On Sun, 19 Dec 2004 07:11:32 GMT, Bill
wrote:
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
I have contruction background and I can't tell from your description
how serious it is. As one poster said, since you don't know the word
"post" or "column" from vertical beam makes me a bit suspect about
your descriptions and concerns. None the less for your piece of mind,
I'd get at least two posts 4x4 inch and wedge them as columns under
the beams near the corners for now and then I'd get someone with some
construction knowledge (friend, relative, carpenter or structural
engineer) to look at it and advise you what is needed for the real
fix.
Don't bother with pictures here as this isn't a binary newsgroup and
no matter how many pics you take, there is always another needed or
missing to assess correctly (at least in my experience).
And I think it's common sense but I'll mention it here anyways, don't
walk, go near it or store something of value near it in case of a
collapse.
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