My first question is about the cedar 4×4 post for the railing. I put some up on Sat. and I noticed today that some have already started to check or crack. Is this normal or should I put some kind of sealer on the ends? Or is wood just getting cheaper today?
My next question is about the framework. The deck is almost 14 x 21. I put up 2 rows of built up 2×8’s spaced 10 ft apart with 4 post holding it up each beam. Leaving about 2 ft overhang on each side. I’m using weatherbest composite decking on it so I used 2×8 joist to span the beams and spaced them 14″ apart. Did I overbuild or underbuild? Would you do it differently?
Replies
Your typical cedar 4x4 is fairly wet and will crack and split when it dries. You need a more exotic wood, or wood that has been more carefully dried, in order to avoid splitting.
It soulds ok. I would build the two beams by putting 2X8s on both sides of the 4X4 posts and putting a 3/8" hot-dipped galvanized carriage bolt through the 2X8s at each post. Many folks would call that overkill, but that's how I built a deck last week. The neighbor of my client liked my method so much that he has asked me to build an addition on his house. As far as the spacing of the joists goes, I use 16" centers.
not familiar with your decking material..but TREX wants to be on 12'' centers IIRC..that would be 10.5" in between..you said you have 14"..might be OK.
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Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations.
Correctdec is much better, stiffer, denser, and stronger than Trex. A 16' piece is still more floppy than a pine board but I'll take it any day over Trek.
The framing sounds more or less OK, but can't see it from here. My hesitancy is that the connections are not defined.
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I was pretty disapointed about the post cracking. Went though about 30 post looking for the best. Next time I'll seal the ends as soon as cut.
My 2x8 beam was nailed together with 1/2" treated spacer between and I used 16d SS nails. I then set the beam on top of 4x4 post I had cut off at the right hight and attached it with a simpson product nailed with hanger nails.
sealing the end won't help
If you have exposed fasteners on top (or even if you don't), it looks cool if you space all of the joists evenly. It may already work out that way, but if you can avoid the short joist space at the end of the run I think it looks better. Even more important with something like post and beam t&G ceiling setup.
Jim
Your framing sounds fine.
The post will crack if the center of the tree is in the post. There is no way that it can shrink without causing a crack. It will make no difference if you seal the ends or if the post is from virgin timber or an exotic tropical hardwood. If the center of the tree is not in the post, there is a chance that the post will not check and that efforts to slow the drying and selecting a higher grade of lumber will greatly increase this chance.