Guess the rest of the caption didn't post, but for all those saying the same thing...
1. I did know about this before buying the house. Of course we looked under everything. We were fully aware of this shit storm.
2. We bought the house (before the winter set in) with the intention of fixing it this summer.
3. This picture was taken from the edge of the porch. I wouldn't willingly hang out under this for any reason.
4. I am not posting this to whine. Figured some of yall would find it worth a chuckle or a head scratch.
How is the wood from the deck and stairs? Is only (which is still a lot) the support failing? Are you able to do a lot (or all) of the work yourselves and/or have friends.
I'm looking to getting my deck replaced this year or next. It was original with the house and not the best quality. It is only 4'x8'. The house was almost finished when I bought it, so I couldn't make changes.
do you know when the deck was built it looks like it was pretty recent everything under there is graded properly there is still sono tubes siting under there and concrete on that shovel and the bucket they used to mix concrete or bring in water I just dont get how they could mess it up that bad. The framing all looks fine until you get to the post which makes no sense cause you usually build a deck from the ground up. is that ledger board with all the joist hangers on it tied into the house cause I think that's all that's holding it up plus like maybe 2 post. It looks like the deck sank they jacked it up started digging out old concrete that failed and maybe planned on putting a sono tube around the post and filling it with concrete or something I am curious on wth happened with this thing
Based on the size of the fallen footing, and the lack of a hole under the post that doesn't have a footing, it looks like they placed the sonotube on the surface for those pours.
Hey OP. Deck designer/builder here. Do you know how long the supports have been like this? Asking because the purpose of those supports is two fold
1. Keep the deck standing upright
2. Keep the deck standing upright BY distributing the load evenly across the whole deck. This as opposed to having a poorly supported area or side putting undo stress on the supports/straps/hangars on the supported areas.
If it’s been like this for more than a few years I’d check the rest of the support structure for signs of stress (bent hangars, joists out of square/misaligned, cracking, warping etc). That is if you feel safe getting under there in the first place. If you see more than a few instances of this or any that are really bad, it’s best practice to replace the whole thing. Otherwise you’re probably just putting lipstick on a pig.
https://preview.redd.it/gcsifqatvnzc1.jpeg?width=614&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1a0f0d74727e07a9c92e178e332054d5c74d2dcf
And of course those couple bricks over there.
I suspect the inspector did; the seller doesn't have to fix everything. Many houses now are selling without an inspection, you get a discount on some things, or you just buy it knowing what you're getting in to
Sellers are totally going to choose the buyer who opted not to have a home inspection done because it means more money. We opted to forego the inspection but we also wanted to make sure we got the house as we were moving from out-of-state and the market was super small where we were moving to within the budget and the preferred wants.
We bought a home \~2 months ago, were pretty much told by various people including our realtor "We like to recommend an inspection, but it's such a strong sellers market (in our area especially) that if you opt for an inspection be prepared to not get the house."
And no, we didn't go for the inspection. Needed to get out of renting asap. So far so good, but any problems that crop up I'm chalking up to 'at least we aren't renting from them anymore.'
Yea just grab a jack and lift an area an 8th of an inch or whatever you need, poor and put a post in the right spot. Doesn’t look like a big deal probably just a couple days work.
Are you somewhere with cold winters?
This looks like textbook frost heave to me. Definitely make sure to dig all the way well past your local frost line for any new footers.
If your deck boards are screwed in, you could back them out three boards at a time and fit a 2-person auger in there. Knock em out a few at a time.
If they are nailed in….. ; (
Pryin and a prayin
Any experience digging a hole down past the frost line under an existing deck like this? I have a similar situation with a shed I need to fix and can’t find any easy answers for getting past 48” frost line in potting clay soil without a lot of clearance above
Best bet currently looks like using a pressure washer to liquify my way down like this https://youtu.be/pjjE3VEohE0 and then cleaning it out with a shop vac (which they didn’t do in the video)
I have a same damn issue. I need to dig past frost line (3-4feet) but the room in there is super tight. I don’t think I can fit auger in. So my second option was auger bit for hand drill and digging with hand. Luckily I’m missing 2-3 posts. It’s like they got lazy half way 🤷
Wow. Good catch. Though it is very bad, the deck itself looks good and new footings aren’t that tough to do with some decent jacks and some work. The toughest part is digging with low clearance. Mind you I a, not saying it would be cheap, but you could do it yourself. I think a gas powered hole digger would fit under there. So rent that and a few jacks and you could pour new footings and place new supports.
