On 12/19/2004 2:11 AM US(ET), Bill took fingers to keys, and typed the
following:

Hi all,

My second floor deck has taken a turn for the worse. Living in MA all
the contractors seem to be taking the winter off and I think I will be
needing to secure this deck myself. With that said here are the
particulars.

It is a second floor porch approximately 10' length x 5' depth. The
front of the structure is supported by 2 vertical beams measuring
approximately 4" x 4". The front top of these 2 beams are cut out to
insert the following horizontal. 3 boards (each about 1" x 12" x the
length of the porch) nailed together and standing on the edge. These
3 are secured to the vertical beams by nails in the back of the
cutout.

The issues are 1)The horizontal boards are leaning forward in the
cutout at one end. 2) The vertical beams are beginning to crack.

Somehow I need to get additional support and / or repair this. Will
some one please rough out for me the steps I need to take so that I
can do this. Is there any equipment that I can rent to make this
easier? I know that I am over my head with this but really believe
that I will be looking at a collapse if I don't get it taken care of.

Thanks in advance,
Bill


The cracks in the posts may just be surface cracks and they are common
and do not pose a problem.
As for the gaps between the posts and beams, I would use lag bolts (with
washers and nuts rather than lag screws) to secure the beams to the
notched posts