Deck Construction Questions

[Holden]

First: Pressure treated, cedar or redwood. Not so much concerned about appearance as I am about durability. Can a pressure treated pine deck last as long as the others with proper maintenance i.e. lots o' stain?

Second: Lots of rock in my yard has me considering other options besides the 42" concrete filled post hole. One is steel pipe buried in concrete (still have to dig a deep hole, but not as wide), or a shallow pad with a concrete footer on top. Any negatives to these alternative approaches? Other options/suggestions?

 

[NCAAFBALLROX]

Hayden Horn is the authoity on decks. You should hold out to see what kind of thoughts he has.

He has months & months of experience (& Lonestar empties) from working on his own 10x10 backyard deck to use for credentials.

 

[brntorng]

Use treated for the hidden posts and joists. Use redwood for the decking if the price doesn't scare you away and cedar if it does. Use one of the hidden decking attachment systems to avoid penetrating the top of your decking with nails or screws. Your decking will last considerably longer as a result.

 

[Scooter]

Why so deep? Where are you building? I'm 500 miles north of Austin and "only" need to go 18" for my posts to avoid temperature-related movement/heaving.

 

[William Cannon]

Use pressure treated pine for joists and posts. Then use either redwood or composite for the decking. Also you don't need to go down 42" - that's deeeeep.

 

[GHoward]

Have you looked into that stuff that is a plastic composite or something? And I think the concrete footers should be fine.

 

[TexasEd]

Don't use Trex. Search on it and you will find countless complaints.

 

[NCAAFBALLROX]

What Ed said... I had a friend use it for a deck & even though the joist spacing was to their suggested specs, it ended up with dips in the straight runs.

He also had a 3 tread step put in & this also dipped inbetween as well, so I'm not totally sold on Trex even though I'd like to believe in the idea behind this stuff..

 

[Ave. H Horn]

If you are certain about your ground not moving/ shifting, you could also consider deck block- about ground piers, if you have very rocky soil that will not move & attach to the house foundation.
If cost is not a factor use the redwood for exposed & treated for the hidden work- as other have suggested.
And if you must dig post holes, you should only need to go about 18"- 24", It's just a deck after all.