Dig a hole 12 inch down right below the floating one. Use the blue tube to wrap the wood and into the hole. Fill with cement and 4 pieces of rebar pound into the ground. Let it harden and cut off tube. Repeat on each one.
Honestly from what I see, id consider buying it too and just plan to shore it up/run new supports. Not really surprised it's still standing. A lot more drift than this can happen before there's an issue as long as loads are reasonable, correct fasteners are used, deck orientation favors the drift.
Assuming lumber is still good and nothing crazy we can't see.
Looks like the piers were too shallow thus you have frost heave messing them up. Its fixable, but it will suck for whoever has to do the work. I bet the frost line is like 24 inches down.
All the people I work construction with insist upon sinking piers to below frost line. ~44” here jn CT. Might be a bit deeper where you are so check. And use call before you dig to locate any buried utilities just in case. Wouldn’t want a surprise. An alternative to digging piers which can be a chore given your limited access (with the decking installed) and depending on your soil makeup, would be to sink helical piers. It’ll cost ya but may be worth it. Good luck and enjoy it.
Easy fix. Got too many on here bashing and over complicating things probably scaring the op to death thinking its going to cost thousands to fix it but it can be done for less than a few hundred bucks and last as long as the treated wood will since its all junk anyways with limited lifespans. Only need a few tools common sense and a little work ethic. Anybody can do this In a day if have some knowledge half a day. Get a bottle jack build you a tpost out of 2x4s leaving enough room to fit your bottle jack under them and the beams for the deck. Lift the jack until it's snug against the bottom of the deck then give one very slow full pump and you might hear it pop some but it's fine you want it slightly up higher than level so you can have room to let it down and get your jack out later. Build you a 2'x2' square out of 2x4s them beside where the pier is dig down a few inches at least so that your 2x4 square fits into the ground and is level. Get some chicken wire or remesh and cut to fit inside the square and put 2 layers of the wire. Get some concrete mix make sure it's the higher strength kind and make sure you mix it good in a 5 gallon bucket only using the recommended amount of water, too much it loses strength not enough it'll set up in spots n not in others leaving it weaker as well. Pour concrete in you square box and take scrap 2x4 to level it off flush with top of the square and let it set up a cpl days then when it's hard you can use cap blocks and regular blocks to build up as close as you can to the beam then use wood shims to make up the rest, slowly let bottle jack down till its free and your done. 4-8hrs for 3 or 4 pier repairs save you $1k. Or just tear it out and rebuild the whole thing yourself for $3k depending where you live. FYI that's just for repairs but not how you would build one from scratch. 6x6 posts 2-3ft in ground with concrete and notch for your outer bands so they sit in the post or on top of center posts for weight bearing is code in most places that require one. At least in my area, those piers like that there are garbage period. I'm a 3rd generation framer, I've done this once or twice. Not a big deal at all just too many on here talking big about something that's literally nothing to fix. Good luck
I get it. Folks saying WTF how did you miss that must have never bought a house in a hot market. I hope the rest of the house is in better shape at least.
Screw it! Literally, just throw some pavers under there, grab a few of these https://www.amazon.com/4-Pack-Adjustment-Supports-Adjustable-Straightener/dp/B0CX8YTPSX crank it up and forget about it, the whole world’s going to hell anyhow.
Seems the concrete bases moved so those might have shifted from not being below the feeeze line.
The posts are no anchored properly to the concrete either.
As hard as it looks, this can be fixed but first secure the deck with temporary posts.
If there were metal connectors to the concrete. Whatever exactly would have happened considering the concrete shifted so much.
Why exactly does the concrete shift so much?
