Glen & Kris Denning → Home Improvement → Deck < Previous Next >
Our back door opens from the first floor of our house into the back yard. Last summer, we installed a retaining wall and fence to accommodate a new deck. The new deck replaces the 3' x 5' porch original to the house.
At 26' long by 9½' wide, the new deck is just a few feet short of the width of our house. Because the rim joists of our house were built with wooden I-beams doubled up, we cannot bolt a deck to the house. Bolting to the rim joists of the house would cause them to collapse against each other, compromising the strength of the house. Our solution was to install a pair of beams on pilings that completely support the deck. The next page shows how we got started on this project.