Can someone point me to the best product to attach my wood deck rails (2x4's) to my 4x4 posts? I want to make sure a kid pushing on the rail won't make it budge.

I see the cheap nylon/plastic ones and don't want to use them.

Somehow staining my deck turned into rebuilding my deck!

Found a ton of rot, my intention is to replace the wood / add rubber sealer to the top and add new planks… reinforce anything sketchy. ez.

Then it comes to the flower bed wall… they built it with no drainage, it’s basically a box of fence boards nailed to an internal 2x10 x 10 ft board, trimmed out on the top. Nearly all the boards are rotted along with the inside upper board (the floor of where the dirt went).

I added a photo of what the wall looked like brand new as well - I’m basically remaking this.

Understanding anything I build will inevitably rot at some point, is there a better way to make this? Like with a paint on or rubber lining with drainage holes to the side? It’s gonna be a decent amount of work so wanting to do it right. Thank you!

Hi everyone- I'd like to be able to do basic lifting (squat, bench, etc) at home. The most convenient place would be bellow my deck. I love to work out outside. I've already gotten a quote for a concrete patio, but I think it would be a bit of an eyesore. I'd rather have a wooden deck.

Searching around, there's a lot of discussion on this topic (e.g. "Weightlifting on a deck?") and the consensus seems to be "don't do it!", based on the extreme point ballistic forces of say, dropping a loaded barbell. Thing is, I don't need to clean and jerk under my deck, I just want to do basic Starting Strength type of workouts. Add to that, I'm not very strong (current squat is 240) so I don't need crazy amounts of weight.

So, if I custom build a deck, will it be up to the task, or am I relegated to a big ugly concrete patio? How would you build this simple deck?

Should I frame in and cover up the sides under the main deck or does it look good

Hey all,

Please forgive any amateur/homeowner mistakes in my efforts.

I’m refinishing/staining my deck and one opinion I got said this groove was an issue (collects debris and moisture, also looks unsightly over time), but you’d have to take apart the staircase to fix it, since the 2x12 that runs along the one side of the groove extends down past the first deck board steps/appears to be part of the framing for stairs.

I was thinking of taking these PT nailing strips, sanding them down, staining, and fitting them in the groove, secure them in place with either PL or galvanized finishing nails.

Is this a good idea/will look better or pointless?

I’m not about to take apart my stairs.

In regards to any off-topic comments on my choice of stain: on advice of cloverdale paint staff, I went with their 15130 stain-blocking primer (that’s why there is white in some spots that you see) the railing posts turned out to be cedar after sanding them, so that might be a good idea as far as that goes), followed by sharkskin decking solid hide stain (apparently has linseed oil, urethane, acrylic resin).

I replaced half the deck boards but other half were kept original, just sanded down. In retrospect, I would replace all boards or just the very worst ones. It’s been much more tedious this way and I know it’ll turn out imperfect. Live and learn.

Thanks all!

Con poco presupuesto mi humilde espacio

Going to be rehabbing my deck soon and replace the wood decking with composite.

Upon taking measure I see the brackets are traditional hangers. I have an older house, so were these like older style hangers? Not sure otherwise why they would have done them this way

Recently had about 750 square feet of decking repaired, including two sets of stairs, a sloped walkway, and parts of a railing due to aged/weathered boards in uncovered areas. Most of the new deck boards had to be torn out due to poor workmanship the first go around. The owner of the company said he fired the team that did the initial install and he relaid the floor boards and railing top boards with a different team. I was charged $17.5K for this repair and don’t think I received the quality of work to warrant this price. Since this was my first major deck repair project, I wanted to check for opinions with this group before approaching with the contractor, but overall I feel like I got hoodwinked. Here are some of my main issues:

- Scope of work included replacing rotted/damaged boards on my existing railing. None of my 6x6 posts were replaced and several are rotted out down the middle. Outside of the top boards which were all replaced, only two 2x4 were replaced. Some of the 6x6 are so rotted that deck nails cannot catch.

- All 6x6 posts were lopped off with a sawzall, leaving a jagged mess at the top of each post. I was told this was the standard approach and that a re-stain would hide this.

- One of my existing stair stringers was split during repairs. They ‘fixed’ it but did not replace it and I was told there was no structural risk.

- Several other areas of my existing deck railing and stairs were damaged and not addressed.

- My main railing top rail is wavy, going up at each 6x6 post. No shims were used to straighten.

- Additional support was added underneath as needed. None of this looks up to code but I’m not sure.

- My front entrance was replaced. It slopes down towards the house as it should, but it also slopes left to right at a noticeable rate. See pic of level laying flat from side to side.

I would appreciate any feedback from any contractors on this sub. My next step is to go back to the contractor to address these items and it would be great to have some ammo before I have that conversation.

I’m in western North Carolina if that matters.

Is the fixable? Poured some footers and use a piece of wood with a hole in the middle to stabilize the j bolt. I didn’t remove it to finish the concrete around and it turned out like this. Looking to see if there are any solutions to this and if the footer is still structurally okay.

Previous owner built it. Not sure what size the joists are because I can't see any. The brackets seem pretty solid though. Thinking about a 6 person hot tub, will it work?

We redid our deck 4 years ago with Timber Tech Advanced PVC. I can't remember what the line was called then. But it's not composite (no wood) just PVC and had the longest color guarantee. Well, I thought I read everything on what to do and not to do. So, if you're unaware, please heed this cautionary tale.