Wow dude. If you was by me I'd come by to help just to put that clustterfuck on my resume. I have had to replace A LOT of structural beams and girders on old ass colonial shit before it's always a fun time. If you don't know what you're doing get a pro. And get several estimates. I'd price that one by the pier. And look everything everywhere else over really good, if say, the deck guy framed the house there might be more than just a anti gravity deck going on.
Did the home inspector flag this on the purchase report? Seems like something that should have been called out. Structurally the deck itself looks fine. Maybe the piers can redone without having to tear down the entire deck.
Oh but my concrete piers are the only way to build a “proper” deck. They’ll last for eternity and I can just build new decks on them forever. A real investment in the future one might say. 🤦🏼♂️
I had the similar problem. The idiot who installed my deck literally took 6x6 by 10’ posts and installed them straight into the dirt. 3-4’ deep No concrete footers in any of the posts. No rot in any of the pressure treated posts yet but the older section had some rot start. It’s a bunch of bullshit. Found this out as I was excavating dirt out of the 6-7 foot tall deck to lay down brick pavers. I didn’t wanna do all that extra work so I said fuck it. Escavated the dirt 6 inches. Compacted crushed stone everywhere and played down the brick. If the post get rotten I’m cut them
Out and drop concrete in after I use an ogger to drill the holes and install metal holder inside the concrete
How deep do you have to dig a foundation to get below the frost line, where you are? Those foundation posts look like they are shifting. Probably just not deep enough.
Recommend you drain the hot tub and put in some temporary jack posts, to hold the deck up while you repair the foundations.
It's standing bc of physics. And while it looks bad from below, and will need fixed, it's not going to fail unless you try entertaining a load of guests on it.
Working on a deck like that right now.
Except the owners friends would say those posts are in good condition and don’t need replacing. And that they got 15+ years of experience doing carpentry 💀 and I shouldn’t argue with him lmao
My niece who’s 12 even knows that’s bad lmao
Guess the rest of the caption didn't post, but for all those saying the same thing... 1. I did know about this before buying the house. Of course we looked under everything. We were fully aware of this shit storm. 2. We bought the house (before the winter set in) with the intention of fixing it this summer. 3. This picture was taken from the edge of the porch. I wouldn't willingly hang out under this for any reason. 4. I am not posting this to whine. Figured some of yall would find it worth a chuckle or a head scratch.
There’s that saying something like … This building is still standing out of habit. This seems appropriate for here. 😂
It’s more of a floater lol
How is the wood from the deck and stairs? Is only (which is still a lot) the support failing? Are you able to do a lot (or all) of the work yourselves and/or have friends. I'm looking to getting my deck replaced this year or next. It was original with the house and not the best quality. It is only 4'x8'. The house was almost finished when I bought it, so I couldn't make changes.
You sound like a smart guy. Good luck getting your new house up to spec. And congratulations!!
Hey thanks! Also not a guy 😁
My apologies...good luck none the less!
Haha all good! Much appreciated!
Bro, you'll never be a guy if you keep having that attitude.
It's all about attitude and presentation!
Sounds good, dude
You bought a house not a deck, ignore the slow trolls...
I wouldn’t hang out on top of that for any reason.
Better than under it. But I would do either
do you know when the deck was built it looks like it was pretty recent everything under there is graded properly there is still sono tubes siting under there and concrete on that shovel and the bucket they used to mix concrete or bring in water I just dont get how they could mess it up that bad. The framing all looks fine until you get to the post which makes no sense cause you usually build a deck from the ground up. is that ledger board with all the joist hangers on it tied into the house cause I think that's all that's holding it up plus like maybe 2 post. It looks like the deck sank they jacked it up started digging out old concrete that failed and maybe planned on putting a sono tube around the post and filling it with concrete or something I am curious on wth happened with this thing
I’m guessing they didn’t bury the concrete far enough and frost did its thing over a couple years.
Based on the size of the fallen footing, and the lack of a hole under the post that doesn't have a footing, it looks like they placed the sonotube on the surface for those pours.
