Reflooring elevated deck

Hi all!

I have a deck that is approximately 34' wide and maybe 16' deep. It runs alone the back of my house with the long part parallel to the house.

About half of it is covered. I want to install new flooring, new rails, and maybe even new posts that hold the roof over part of the deck. The posts are optional but if I get into this I will probably do it.

The problem is the house is on a hill so the deck is essentially a full story above the ground on the long side. From what I can discern, people would normally recommend bracing the roof on the deck with something from the ground, but that would probably require something 25' or more depending on if/how much needed to be in the ground.

I originally was thinking I could buy a couple of 8' post jacks and support the covered deck roof from the deck itself and work around them to get the flooring and rails replaced. I know that's not ideal because I'd have to move the jacks around some mid-project, but is it doable/safe? If not, what do I do about the height issue when it comes to supporting the roof from the ground?

The covered portion of the deck is approximately one half the deck, starting at one end of the deck. That end of the deck I might be able to support from the ground because it's not as big a drop-off to the ground from the deck. But on the other side of that roof, which is in the middle of the deck, the dropoff is as I described before.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. If I could figure this issue out I would definitely be doing this project in the very near future.

Thanks,
WC

Welcome to the site.
Photos would be a great help and more information.
How many posts hold up the roof, are they directly above lower post that go to the ground?
On top of the posts you have beams both under the deck and under the roof. What are those beams, hight, width and length, do they just butt join on top of the posts?
Most times if you are changing deck boards you can work off the deck. If you are putting down a membrane it might be a bigger issue.

Thanks for the reply, Neal.

I'm attaching a few (poor) images to shed some light on the situation. Thanks again for the feedback.

WC

Sorry for the late reply, I missed your responce?
I would have no probem using a jack post set close to roof post to remove the old post and some decking and put the new post right on the framing, do them one at a time and just put the new decking around the new post. You would just have to add something around the post to nail the decking to.
I would spend some time checking the structure first. Check the lower posts for condition and plumb. Check the deck for level. How is the deck attached to the house
Before you get started brace the lower posts just a few 2x4, high on one post to low on the next. The decking does a lot to hold everthing square and a few braces will make sure it stays that way.

Thanks again for the reply, Neal.

I'll check it again, but we got the house in December and had a pretty thorough inspection at that time. We had the previous owner replace most of the posts from the ground to the deck floor/frame as a part of the negotiations. We then had the reinspect to make sure repairs (including the deck posts) were done properly.

Thanks again.
WC

The lower posts look like 4x4s, I haven't seen a deck built on 4x4s for thirty years.

This link might help http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/cat...level&storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053.Try those interesting tips.