Advice on cutting into a deck......

[mowkep]

My mom's house has some serious foundation issues. 3 walls are buckling. 2 have to be rebuilt completely. The third which is the back of the house will be stabilized with 8 steel beams. The issue with the back wall is: 1)there is a large deck attached (offhand guessing 12x12) 2)there is a large cistern underneath the deck. The foundation guys need the deck removed 3 feet from the house to hand dig between the foundation and the cistern to do repairs. Not sure how to approach this. I'm sure once the wall is straightened, the height of where the deck attaches to the house may change. I wasn't around when the deck was built and my dad who was, passed away in May. I have pictures but they don't really show the extent of the damage on the outside wall. Where do I start?

 

[LXCam]

“Where do I start”

Well some pictures would a long way. And not detail shots. Straight on from the backside and also side shots as well as what’s behind the deck in the yard?

Depending on how’s it’s constructed and what’s in it way, maybe there a chance to cut the ledger loose and slide it backwards away from the way.

Hell who knows without some more detail.

 

[mowkep]

Sorry, we were looking to see how far away the cistern was from the house last night and couldn't see much of anything. I'll have to start with prying boards from the top and check construction from there. Unless I crawl underneath the deck....which I can't, a picture from above is useless.

 

[Shiftless]

Sounds like you need to disassemble the deck. 12x12 isn’t a really big deck. How old is that deck anyway? What kind of wood was the framing and deck material made from? How is the condition of the surface of the deck boards? You might find that there is rot or improper framing and decide that the deck needed to be rebuilt anyway.
Sorry your mom’s house has fallen into such a state. You’re a good son to be handling this for her. I live next to a 96 y.o. woman who lives alone with one cat. Her 2 sons do almost nothing to maintain the almost 80 year old house.

 

[PCustoms]

If the foundation guys are qualified to dona structural repair on 3/4 of the houses foundation, can you just have them take care of a simple 12x12 deck?

 

[firebirdparts]

I think the deck is expendable. Just bust up whatever is in the way. If it was assembled with PT nail, ring shank, it’ll be fastest to take a chain saw to it. Those nails cannot be pulled. But maybe that will not turn out to be what he used.

if regular nails, it’s fastest I think to bump deck boards from below with a piece of a 4 x 4 but it sounds like this deck is right on the ground, so you will be prying witha crow bar. That is slow.

 

[mowkep]

Sounds like you need to disassemble the deck. 12x12 isn’t a really big deck. How old is that deck anyway? What kind of wood was the framing and deck material made from? How is the condition of the surface of the deck boards? You might find that there is rot or improper framing and decide that the deck needed to be rebuilt anyway.
Sorry your mom’s house has fallen into such a state. You’re a good son to be handling this for her. I live next to a 96 y.o. woman who lives alone with one cat. Her 2 sons do almost nothing to maintain the almost 80 year old house.

It's probably more like 20x16, now that I think about it. Deck age is probably at least 10 years if not more. They had trouble keeping stain on the deck (south facing) sooooo they did the unthinkable and put outdoor carpeting on top of it. I know a couple of boards are rotted because of this.

 

[mowkep]

If the foundation guys are qualified to dona structural repair on 3/4 of the houses foundation, can you just have them take care of a simple 12x12 deck?

They asked us to cut it back 3 feet so they had access to hand dig.

 

[mowkep]

I think the deck is expendable. Just bust up whatever is in the way. If it was assembled with PT nail, ring shank, it’ll be fastest to take a chain saw to it. Those nails cannot be pulled. But maybe that will not turn out to be what he used.

if regular nails, it’s fastest I think to bump deck boards from below with a piece of a 4 x 4 but it sounds like this deck is right on the ground, so you will be prying witha crow bar. That is slow.

I'll have to pry up the rotted board first and see what lies beneath. Once I do that, I can post pictures for further advice.

 

[tarmy]

Based upon what you describe…get that deck out of there, and let the work be done. then build a new deck correctly and use PT lumber and Trex or something to avoid much maintenance.

 

[rburke65]

Sounds to me as if the deck has to go and mom will be better for it in the.one run. Rebuild it later.

 

[tyyost]

I think if the deck is in the way I would work on deconstructing the sections nearest the house.

Pull the decking (and carpet) on the first 5-6 feet from the house. Then you should be able to determine if the contractor will be able to work around the existing framing. You will likely need to remove the ledger from the house and if cutting back the deck is the next course of action you have two choices. 1. Demo the entire deck, salvage any materials that may assist the rebuilding in the future or 2. Devise a way to remove with as little damage a possible the existing deck framing by the house.

Option two could include adding support posts by the house, and removing decking and framing where needed. I would not suggest just cutting a few feet off. Have a plan to rebuild you can execute before you break a saw out. If you don’t, you will automatically default to option 1.

 

[Uncle murph]

My mom's house has some serious foundation issues. 3 walls are buckling. 2 have to be rebuilt completely. The third which is the back of the house will be stabilized with 8 steel beams. The issue with the back wall is: 1)there is a large deck attached (offhand guessing 12x12) 2)there is a large cistern underneath the deck. The foundation guys need the deck removed 3 feet from the house to hand dig between the foundation and the cistern to do repairs. Not sure how to approach this. I'm sure once the wall is straightened, the height of where the deck attaches to the house may change. I wasn't around when the deck was built and my dad who was, passed away in May. I have pictures but they don't really show the extent of the damage on the outside wall. Where do I start?

If the house is actually falling down, forget about the deck,it’s way more trouble than it’s worth to save it.Fix the house,replace the deck later.

 

[PassnThru]

They asked us to cut it back 3 feet so they had access to hand dig.

Ask them if it would be cheaper if it was gone so they didn't have to hand dig around it - it probably will be. You are paying more for them to hand dig and it doesn't really sound like it's a great deck - based on the comment about the outdoor carpeting - that's just wrong on so many levels.
Odds are the deck should be replaced anyway and it doesn't make sense to delay it in this way.

 

[tarmy]

Ask them if it would be cheaper if it was gone so they didn't have to hand dig around it - it probably will be. You are paying more for them to hand dig and it doesn't really sound like it's a great deck - based on the comment about the outdoor carpeting - that's just wrong on so many levels.
Odds are the deck should be replaced anyway and it doesn't make sense to delay it in this way.

have them use their backhoe to rip it out of the way…then you are being efficient….

 

[mowkep]

They have to "hand" dig because there is a cistern underneath the deck. It's either 2 or 3 feet off of the back of the house. I believe 25,000 gallon.