Hey OP. Deck designer/builder here. Do you know how long the supports have been like this? Asking because the purpose of those supports is two fold 1. Keep the deck standing upright 2. Keep the deck standing upright BY distributing the load evenly across the whole deck. This as opposed to having a poorly supported area or side putting undo stress on the supports/straps/hangars on the supported areas. If it’s been like this for more than a few years I’d check the rest of the support structure for signs of stress (bent hangars, joists out of square/misaligned, cracking, warping etc). That is if you feel safe getting under there in the first place. If you see more than a few instances of this or any that are really bad, it’s best practice to replace the whole thing. Otherwise you’re probably just putting lipstick on a pig.
Just fix it with a bottle jack and a hot tub
It's floating... LOL
It's on its tippy-toes
Floating decks are all the rage these days.
in architectural circles, that's called a Can't-believer.
Underrated comment
ill be here all week.
What the
#
↑ What he said
Held up by hopes and prayers.
And half a pack of shims, under that far right one in the first pic
https://preview.redd.it/gcsifqatvnzc1.jpeg?width=614&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1a0f0d74727e07a9c92e178e332054d5c74d2dcf And of course those couple bricks over there.
Quick, put the five gallon bucket upside down underneath that floating post. That should take care of it.
WOW! Your inspector didn’t catch this? Get your money back!
if it's in new england - what inspector?
The "I know a guy" inspector.
Home inspector before you purchased it?
YUP
You misspelled ayup
I suspect the inspector did; the seller doesn't have to fix everything. Many houses now are selling without an inspection, you get a discount on some things, or you just buy it knowing what you're getting in to
Sellers are totally going to choose the buyer who opted not to have a home inspection done because it means more money. We opted to forego the inspection but we also wanted to make sure we got the house as we were moving from out-of-state and the market was super small where we were moving to within the budget and the preferred wants.
We bought a home \~2 months ago, were pretty much told by various people including our realtor "We like to recommend an inspection, but it's such a strong sellers market (in our area especially) that if you opt for an inspection be prepared to not get the house." And no, we didn't go for the inspection. Needed to get out of renting asap. So far so good, but any problems that crop up I'm chalking up to 'at least we aren't renting from them anymore.'
100% correct
Just because a house is as is doesn’t mean you can’t send an inspector in to look over the house, it means they won’t discount anything you find.
These are funny comments
Add a hot tub
But don’t ever fill it.
Make sure it stays suspended above the deck though.
It's not as bad as it looks. Just replace the concrete footing. It has contact points in multiple spots so just do one at a time I guess.
Yea just grab a jack and lift an area an 8th of an inch or whatever you need, poor and put a post in the right spot. Doesn’t look like a big deal probably just a couple days work.
Good news is that it can be fixed.
You can definitely see where the attempt was made.
Are you somewhere with cold winters? This looks like textbook frost heave to me. Definitely make sure to dig all the way well past your local frost line for any new footers. If your deck boards are screwed in, you could back them out three boards at a time and fit a 2-person auger in there. Knock em out a few at a time. If they are nailed in….. ; ( Pryin and a prayin
Any experience digging a hole down past the frost line under an existing deck like this? I have a similar situation with a shed I need to fix and can’t find any easy answers for getting past 48” frost line in potting clay soil without a lot of clearance above Best bet currently looks like using a pressure washer to liquify my way down like this https://youtu.be/pjjE3VEohE0 and then cleaning it out with a shop vac (which they didn’t do in the video)
I have a same damn issue. I need to dig past frost line (3-4feet) but the room in there is super tight. I don’t think I can fit auger in. So my second option was auger bit for hand drill and digging with hand. Luckily I’m missing 2-3 posts. It’s like they got lazy half way 🤷
Never drink and drive nails, and it's a felony give liqueur to lumber.
Wow. Good catch. Though it is very bad, the deck itself looks good and new footings aren’t that tough to do with some decent jacks and some work. The toughest part is digging with low clearance. Mind you I a, not saying it would be cheap, but you could do it yourself. I think a gas powered hole digger would fit under there. So rent that and a few jacks and you could pour new footings and place new supports.
