On Dec 3, 9:06�am, ransley wrote:
On Dec 3, 7:54 am, RicodJour wrote:





On Dec 3, 8:20 am, DerbyDad03 wrote:

I was reading a Q&A on buildng a tall deck which contained the
following exchange.

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Q: My house has brick veneer over insulated stud walls. �I am going to
build a raised deck off the second floor bedroom. �It will be suported
by four posts, �Should I attach the deck floor to the house wall?

A: It is probably better if you do not attach it securely to the house
wall. �With tall wooden posts, the deck suface may move up and down
more than the house wall throughout the seasons.

To provide a more stable feel to the tall deck, screw steel angles to
the house wall. �Screw another set of angles to the deck several
inches below the other ones. �Connect them with long bolts to allow
some vertical movement.

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Can I assume that the bolts are to be left loose to allow for vertical
movement? How loose? �Regarding the "stable feel" the author mentions
- �would that be present because the loose bolts would supposedly
limit the horizontal movement somewhat?

Is this a common construction method for tall decks?

No, and the reasoning isn't logical. �Wood moves seasonally due to
changes in moisture content, in width and depth, not length. �The
other factor is wood's coefficient of thermal expansion - which is
totally negligible in the normal range of climactic conditions.

There's far greater risk of movement due to insufficient footing depth
and consequent frost heaving - and that can happen, in the same
amount, regardless of the post length.

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�Building a deck like that without permits, plans and and inspection
you risk having to remove it later. The city and inspectors are there
to help, Ive just been through a porch redo where initialy we were
told to remove and replace it at 60,000, we cleared the violations
finaly for 3000.00 .- Hide quoted text -

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or worse a deck collapse, with a high one people can die