Shifting deck

[stinky]

I was outside yesterday, and the daughter says, dad, did you know about this? OMG...3 joists have pulled out of their brackets.

The sill plate has 2 boards, and the bottom board, on the wall, is not flush w/the top and it doesn't come all the way to the bottom of the board that bolts to the wall The board, that bolts to the sill plate has shifted, the bottom has tilted in, and away from joists...causing them to pull out of the brackets.

In the last pic, you can see that it doesn't have enough "spacing" support, against the wall...which allowed the board to twist inward.

 

[Homer]

time to start over....

 

[stinky]

Additionally, one end of the deck has shifted.

The other side has bowed out, you can't really see it in the pic. But, the middle, where the middle verticle post is at, has pulled to the right.

I think that the brackets are part of the problem as they are set-up so the screws will toe-nail to the wall, at 45, not at a 90, perpendicular to the joist.

I am going to go look for dif brackets tomorrow. If I can't find them, I am going to get them made.

How should I go about fixing this? Should I try winching the wall-plate back in to shape? Or should I install the joists to fit the mis-shapen deck?

 

[elkassassin]

Something is Out of PLUMB or SQUARE!

Or Somebody Cut them Short And they Finished Drying!

Or something is Giving!

STUCCO Ain't gonna Fix that!

 

[elkassassin]

Them Up-Rights look to be Nailed to the Rim Joist rather than the Deck Sitting on the Up-Rights?

 

[elkassassin]

How Not to Build!

 

[elkassassin]

Them Up-Rights Shoulda Had a Beam on top of them & Then Your Joists Sitting on the Beam!

 

[elkassassin]

The New Carona Distancing Might be a Good Thing around that Deck!

 

[DW]

I got $100 bill says there's no metal flashing on the ledger board tucked under the stucco. Water got behind the ledger board and rusted the nails and bolts holding the ledger to the house. Be damn careful, the next thing that happens is it falls off the house! As homer said, you're gonna need to take it apart, damn carefully! Replace the ledgerboard useing stainless bolts, carriage bolts if the basement isn't finished and you can get a nut and washer on the backside. And put the flashing on it to prevent it from happening again. Those are the type a jobs that turned my hair gray!

 

[Longun]

good ole non'kilned green lumber..

 

[Bluehair]

Yup, time to take it apart and start over. When that rim board comes loose and all those joists zipper, she's coming down.

In the pic below, a bunch of those fancy GRK 60 ksi lags sheared off. They may be tough, but they dont bend and they don't like ice. Go with big old galvanized lags, and when you put it back together suck everything up tight.

I took all my snow load off the fastners, and now everything is supported

and pulled together with clips. You can get deeper joist hangers with more nails also.

This stuff gets easier when you get older. It doesn't have to last forever anymore, just needs to out last you.

 

[elkassassin]

Once again!

The Up-Rights are not Supporting the Load!

Should be a Beam siting on the Up-Rights And the Joists sitting on the Beam!

What's Sad/Bad you have Damn near everything but 1 Beam needed to have made it Strong enough bluehair!

 

[hawkbill]

I’ve always used teko nails for joist hangers, are those screws holding the brackets made for joist hangers, or are those cheap Chinese screws. There has got to be an obvious reason for why that rim joist is canted in. I see more of the same screws sunk in the wood siding.

 

[Bluehair]

As I said, I was attached plenty well with high dollar anchors. It was a minor design issue, corrected with some welding and a couple of stimulus checks. It's ok to hang the joists off the rim board, just pay attention to how you attach it.

My problem is that I'm not up there to keep the snow and ice off, so stuff is very prone to rot. Eventually everything will be steel. Heres my first look last week. That snow is waist high and metamorphizing into ice. There are a couple of tons that sits there all winter.

 

[DW]

The reason the rim board is canted away from the building is the anchors used to attach it to the house have rusted and failed. The trouble with the chemicals used to pressure treat lumber these days (ACQ) eat everything. It changed a few years ago because, you guessed it, California proclaimed the old process could give kids cancer from using it on playground equipment. What I've been using, and the joist screws mentioned above are pictured below. And yes they are manufactured in the USA, using "global materials". Whatever that means. Again, if it was mine, I would use stainless steel carriage bolts to attatch the ledger to the house. Even the latest and greatest double dipped electrogalvanized bolts aren't as good as stainless. I would still remove one in 10yrs and inspect it for rust just for peice of mind. Galvanized is great, but it doesn't last forever against ACQ. I've got galvanized stock tanks and they fail after 10yrs or so. And to reiterate, be damn careful taken that apart. When she goes, shes goin quick! This is part of what I've done for a living for the past 30yrs. Good luck! And don't forget the flashing!

And elkassassin is right. When you rebuild it, get posts under that double rimboard. No bolt will equal that.

 

[WapitiBob]

The concrete pad the uprights are sitting on has heaved up, rotating the joists away from the house. Cobbled up for sure and as said, it won't take much more and that deck will pop loose from the house.
Tear it off and do it right.

 

[hawkbill]

There is a lot of good intelligent information on this forum

 

[eelgrass]

Lumber doesn't shrink length wise so something else has happened. There was a major design flaw somewhere or something failed. Look at the bright side, you have firewood for next winter.

 

[elkassassin]

"""And elkassassin is right."""

That Must be an MM 1st!

I Sent You a PM DW!

 

[stinky]

Not sure what sort of screws were used...they look like dry-wall screws, but bigger, w/a Torx head on them.

I don't remember how old the deck is, maybe 10 years. It was square and plumb when built, as near as my eye could tell...You can tell it ain't square now.

The joists are 2x10 treated boards, w/a 10' span, on 24" centers, is that close enough?

 

[stinky]

The Trex, deck boards...If you take em outa the middle, you have to hammer them out.