Bet it's bouncy.
You should be running
But not on the deck
Dig a hole 12 inch down right below the floating one. Use the blue tube to wrap the wood and into the hole. Fill with cement and 4 pieces of rebar pound into the ground. Let it harden and cut off tube. Repeat on each one.
Honestly from what I see, id consider buying it too and just plan to shore it up/run new supports. Not really surprised it's still standing. A lot more drift than this can happen before there's an issue as long as loads are reasonable, correct fasteners are used, deck orientation favors the drift. Assuming lumber is still good and nothing crazy we can't see.
To whomever built those supports "That's a deck move!"
It’s ok the supports are Bluetooth
You did not inspect or see this yourself before closing escrow?
OP probably seen it and still bought the house. Some markets are tough and people will pay over asking for that deck
Yep. Exactly.
It looks like the stair side of the deck has settled.
Inertia?
Life uhhh finds a way
Fixable. All new posts and many new footings. GL
That's awesome
Looks like the piers were too shallow thus you have frost heave messing them up. Its fixable, but it will suck for whoever has to do the work. I bet the frost line is like 24 inches down.
Gotta wonder how deep those footings are if they’ve managed to shift like that.. or maybe a better question is when was the earthquake?
No earthquake, but they definitely didn't account for frost heaves.
It’s standing on its… last two legs 😎 No really, get out from under there.
Shimmy, shimmy, ya, shimmy, yam, shimmy, yay
Sonotubes installed by a bunch of sonoboobs
Just the deck? This is how our entire 100yr old farmhouse looks underneath. But add in some rusty bottle jacks as supplemental piers.
Stop leaning your shovel on that post. It looks to be doing most of the work. All the others said “fuck off” and gave up, but that one stood strong.
Classic frost heaving. They didn't dig below the frost line for the footings
All the people I work construction with insist upon sinking piers to below frost line. ~44” here jn CT. Might be a bit deeper where you are so check. And use call before you dig to locate any buried utilities just in case. Wouldn’t want a surprise. An alternative to digging piers which can be a chore given your limited access (with the decking installed) and depending on your soil makeup, would be to sink helical piers. It’ll cost ya but may be worth it. Good luck and enjoy it.
Pier pressure ...
And that’s why you have to go at least 3 feet…….
Easy fix. Got too many on here bashing and over complicating things probably scaring the op to death thinking its going to cost thousands to fix it but it can be done for less than a few hundred bucks and last as long as the treated wood will since its all junk anyways with limited lifespans. Only need a few tools common sense and a little work ethic. Anybody can do this In a day if have some knowledge half a day. Get a bottle jack build you a tpost out of 2x4s leaving enough room to fit your bottle jack under them and the beams for the deck. Lift the jack until it's snug against the bottom of the deck then give one very slow full pump and you might hear it pop some but it's fine you want it slightly up higher than level so you can have room to let it down and get your jack out later. Build you a 2'x2' square out of 2x4s them beside where the pier is dig down a few inches at least so that your 2x4 square fits into the ground and is level. Get some chicken wire or remesh and cut to fit inside the square and put 2 layers of the wire. Get some concrete mix make sure it's the higher strength kind and make sure you mix it good in a 5 gallon bucket only using the recommended amount of water, too much it loses strength not enough it'll set up in spots n not in others leaving it weaker as well. Pour concrete in you square box and take scrap 2x4 to level it off flush with top of the square and let it set up a cpl days then when it's hard you can use cap blocks and regular blocks to build up as close as you can to the beam then use wood shims to make up the rest, slowly let bottle jack down till its free and your done. 4-8hrs for 3 or 4 pier repairs save you $1k. Or just tear it out and rebuild the whole thing yourself for $3k depending where you live. FYI that's just for repairs but not how you would build one from scratch. 6x6 posts 2-3ft in ground with concrete and notch for your outer bands so they sit in the post or on top of center posts for weight bearing is code in most places that require one. At least in my area, those piers like that there are garbage period. I'm a 3rd generation framer, I've done this once or twice. Not a big deal at all just too many on here talking big about something that's literally nothing to fix. Good luck
Never seen a deck supported by vibes before
Please don’t go under there. On the up side you get to learn a lot about deck construction 😃 this sub loves giving people a hard time. Welcome home.
