Decking starts at the Irish Pub.

At last the weather dried up the ground in Blacksburg.  The temperature today was around 62 degrees Fahrenheit and sunny.  In one of my previous blogs, Excavation at the pub, I explained that Joe's next step was to dig the footings.  There are many different kinds of footings and which one the designer chooses depends on the soil, any obstruction, and the type of structure that is being constructed. In this case Joe, the owner of Castle's Kettle and Pub and Castle Flaud's Inc, has only a an outside deck to construct.  The design of the deck looked very intriguing.  Here are some options of footings that Joe might consider.                          

Since, the decking is made out of wood, I think that the most simple footing would be an individual post with a block of concrete.  This would be the best option for the situation. 

  With this option the owner will save a lot more money because it will require less concrete than a continuous footing :

Here are some basic notes that I took while I was on the site.

I always think that a picture is worth a thousand words. So here is the process that I saw while I was watching the crew work.

This picture shows phase one.  The concrete footings are poured and cured.

         

This is phase two.  As you can see there are brackets installed to the concrete so that the post do not slip or lift off of the footings.

                                                                 





According to www.nachi.org (Inspect the world website) Figure 1 is what it should look like.  Figure 2 on the other hand, I found on google images and thought that it shows the system connection of the footing to the post very well. Figure 2 includes the reinforcing steal, the nails of how the bracket is connected to the wood, and the screws how the bracket is connected to the concrete footing.
Figure 1                         Figure 2

 

Here is phase 3 that i examined.

As you can see in the pictures, the post are put into place. Now for the next phase, the ATR crew is starting to add the support braces, which are the wood pieces in the picture going diagonally, and the joists, which are going horizontally.

It was a great experience learning experience to see the first couple of phases of the deck.  I have never been apart of building or seeing one being build and I learned a lot.

I hope you enjoyed the post and that the pictures and explanations were helpful. If anything needs more clarification or even just a little more detail, please let me know.


Thank you and all the best,
Mic