wrote in message
ups.com...
I plan on building a 2nd story deck that is supported by brick columns.
I would like to support the free end of the deck with 3 square brick
columns that extend through the deck floor to provide attachments for
railing. The height of the deck floor from the ground will be 11 feet.
I have a few questions:
1. How large should the columns be?
2. Should there be an additional support structure inside of the
columns? (concrete blocks, poured concrete, wood column, etc)
3. How would the deck be attached to the columns?
4. How would the deck be attached to the house? I can use posts that
are placed next to the house but since the house is under construction
and has not been bricked yet, I was hoping there was a way to attached
something to the structure before the brick is layed that will support
the deck.

Brick columns that could support your deck would be quite large. Most of the
skinny and elegent brick coumns you see in modern construction are merely a
brick veneer on the actual support structure. Burying wood in masonry is
usually a bad idea- talk to your builder, this shouldn't be a real big deal
for him to add to the plans- concrete footers (with brick ledges) for a
bolted and welded steel post and I-beam setup to hold the deck. (You paint
it with a rust-proof paint before the brick goes on.) How it attaches to the
house will depend on how it is structured, local soil conditions, etc.
Generally, the deck structure will tie to a ledger board or well-supported
'pockets' in the house framework, but if the deck is big enough, you may
want it to be free-standing with a flexible cosmetic connection. If a bad
frost or high wind heaves the deck a little, you don't want it to break the
house, or pop bricks loose at the seam. From your description, the deck
sounds like it will be a fancy attached carport, even if you don't actually
pave under it. Don't forget to make provisions for drainage of the upper
deck surface, especially at the seam with the house. Usually a good idea to
hold the deck a couple inches below the threshold level of the doors into
the upper floor. Hope you have a good contractor- doing this right is
outside the skill set of most mass builders.

aem sends....