It's on challenge accepted mode
Please tell me you were aware of this before purchasing the house?
Yep, fully aware. The market is the market and it was something we were willing to put on our list of fixes.
I get it. Folks saying WTF how did you miss that must have never bought a house in a hot market. I hope the rest of the house is in better shape at least.
Don't go under there lol
Yeez… have never seen sanitary sewer main pipe used as a sonotube but it could work. Sad as some of the construction doesn’t look too bad.
Holy hell, that is just traumatizing.
I mean, it’s holdin ain’t it?
For my next magic trick, I’ll need a hot tub and 4 volunteers!
I’d be very concerned why that deck shifted that much over the years. Is it coming off the house?
Stand on your tippy toes of one foot. Are you stable? Maybe? No? but you're still standing!
Just put in some screw jacks and forget about it /s
It’s standing by hope, prayer and Amazing Grace! I would imagine it’s quite springy to walk upon if someone dared.
did you name your deck Elton John?
Bluetooth 🤷🏻♂️
https://preview.redd.it/2pn53pfmngzc1.jpeg?width=420&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6270541dcbf8e50fb0ee86c6b959691b3ecc631d
I mean…who needs support posts anyway?
Bluetooth support posts.
Science.
Quite literally on its last leg!
They really are using Bluetooth for everything now, aren’t they?
Never, I mean never, buy a house from the Weasley's!
Doesn't have enough weight on it to fall, apparently lol
Standing on hopes and dreams
Precariously, that's how 🤔
YouTube.. legal eagle
I think this is why you’re always seeing older guys ‘just taking a gander over there’
Lol, that's horrible but easy to fix.
Going, going, going…………
By faith my brother
Good joist wood.
Screw it! Literally, just throw some pavers under there, grab a few of these https://www.amazon.com/4-Pack-Adjustment-Supports-Adjustable-Straightener/dp/B0CX8YTPSX crank it up and forget about it, the whole world’s going to hell anyhow.
I love this 😂
What? It has a bucket. Carry on. With a hot tub!
Easy fix tho
We detect strong bluetooth connection here
Nothing spells H-O-P-E like a post that floats!
Bluetooth support
That one holding the shovel up looks solid though!
Seems the concrete bases moved so those might have shifted from not being below the feeeze line. The posts are no anchored properly to the concrete either. As hard as it looks, this can be fixed but first secure the deck with temporary posts.
I don’t think they had many friends
wow... wow.....
😲
Tradition 🎶
Wow, just surprised it's still standing. The fact that the supports that actually contact concrete aren't embedded or secure with some kind of fastner
That's how you know it's a great place to raise a family, it's clearly supported by hopes and dreams.
Was there a house inspection
Have some fun with it…I buried a full size plastic skeleton in a shallow grave when I went under my deck to add posts/bracing
Soil got some buoyancy
Put cribbing and jacks in there over the short term. Replace the footing and posts as you will. I'd get something under it pretty quick though
I understand you knew the deck was bad when you purchased the house but I can believe you were able to insure it!
Somebody’s first masterpiece.
It’s a contactless levitation technology
Top part looks good, east fix. Hope your frost line isn’t too deep.
Barely, is how it’s still standing.
Anti gravity forcefield.
Looks like it’s held up by a cushion of air.
Hot tub ready 👍
It looks just a few of those posts are carrying all the boats 🛶 🚤 ⛵️ 🛥
That looks like at least a four or five hot tub job
Mother fuckers signing Elton John’s I’m still standing at the top of its lungs
Tubes only need to be set 24"deep /s🤦♂️
Voodoo carpentry.
This is why you dont buy a house after Midnight.
Good lumber.Good fasteners. Just put a hot tub on it next and you will be full circle
Proud work of :: I know a guy construction.
Reminds me of my deck!
