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That 10-foot deck I framed last month is already sagging in one corner
I built a small ground-level deck off the back of my house about 5 weeks ago, right before the rains started here in Portland. Used pressure-treated 2x6s on 16-inch centers like every guide says, with joist hangers on the ledger board. The corner closest to the downspout is dipping a good half inch now, and I'm kicking myself because I think I skimped on the footings. I just dug down maybe 8 inches and poured some Quikrete, but the ground here is that nasty clay that swells up when it gets wet. Should I have gone deeper, or is there a way to jack it up and add a pier after the fact? What's the right way to fix a sag without tearing the whole thing apart?
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cameron53821d ago
A 2x6 on 16-inch centers should barely sag under a normal load... that sounds more like your ground gave out than the framing. I'd bet that $40 bag of concrete for a single extra pier would have been cheaper than the headache you've got now.
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paulschmidt21d ago
That Portland clay is no joke, man. I had a similar thing happen with a little platform I built for my trash cans a couple years back, sunk about 10 inches into the ground and it tilted like the Leaning Tower after one wet spring. You can definitely jack it up and add a pier after the fact, I've done it with a car jack and a block of wood to spread the weight. Just dig out a hole under that corner, maybe 18 to 24 inches down past the clay to something solid, and pour a new sonotube footing. It's a pain in the butt to work under a deck that's already built, but way cheaper than starting over from scratch.
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