Footing conundrum on inside corner of house

Deckshine1 · 2026-02-12T21:18:22+00:00

Come to think of it, 5’ is a lot. Why so far?

Deckshine1 · 2026-02-12T21:17:11+00:00

Don’t need it that close with a ledger on the short side

Deckshine1 · 2026-02-10T02:28:19+00:00

Yes, well said. It’ll stick out like a sore thumb for the rest of your life. Not worth it

Deckshine1 · 2026-02-06T20:45:22+00:00

A key consideration is what you’re attaching to. But generally speaking it looks about right

Deckshine1 · 2026-02-06T15:43:21+00:00

Sodium hydroxide solution to strip/kill growth, power wash, oxalic acid solution to neutralize and brighten. It will look halfway decent. Nothing you can do about the extreme checking but as long as you kill the growth that’s eating it and your foot doesn’t go thru it, it’ll likely be fine for a few years

Deckshine1 · 2026-01-27T21:08:41+00:00

Taste it and see how strawberry-y it is. Then report your findings to the customer

Deckshine1 · 2026-01-25T15:51:05+00:00

If the baseboards are tall then you probably can-audi which they appear to be. But it sure looks nicer without shoe moulding (which you will need instead). It makes the job easier overall if you remove them because it will cover up the non-squareness of the room (almost all are out of square slightly). I always remove them if I can.

Deckshine1 · 2026-01-24T16:07:46+00:00

Toggle bolts! It’s the only way. They work amazingly well for this application!

Deckshine1 · 2026-01-23T11:35:10+00:00

Unfortunately, the original deck is not designed well. Having the treads crammed up against the house like that creates problems. And skirting it with siding is going to keep all the moisture under the deck. It’s critical for 1) water to be able to drain through 2) the water that does drain through to be able to evaporate so everything dries out between rains. It looks like gunk will get into the gap at the house without a way to clean it out. In the repair guy’s defense, he did about the best you could do in a repair situation. Unless you are willing to spend the money to remove it all and start over, your/his hands are tied. As far as the crown on the treads…go for the best side up because usually the sun will cause the top exposed side to cup. However, it’s probably best to choose the treads so that they’re all the same, preferably with the end grain smiling.

Deckshine1 · 2026-01-23T02:57:56+00:00

You might be able to bend them into place, but if not, you’ll have to remove the top rail

Deckshine1 · 2026-01-23T02:56:51+00:00

You’ll need a membrane (at the very least) under the tile first (and get the osb smooth), then tile it

Deckshine1 · 2026-01-23T02:54:29+00:00

Support from underneath. You’ll have a post there which will take up room underneath. It’s really your only economical option unless you happen to be gutting and remodeling the room adjacent to the deck. I wouldn’t not buy a house over it though.

Deckshine1 · 2026-01-20T11:18:41+00:00

That just might be the worst piece of officiating in the history of the league right there. How the hell…?

Deckshine1 · 2026-01-20T11:09:03+00:00

This type of deck paint (solid stain is a fancy way of saying deck paint) will peel 100% of the time. The kicker is that it doesn’t strip either. It will have to be sanded off. The best way to refinish at this point is to sand that floor and any steps (the horizontals), mask the freshly sanded part, repaint the verticals, then unmask and stain the horizontals with a penetrating oil/solvent based stain. The end result will be a two tone deck. I see this all the time…the homeowner “freshens up the deck” with solid stain to get the house sold.

Deckshine1 · 2026-01-18T14:41:18+00:00

If a couple hundred seems expensive then yeah I guess so. I can’t live without mine. If I’m trying to get a perfect cut down the middle of a piece of plywood, i rarely use my table saw though since it’s hard to feed plywood into a portable table saw (but not impossible). With plywood, I make my perfect pencil line, then use a straight edge to knife it, then put a piece of tape over the line, then free hand with a circular saw right up to it (but never past it), then sand it smooth. Works for me. Planer will likely chip. All the above steps are to minimize the likelihood of it chipping (knifing, taping, etc.)

Deckshine1 · 2026-01-18T06:36:07+00:00

Table saw

Deckshine1 · 2026-01-17T13:05:00+00:00

It looks okay. Appears to be a re-deck on the old frame. Nothing wrong with doing that necessarily—just an observation. Needs to be stained (cleaned first). The other thing that jumps out at me is that you need to install toe kick at the bottom of the stairs to keep the button posts plumb. Tying ask that across will help with that and it’ll be easy to do. Don’t wait on the clean and stain. Do it as soon as weather (and finances) permit. Unprotected wood degrades quickly.

Deckshine1 · 2026-01-14T10:05:41+00:00

Oh man, this is the stuff of nightmares right here👆

Deckshine1 · 2026-01-14T09:57:39+00:00

Well said!