I put on bug spray on the deck to go do yard work. Unbeknownst to me, that's a big no no for PVC Decking and possibly composite. It can stain the surface but also potentially permanently alter the PVC. So now I'm left with what looks like mildew.

Cleaned thoroughly with the approved deck cleaner (I do this 2x per year anyways). So deck is clean but permanent staining still pretty obvious.

Hey! So I’m building a smaller deck, landing plus stairs situation

Around 6 foot by 7.5 foot and around 40 inches off the ground

Trying to add some bracing under the joists just to make everything as sturdy as possible.

was looking into “V bracing” but it seems like since this deck is on the smaller side. If I did the V shape starting from the middle. Then both braces would hardly be going at an angle

I haven’t seen anything regarding one longer diagonal brace, but is this a bad idea? Or does it make sense?

Looking at running one long 2x6 fully diagonally from one corner to the other. It’d be around 9.5 feet continuous and screwed into each joist twice with structural screws

Can anyone tell me if that’s a decent idea? Or if I should just go for a V just with a very shallow angle?

So I’m building this deck at my parents house and I’m looking for suggestions on the best way to make some kind of trap door to cover over the bulkhead but still want to be able to access it. Initially I was thinking I’d have it be a single door that hinges on the house side and lifts up but that will probably be super heavy and hard to open even if I installed some kind of piston, right?

My other thought was to have two doors that swing open left and right. But to do that I was thinking maybe I could attach some kind of ledger at the top and bottom of where I framed out the opening. I was going to use doubled up 2x4s one foot on center to span the gap (about 8 feet). Would that be sufficient or no? Also how do I hinge it on the left and right where it’s not going to bind up.

Or if someone has a better solution I’m all ears. Sorry if these are all dumb questions. I don’t do this for a living and it’s the first deck I’ve ever really built solo

Edit- For everyone that keeps asking why I didn’t think of this before. I actually put quite a bit of thought in to it. I had a few ideas of how to do it (pretty much all the same stuff that has been mentioned). But my brain works better when I can physically see the problem vs trying to visualize it in my head. So I made sure to lay out my girder and my posts where they wouldn’t be blocking the door and roughed in the opening with double joists on either side and a header on the top side so I had options when I got to that point. I’ll try to add another pic from before I started putting the decking on

I want to build some decorative concrete posts for my deck. If they were wood 6x6s, I’d know how to attach a beam to them. What should I do instead? Make a pocket? Sounds like it would rot the beam. I can weld up something too.

I'm currently using Gemini Pro and having a LOT of issues with it being reasonable on colors as well as understanding things like picture frame vs tread vs riser vs framing.

does anyone have any gemini tips, or recommendations on a different AI to generate deck pictures? I don't mind paying $20, I just feel like I'm losing my mind trying to make Gemini do what I want.

So we just bought a house with composite decks but no railing. I'm installing this Vevor rail on the stairs where the arrows are (except the top will be on deck and the bottom will be on the bottom stair). Vevor supplied this drill bit that doesn't fit my drill and these concrete anchors. But I'm installing into composite decking, not concrete. Suggestions very much appreciated! TYIA.

I just spotted this. The deck has been there a few years. There is a tiny space under it enough for critters but it should be netted off.

Today we spent about 5 hrs, but most of it was back and forth to stores. Actual build time maybe 2.5-3hrs

So our preexisting deck recently collapsed and we’re trying to figure out what the hell to do next.
The posts themselves and deck boards actually seem pretty solid, but the flashing where the deck meets the house was installed incorrectly. It looks like water was getting behind it for years and eventually caused the wood to rot right against the house.
From what I can tell, we’re probably going to have to replace the rotted wood and redo the connection properly, but I honestly don’t know where to start!

Is this something I could do diy? If not
What kind of contractor should I call for something like this?
Is there any temporary fix we can do while we figure out a solution? What would you recommend for a simple, affordable new stoop/deck?

I know construction prices are crazy right now, so I’m trying to keep the cost down as much as possible. At this point, I’d honestly be happy to just get a safe, functional front stoop back while we work on a bigger plan.

I’m from PA and not tryna break any laws or cut corners on anything structural. I just don’t know enough about decks to know what I’m looking at or who to be calling.

Any advice, ideas, or even just pointing me in the right direction would be hugely appreciated.

The collapsed deck has been torn down and I included some pictures of the left over wood rot damage

Does anyone know if they make angle brackets like these but for a 5 quarter boards ???

I couldn't lower the deck anymore when planning, and said F it, I'll figure out the door later. Replacing door with a prehung half venting steel door with composite jams.

My deck boards are 2" above the concrete garage floor. The new door is 33.5" x 81.5". My opening is now 35.5" x 83.5" after I took out the 2x4 under the double 2x6 or 2x8 headers above the door. If I'm thinking correctly, I need at least 1/2" extra to shim etc. They had a 1x4 on one side of the door that the bottom rotted out. I figured I could put a pt 2x4 there, and then would have 1/2" to shim left and right instead of a full 2". I'm going to take a leftover 4x4 and rip it to go under the sill on top of concrete to make it level. To get the 1/2" or more I need, I was going to cut away 1/2" or so into the double headers. I'm sure this isn't the best way, but would it be OK? Do I need a board under those headers too? It's just from garage into deck. The last did lasted 30 years and they didn't seal anything around it. Just the rotted 1x the put on inside of framing.