I have a free-standing deck that is 12 x 24; not attached to the house. I would like to convert half of it to a screened porch. The deck rests on concrete footings spaced about 6 feet apart. I plan to remove the current decking and replace with tongue and groove flooring and then erect a cedar frame with 4×4 posts every six feet. I want to be certain the footings can bear the additional weight and am looking for suggestions for stabilizing the frame walls that will have screening and not sheathing. Would appreciate any suggestions/thoughts. Thanks in advance.
David
Replies
You need some sort of lateral bracing. Simplest is a diagonal in the section at each end of each wall. Or you can use knee braces.
You can reduce the need for diagonal bracing somewhat if you make sure the roof is rigidly braced so it can't be deformed into a trapezoid.
Screened deck
Dan, thanks very much. I think I will try the knee braces. D.