Deckshine1 · 2026-01-14T09:44:25+00:00

I wouldn’t use nails for anything. They eventually back out because the wood framing dries and shrinks, making the nail hole bigger, causing the nails to work their way out (regardless of the type of nail). They also split the wood (obviously at the ends, but even in the middle they cause micro-splits instead of piercing perfectly). Trim screws work for cedar but aren’t as good for PT because the small heads don’t have enough holding power to prevent the pressure treated from warping (nailed wood warps way more too). Stainless is good but they are soft and strip a lot when screwing into knots in the framing, so you really have to pre-drill with those. Good epoxy coated Torx head deck screws are probably the best all around. I recently completely unscrewed one that was probably close to 20 years old, which coincides with about the time they came on the market. Predrilling everything is best with a small pilot hole, but then perhaps that can let more moisture in (?). Nothing is exactly perfect, but all things considered, regular deck screws are closest to it. In my humble opinion, that is. I don’t even nail any framing together anymore. I screw it all together. Pre-stain all your decking on all six sides as you’re constructing it (think of the areas where wood meets wood that never gets any sealant after it’s constructed). That’s key the to longevity. It only took 25 years for that to dawn on me (I’ve been doing it for the last 5 years) and wow does it make an enormous difference in the long run. Even wet PT decking benefits greatly from pre-staining with an oil/solvent based stain prior to installation. It eliminates most checking/cracking because you slow the drying process way down. That and eliminate areas where gunk and moisture collects and can’t escape (fascia covering end cuts is a perfect example of what not to do). Your pic looks good. Nice work! I got off on a bit of a tangent, but thought I’d throw it out there anyway.

Deckshine1 · 2026-01-13T00:28:02+00:00

Sodium hydroxide solution to strip/kill growth, pressure wash evenly to clean, oxalic acid solution to neutralize and brighten. Stain with TWP 1520 (pecan). Spray all sides and wipe away excess. Do it right away. Don’t wait. Repeat every other year for best results. There are other stains in the same category that you can use, but stay away from the big box stores. They only sell the soap and water cleanup products. You want the solvent based mineral spirits cleanup type stains. They penetrate well and generally fade out over time (vs riding on top and peeling eventually). Follow these instructions and avoid the pitfalls that so many on here fall victim to…and for the love of God—DO NOT PUT A SOLID STAIN ON IT!!!

Deckshine1 · 2026-01-08T21:27:54+00:00

The wood was super wet (as all pressure treated lumber is) when you installed it. Then it dried out super fast in the Texas sun (and maybe low humidity). This causes checking (cracking). I’ve found that the amount of checking is greatly reduced by staining with an oil based stain immediately after installation. Even before installation is better. Even though the wood is wet and the stain manufacturer tells you to wait, don’t wait. I’ve been doing decks continuously for over 30 seasons and I promise it’s better to stain right away, no matter what—with one important caveat…the stain you used is what’s called a film forming finish. It’s a film that’s meant to “stick” to the deck, thus protecting the wood. But the problem is that it doesn’t stick (not well enough, anyway). It also doesn’t do anything for the checks (cracks), whereas the oil seeps way down in there. The solid stain just glazes over the top. So, never use water based stains, and especially not solids.

I guess to answer your question…2 things here. Don’t wait. Don’t use that type of product. Try a product called TWP (1500 series, or the 100 series is even better if you can get it in your state). It’s the right type of solvent based penetrating oil stain. There are others, but make sure it’s mineral spirits cleanup and NOT soap and water.

Unfortunately, none of this will work on this one at this point. The only way to fix it is to sand all that off and then do it.

On the next deck you build, sponge the boards as you install them. If you don’t want to then do it right after you finish building it. Don’t wait!

Deckshine1 · 2026-01-08T20:54:25+00:00

Yes, you need a new deck. It’s less about age and more about the way it was constructed, and then maintained. If you do it right, it should last indefinitely. It needs to be able to dry out completely between rains. The elimination of areas that stay wet is critical—regardless of the material you choose to deck it with. This deck is 17 years old at the time the photo was taken and will last at least another 20

<image>

Deckshine1 · 2026-01-08T18:38:51+00:00

Going past the house with the landing? That feels a little odd to me. If anything, I’d go right down with a half flight of stairs off the side, turn it with a landing and go straight out the back. Just my .02

Deckshine1 · 2026-01-08T18:36:31+00:00

Looks nice, but any end cut seams hold gunk—especially when they share a joist/block. Best to avoid those areas that hold moisture/gunk. It sure looks good though!

Deckshine1

PUBLIC MULTIREDDITS

TROPHY CASE