Has anyone here had experience with the floating foundation deck system? I think it would be a way to do a 10′ x 20′ ground-level deck a customer has asked me about, but I have very limited experience with it myself.
http://www.deckplans.com/howitworks.html
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I've never used it and never would--if you're in snow country you're guaranteed to have movement due to frost. That means that over time the deck will tilt and look BAD.
One good thing about their system, which you could carry over to a conventional system, is to not attach the deck to the house.
Do you have precast concrete piers there? We can get nice, square tapered concrete piers 5' tall for $50 or so each. Dig a few holes, drop the piers in, backfill, and they're not going anywhere.
I have not seen precast piers as you mentioned. Isn't a little tough to get the tops at the correct elevation, or isn't that necessary?
As to the movement due to frost: My gut tells me there would be the same as observed in a cast in place sidewalk, as in - not enought to worry about for a ground level backyard deck.
But my gut isn't always right. Thanks for the input._______________________________________________________________
Cast in place sidewalks are usually built on a thick layer of well-compacted gravel, are fairly impervious to rain, and to some extent capture the heat of the earth below them. And they still heave over time.
Yes, it does take some effort to get the tops of the precast piers at the same elevation. The hole needs to be oversized to avoid cave-ins, and the depth needs to be set with a transit. To tell you the truth we set them with an excavator--they're not light.
I don't usually build decks at grade level anyway, so there's always a little fudge factor in the length of the columns supporting the deck. To me a patio is a better choice if you're going to be at grade anyway.
All opinions posted here worth what you paid for them!
My normal approach to this situation would be piers, although they would be cast in place. The difficulty of access to the established back yard and landscaping have me searching for an alternative approach. This is the part that makes it fun for me, trying to think outside of the box. How challenging is it to do things the same all the time?
I may yet cast piers for this deck, in the meantime I am exploring other options, and I am willing to keep an open mind to alternative methods.
You input is appreciated, even at the low cost!_______________________________________________________________