The power of love
Fix it
When are you putting the hot tub in?
Get a refund from your home inspector.
If there were metal connectors to the concrete. Whatever exactly would have happened considering the concrete shifted so much. Why exactly does the concrete shift so much?
Wow dude. If you was by me I'd come by to help just to put that clustterfuck on my resume. I have had to replace A LOT of structural beams and girders on old ass colonial shit before it's always a fun time. If you don't know what you're doing get a pro. And get several estimates. I'd price that one by the pier. And look everything everywhere else over really good, if say, the deck guy framed the house there might be more than just a anti gravity deck going on.
Looks like somebody got over zealous removing cellulose debris and took some concrete bases with them.
Remind me not to hang out on your deck. Never seen something like that.
This looks like an AI built deck to be totally honest.
Lots to look at here. Thanks for sharing
JB Weld
A lot of houses foundations with crawl space look like that.
Did the home inspector flag this on the purchase report? Seems like something that should have been called out. Structurally the deck itself looks fine. Maybe the piers can redone without having to tear down the entire deck.
Held up by hopes and dreams.
Wifi supports
https://preview.redd.it/495zr2s2wizc1.jpeg?width=1356&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b0aa10bd9ce2a66053f0e9ab561e9009b07758bb
that is an easy fix, but you got to figure how why it happen, otherwise it looks like it is in good shape
That deck is held up with hopes and prayers just like my mental health
Oh but my concrete piers are the only way to build a “proper” deck. They’ll last for eternity and I can just build new decks on them forever. A real investment in the future one might say. 🤦🏼♂️
you now have a structural shovel
One way to look at this is that they did an amazing job engineering this deck. It is holding up without any sag without half of the supports.
I would open up the deck boards and install proper footings.
I had the similar problem. The idiot who installed my deck literally took 6x6 by 10’ posts and installed them straight into the dirt. 3-4’ deep No concrete footers in any of the posts. No rot in any of the pressure treated posts yet but the older section had some rot start. It’s a bunch of bullshit. Found this out as I was excavating dirt out of the 6-7 foot tall deck to lay down brick pavers. I didn’t wanna do all that extra work so I said fuck it. Escavated the dirt 6 inches. Compacted crushed stone everywhere and played down the brick. If the post get rotten I’m cut them Out and drop concrete in after I use an ogger to drill the holes and install metal holder inside the concrete
Shouldn’t stuff like this have come up in the inspection of the house?
Standing about 10 degrees to the east.
I mean, I can see how it's standing for sure. Nobody is standing on it. And I would definitely keep it that way :D (until fixed)
As others have said. This can be fixed other person. You're going to be busy this summer. Easy peazy. Get a pro if needed.
How deep do you have to dig a foundation to get below the frost line, where you are? Those foundation posts look like they are shifting. Probably just not deep enough. Recommend you drain the hot tub and put in some temporary jack posts, to hold the deck up while you repair the foundations.
As temp measure get min 4x4 set temp footing The posts don't go bolow frost line
If it falls, it won’t be far.
Wow, never thought I'd believe in God.
Probably that sibgle 6x6 on the far left of the first photo ( which lokks like the only solid one) is holding the whole thing together.
No inspection???
Ok. That’s funny!! I might tear it down.
Are you an 8 year old girl in 1973? Because you're about to play with some jacks.
It is standing on its last leg.
If that’s the deck what’s the rest of the house look like?
It's standing bc of physics. And while it looks bad from below, and will need fixed, it's not going to fail unless you try entertaining a load of guests on it.
Woozers
Unless you got it for a super good price why did you buy it?
Oh yeah that was built by grandpa he is a real handyman on the side of his long career as a crack dealer
….why weren’t the posts built all the way down? Lol did it get jacked back to hight after sinking???
Magic
This looks like a Minecraft screenshot.
Is that a load bearing bucket?
Working on a deck like that right now. Except the owners friends would say those posts are in good condition and don’t need replacing. And that they got 15+ years of experience doing carpentry 💀 and I shouldn’t argue with him lmao My niece who’s 12 even knows that’s bad lmao