SidecarBob
Retired & too busy to go back to work
Background:
I live in South Central Ontario and I have a 6' x 20' deck at the back of the 23 year old brick veneer house that was built by the contractor who built the house. It is approx. 42" above grade and supported by a ledger/joist attached to the wall and four 4x4 posts right at the outer edge. The posts are set on bricks, about 4-5" below grade and end at the railings, approx. 43" above the floor. It is framed with 2x6s (all end nailed - no joist hangers) and the floor is 2x4s.
We have always shovelled the deck in winter so that the laundry room door and patio door could be used as emergency exits (fortunately never needed so far). A few years ago we had the roof done with steel shingles and now the snow slides off regularly, filling the deck. One morning last April I woke to 6" of snow on the deck and an hour later heard the "avalanche and the snow was almost up to the deck's railing (that time I only cleared from the laundry door to the stairs - it all melted within a few days anyway).
The project:
I have been talking about putting a roof over the deck to carry the snow past it when it slides off for years and always forgot when I wasn't shovelling it off but we had a heat pump installed last year and I want to get to the project before it is damaged by the snow sliding onto it. The heat pump is on legs on the ground (on patio stones), right near the end of the deck so I figure if I build the roof 4' longer than the deck it will protect the heat pump too.
Question #1:
There is 89" between the deck floor and the soffit.
Assuming the framing doesn't overhang the edge of the deck (the steel can go an inch or so past), 2x6 framing and an inch + for corrugations in the metal, if there is 72" from the floor to the top of the roof at the outer edge the bottom of the edge of the edge joist/facer will be about 65" above the floor and any lower will render the deck useless.
That means that the pitch would be approx. 1 in 4.25 (2.83 in 12). Is that enough pitch for straight steel panels to shed snow?
Question #2:
I really don't want to dismantle the deck any more than I have to and I don't want to pour footings. Can I cut the bottom end off of each of the existing posts and put deck blocks under them?
Question #3:
If I do that would I be better to extend the posts to support the outer edge of the roof by
A) Extending them with lap joints bolted through (not my favourite idea)
B) Sandwiching the original posts between 2x4s (or 2x6s?) (not the best looking solution)
C) Cutting the posts off at floor level and building a 2x4 (2x6?) frame wall to support the roof. (I am leaning to this idea.)
Question #4:
If I build a framed wall I would still need an additional post for the part of the roof that would be over the heat pump. Would I need to build the framed wall all the way to that post or can it end at the end of the deck?
Question #5
The existing outer edge joist is currently a single 2x6. I expect that if I build a framed wall on top of it I would need to add material for it to bear the load. If I did that I would want the added piece to extend to the post supporting the end of the roof above the heat pump to stabilize it.
Can I just nail another 2x6 (2x4?) to the existing one for that?
That's all for now. I'm sure I will find other questions as I figure out what I need to order for this...
I live in South Central Ontario and I have a 6' x 20' deck at the back of the 23 year old brick veneer house that was built by the contractor who built the house. It is approx. 42" above grade and supported by a ledger/joist attached to the wall and four 4x4 posts right at the outer edge. The posts are set on bricks, about 4-5" below grade and end at the railings, approx. 43" above the floor. It is framed with 2x6s (all end nailed - no joist hangers) and the floor is 2x4s.
We have always shovelled the deck in winter so that the laundry room door and patio door could be used as emergency exits (fortunately never needed so far). A few years ago we had the roof done with steel shingles and now the snow slides off regularly, filling the deck. One morning last April I woke to 6" of snow on the deck and an hour later heard the "avalanche and the snow was almost up to the deck's railing (that time I only cleared from the laundry door to the stairs - it all melted within a few days anyway).
The project:
I have been talking about putting a roof over the deck to carry the snow past it when it slides off for years and always forgot when I wasn't shovelling it off but we had a heat pump installed last year and I want to get to the project before it is damaged by the snow sliding onto it. The heat pump is on legs on the ground (on patio stones), right near the end of the deck so I figure if I build the roof 4' longer than the deck it will protect the heat pump too.
Question #1:
There is 89" between the deck floor and the soffit.
Assuming the framing doesn't overhang the edge of the deck (the steel can go an inch or so past), 2x6 framing and an inch + for corrugations in the metal, if there is 72" from the floor to the top of the roof at the outer edge the bottom of the edge of the edge joist/facer will be about 65" above the floor and any lower will render the deck useless.
That means that the pitch would be approx. 1 in 4.25 (2.83 in 12). Is that enough pitch for straight steel panels to shed snow?
Question #2:
I really don't want to dismantle the deck any more than I have to and I don't want to pour footings. Can I cut the bottom end off of each of the existing posts and put deck blocks under them?
Question #3:
If I do that would I be better to extend the posts to support the outer edge of the roof by
A) Extending them with lap joints bolted through (not my favourite idea)
B) Sandwiching the original posts between 2x4s (or 2x6s?) (not the best looking solution)
C) Cutting the posts off at floor level and building a 2x4 (2x6?) frame wall to support the roof. (I am leaning to this idea.)
Question #4:
If I build a framed wall I would still need an additional post for the part of the roof that would be over the heat pump. Would I need to build the framed wall all the way to that post or can it end at the end of the deck?
Question #5
The existing outer edge joist is currently a single 2x6. I expect that if I build a framed wall on top of it I would need to add material for it to bear the load. If I did that I would want the added piece to extend to the post supporting the end of the roof above the heat pump to stabilize it.
Can I just nail another 2x6 (2x4?) to the existing one for that?
That's all for now. I'm sure I will find other questions as I figure out what I need to order for this...