Timeline for Best way to place a deck post on a non-level pier
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
12 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Oct 3, 2023 at 12:44 | comment | added | Ryan Taylor | I understood the drawings remark as useful if we were to level of the footings with galvanized sheet metal. We did not have drawings for placing the sonotubes. We followed the guidance in this answer diy.stackexchange.com/a/278693/3618. It worked well for many holes but we apparently knocked a few a little off level as we were pouring the cement in. Ultimately, we were just moving too fast for my experience level. I will be slowing down for the remainder of the construction. | |
| Oct 1, 2023 at 17:25 | comment | added | FreeMan | You are the one who brought up drawings in your prior comment which seemed (to me) to imply that if he had drawings that would have solved the problem. Maybe I misinterpreted. Not sure how drawings would have had anything to do with the problem of the top of the poured concrete not coming out level. | |
| Oct 1, 2023 at 17:07 | comment | added | popham | @FreeMan, you should read the full context if you're going to offer gems like this. I don't believe that the OP has drawings. | |
| Oct 1, 2023 at 13:49 | comment | added | FreeMan | @popham I don't think the quality of the OPs drawings have much to do with his inexperience in finishing concrete and the fact that his post tops aren't perfectly flat... | |
| Oct 1, 2023 at 1:38 | comment | added | popham | Ryan Taylor, I'll always make a CAD drawing of work like that. It reduces my error rate greatly. There's a free program called LibreCAD that is a halfway decent clone of AutoCAD LT, if you're interested. I'm on Linux, but I'm pretty sure that they distribute a Windows version too. And technically you could tear off those post spacers if they were bedded in mortar at the wrong location. In construction the only "unrecoverable" errors are causes of death. | |
| Oct 1, 2023 at 1:36 | comment | added | popham | Ryan Taylor, if you level your foundations by bedding a piece of galvanized sheet metal, say, instead of the post base, then you can move those bases years after the deck is complete. If the base is out of level, however, then moving horizontally may also imply downhill and shift elevations on you. You can fix that change in elevation by wedging the base up and filling below the spacer with hydraulic cement, but all of this complexity seems crazy. | |
| Oct 1, 2023 at 1:24 | comment | added | Ryan Taylor | In terms of when... I was thinking I'd do so after the initial posts and beams were constructed, since the beam would be pretty straight. I thought that might help find the best alignments for the bases, then I would tighten them in place. Is that the last responsible moment? I am concerned about making an unrecoverable error. | |
| Sep 30, 2023 at 23:01 | comment | added | popham | @Ryan Taylor, when do you intend on finalizing your post base positions? After the deck is sitting on them? I imagine that most people would buy adjustable to accommodate some variation in J bolt positioning, but the J bolts are set in concrete now. I think you should run out a string line and prescribe the final positions now. | |
| Sep 30, 2023 at 22:51 | history | edited | popham | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Sep 30, 2023 at 22:35 | history | edited | popham | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Sep 30, 2023 at 22:35 | comment | added | Ryan Taylor | Embedding the post base in the mortar might defeat the purpose of the adjustable post base. I got adjustable ones as the bolts, while largely in a start line, aren't quite perfect, and I needed the additional leeway. | |
| Sep 30, 2023 at 22:19 | history | answered | popham | CC BY-SA 4.0 |