My deck has moved!

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I would be at least attaching this to the house in some manner. What I would do and have done in the past is drill through the joist of the deck next to the house and go through the rim joist Of the house. Get some three-quarter inch all thread and bought this deck to the house at about every 6 to 8 feet
This is ok unless the deck is also moving up and down with frost and something sitting above grade will move up and down in the north.

He will think he’s hearing shotguns in the middle of the night.
 
This is ok unless the deck is also moving up and down with frost and something sitting above grade will move up and down in the north.

He will think he’s hearing shotguns in the middle of the night.
With the up and down of frost heave on your lousy footings, you really can’t bolt this old floating deck to the house at this point.
Yes, shotgun bangs from bolts shearing off during heave.
Maybe devise some sort of flex tethers, so the deck can’t fall away and crash, but can still move up and down.
 
Yeah, I'd just let the deck float rather than having it tugging on the house. If the gap gets too big, put a molding over it...
 
I guess my FIL's house is floating. It has no footings, just sitting on stones. It's also not a frame house but has stood the test of time. One of his grandsons is now fixing the house up for a vacation home.
 
Is it a log cabin? Stones? Bricks? Blocks? Poured?
None of the above. It is a box house they were pretty common when I was a kid. The walls are just two layers of boards with building paper in between. Window and door openings were cased with boards and sawed out. The walls were often covered with roll siding and later maybe asbestos or aluminum siding added as an upgrade.
 
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It is a box house they were pretty common when I was a kid. The walls are just two layers of boards with building paper in between.
Thank you. Haven't seen that here in N.W. Ohio. My house is about 200 years old and framed up with what would probably be considered exotic woods if tried to buy some at a yard these days, but just what was handy back then... it was originally a church rectory and moved here after they decided to build a new brick rectory...
 
I would not attach a floating deck to the house. That is a recipe for disaster as the house won't heave with frost but a deck on deck blocks will definitely shift with the freezing and thawing of the ground below the deck blocks. When I lived in VA you could build a floating deck provided it wasn't high off the ground. Once you went 2' or so above grade it needed to have footers down to undisturbed soil, about 24" as I recall.

I'd vote for leaving as is if you're going to tear it off for an addition in a few years.
 
When I went to build mine I inquired into what was allowed here and was told 30”. I went over and asked the neighbor couple that’s house is close on that side if they had a problem and I had the outline staked out. They don’t even have windows on that side as all their outside living is done on the other side. She thought it was a great idea and told me honey you can’t do anything to that house that I won’t love. The area I was planning the deck the previous owner piled 10’ high in car parts and garbage of all kinds. They were so glad we even cleaned up the yard let alone make it look nice. So I figured no one was going to blow me in so I built it.



One thing I will add attaching to a house gives a deck stability with all the right angles. Freestanding decks need cross braced even 30” height ones.

Mine moves up and down about half inch. It is also connected to the house but only by the flex conduit that runs under it to the hot tub.
 

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