdad]

As you deconstruct the deck, take pictures and create a kind of manual. Write down what kind of materials you removed and how many. Then you can reassemble with that manual. Research modern deck construction and edit your manual. As you get down to those posts, see if you have some kind of foundation piers under the posts, or if the posts rest in the ground or some blocks. Blocks need to be replaced or if missing, you may have to dig for in ground piers, depends on your town requirements.


That low, you don't need the rails. Existing sides don't have any stairs even now. The front could be built with extra step so really blind people don't fall off it.


The wire fencing blocking off the perimeter would be against the pests. Not much good unless the wires are at least 12" in the ground. I am thinking of sloping under my deck with extra dirt and overlaying with metal corrugated roof. The metal roof will stop big digging pests.

 

[SeniorSitizen]

I'd be shooting for concrete but I've never cared for a up/down step at the door entrance but rather a landing large enough to occupy 2 or 3 people plus a small table/stand outdoors and indoors to set items on while opening the door. This wouldn't solve the splashing rain problem but a roof extension over that area sure would and make that a real nice area in hot sunny weather for grilling and some outdoor space.

 

[SPS-1]

A friend of mine said that I needed railing in case I had people over and, say, someone fell off the deck (say at a party) and they could sue me. Is that anything to worry about?

Check local code requirements. Most cities say that if your deck is lower than XX inches, you don't need a railing. If you were required to have a railing and did not, you are definitely negligent.

 

[huesmann]

I'm with Neal...for something that low, a patio makes a lot more sense.

 

[Two Knots]

You should remove some decking and check the structure underneath. There could be a very slight chance it's in good shape, and that could weigh in on your decision of what to do. Check flashing at house and ledger as well.

However you decide to rebuild, if it stays wood, you need some plastic + gravel below there, and lower the grade on the left side to allow air to flow thru.

yes, I agree, our son ripped off the decking on the deck on his rental home
and the structure underneath was is very good shape. The height of his deck
looks to be about the same as your deck.

This is what he accomplished last weekend, the weekend before he ripped
all the decking off. His tenant helped him ripped off the old decking.

 

[Two Knots]

Found the pic’s that he sent me after it was stripped.