Need to tear out a small deck at my backdoor and rebuild it. Its no longer up to code and is old. It will be 8x10 and mostly used as a walkway. (8 feet out from house and 10 feet wide).

I need it to be "floating" with no ledger board connection. I have looked at the IRC codebook and am familiar with the basics. For floating decks, you need two beams instead of one. A beam close to the house to replace a ledger connection.

So I have a few general questions:

1) How many posts do I need? Will 4 be enough for this size deck? I know a 2x8 joist (16" on center) can span almost 11 feet unsupported, so I figured one post in every corner would do. (I am using southern yellow pine - if it doesn't say Yellawood on the tag, you don't want it, baws).

2) Can I bury my posts in concrete or do I need to pour concrete "piers?" I feel piers are probably better but will be a bitch to remove if I ever have to.

3) If I go with 2x8 joists, I assume I would use 2x8 beams? Would you go with 2 ply or 3 ply?

4) Would you go flush beam or drop beam? I feel drop beams are much more structurally sound since you are not relying on fasteners to carry the load. But I was wondering if flush beams have any advantages.

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Posted by Earthquake 88

Mobile

Member since Jan 2010

3323 posts

Posted on 6/25/23 at 1:08 am to AUstar

I’m not a deck building expert but I sell those guys 3 million dollars a year of Brazilian tropical decking nationally and we are headquartered in Mobile. I talk to these guys daily and look at a ton of projects when I travel so I know enough to offer an opinion. Our decking division imports Ipe, Cumaru, Tigerwood, and Garapa. You pretty much got it figured out though.

1. 4
2. Both will work. If it were me I would buy Ipe or Cumaru for that part of your project because that stuff won’t rot. Ipe has a Class A fire rating and has the density of water. If you throw it in say a swimming pool the lumber sinks to the bottom and won’t float back up.
3. 2x8 beams. I’m not familiar with 2 or 3 ply. Our customers just use solid lumber.
4. Either will work but I’d go with drop beams.

I agree, if you are going to go with treated southern yellow pine go with Great Southern Wood Preserving. Jimmy Rane is a good guy. We occasionally unload their containers for them and briefly store their lumber until they send one of their trucks in to pick up. Jimmy is a marketing genius. That Yella Fella is a really popular marketing name that people associate with quality.

If you are on a budget I’d go with treated southern yellow pine from Jimmy’s treatment plants. If you don’t want to build another one for 30 years without staining it and have the money I’d go with Ipe and my second choice would be Cumaru. Your project is not all that big. If you plan on living at your house a long time I’d only want to do this one time. Treated pine is not as good as it use to be because the EPA made these guys stop using the stuff that really held up well. Having said that treated southern yellow pine will get the job done.

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Posted by Zappas Stache