Deck Using Cinder Blocks as Temporary Supports

Using Cinder Blocks as Temporary Supports

Use cinder blocks at this point to stand in temporarily for the wooden posts. That way, you can play around with the height and make sure you get it level (for the components at this end of the deck, see picture on right). But how do you check for levelness across such long distances? The answer is to run a long, straight board from the header to cinder blocks at the other end, and place your carpenter’s level upon this board. Once you’ve found the height that will give you a level deck, you can just take note of the distance covered from the bottom of the cinder blocks to the top of the cinder blocks.

But what about levelness in the other dimension – left to right? If you’ve been careful so far in installing your header board and side joists (keeping everything level), you’ll now reap the rewards for your attention to detail. The side joists are your guides for keeping everything level left to right.

Using the measurements obtained from playing with the cinder blocks, you can determine the length the posts need to be.

But the posts alone do not span the distance from the tops of the piers to the bottom of the joists. On this end of the deck we’ll be using another piece of wood that will rest upon the posts, called a “girder.” The girder roughly corresponds to the header board at the other end, in the sense that it will serve as the support for the joists. But there’s an important difference. Joists will “hang” from the header board using joist hangers (which keeps them on the same level as the header board), but on the opposite end, joists will rest on top of the girder. The girder will be the length of the header board plus 3”. Deck builders often unite 2 boards to form a nice thick girder; for instance, two 2x10s to form, in essence, a 4x10.

Therefore it is the height of the joist plus the height of the girder plus the height of the post that the temporary cinder blocks spanned vertically. Or to put it another way: Take the distance covered by the cinder blocks from top to bottom, subtract the height of the joist and the height of the girder from it, and you’ll have the height needed for the posts (see picture at upper right). Cut posts accordingly.

With both the posts and the girder cut to the right lengths, assemble them to form a unit, using post caps. Transfer this unit onto the concrete piers, using the post bases previously installed in the concrete to fasten the posts to the piers. Once the post-and-girder unit is secured to the piers, the top of the girder should meet the bottoms of the two outermost joists. If so, we’ve successfully completed the hard part of this project!

Although it’s still possible to screw something up later in the project, we’d probably be able to rectify it easily enough. It is in this sense that I referred on Page 1 to the steps presented in this article as the “essential” steps. If these steps are botched, you’ll probably have to start over from square one. But if you get through them successfully, the rest isn’t too bad.

That’s why I’ve focused on the project’s initial steps. Once completed, you’ll simply install the other joists. You’ll use fasteners called “seismic ties” to attach the joists to the girders. Let the joists at this end stick out beyond the girder willy-nilly, until they’re all in place. Then cut their ends off all at once, at some predetermined distance from the piers. These ends can be capped by a face board, if you prefer that look.

Your final major step is cutting the decking boards themselves and screwing them to the tops of the joists. Stagger the decking so that the seams don’t all line up; the deck will not only be more stable structurally this way, but will also look better. If your deck will be high off the ground, building codes dictate adding a railing. By the way, a popular alternative now to wood decking is composite decking (see picture on prior page). However, composite materials still aren't as strong as good old wood, so composite decking must be supported by wooden elements.

Deck Building: Cutting the Ends of the Joists and Deck Boards
Deck Building: Determining the Level and Length of the Ledger
Deck Building: Digging the Foundation Holes and Setting the Pier Blocks
Deck Building: Drilling the Holes for the Ledger
Deck Building: Facing the Deck with Band Joists
Deck Building: Installing the Girders
Deck Building: Installing the Railing
Deck Building: Installing the Remaining Joists
Deck Building: Introduction to Building a Deck
Deck Building: Locating the Foundation Pier Holes
Deck Building: Preparation of Deck Construction
Deck Building: Tools and Materials Checklist
Deck Building: Waterproofing the Deck

Decks Contractors Sussex County Union County Warren County Bergen County Cape May County Essex County Hunterdon County Mercer County Middlesex County Morris County decks Passaic County Contractors Saddle Brook Saddle River Scotch Plains Long valley deck Repair Bottom Short Hills Shrewsbury Smithville Somerville South Amboy South Brunswick South New Jersey South Hackensack South Harrison South Orange decks nj South Plainfield South River Seaville Southampton Sparta Spring Lake Springfield Stanhope New Jersey Decks Succasunna Summit Sussex decks nj Teaneck Tewksbury Tinton Falls Toms River Totowa Towaco Trenton Union Union City Upper Montclair Upper Saddle Ventnor City Vernon Verona Vienna Villas decks nj Waldwick Wall Wallington Wallpack Center Wanaque Wantage Warren Washington Washington Washington Washington Watchung Waterford Wayne West Caldwell West Creek West Deptford West Long Branch West Milford West New York West Orange West Paterson West Trenton West Windsor Wharton Whippany White Whitehouse Whitehouse Station New Jersey decks NJ 07856 Windsor Woodcliff Wyckoff Decks Repair Alpha Alpine Andover Asbury Asbury Park Atlantic City Basking Ridge Composite Deck Bedminster Belle Mead New Jersey decks nj Belleville Composite Deck Bellmawr Belmar Belvidere Bergenfield Berkeley Heights Bethlehem Blairstown decks nj Blawenberg Bloomfield Bloomingdale New Jersey decks nj Bloomsbury Bogota Boonton Boonton Twp decks Brick New Jersey Decks NJ Bridgeton Bridgewater Budd Lake Buena Burlington Burlington Twp.Schooleys Mountain Butler Caldwell Califon New Jersey decks NJ Court House Cape May Point Carlstadt Cedar Grove Cedar Chatham Chester Clark Cliffside Park Cliffwood Clifton Cranford Dover Dumont East Brunswick East Hanover East Orange East Rutherford East Elizabeth Elk Elmer Elmwood Park Elwood Englewood Englewood Cliffs decks nj Essex Fells Fair Lawn Fairfield Fairview Fanwood Far Hills Flanders Flemington Florham Park Fort Lee Schooleys Mountain Franklin Lakes Franklin Park Long valley Great Meadows Hackensack Composite Deck Hackettstown decks NJ Schooleys Harrison New Jersey decks nj deck Repair Hillside Ho-Ho-Kus Hoboken Hopatcong Hope Hopewell Irvington Iselin Island Heights Jackson decks Jefferson Jersey City Kearny Keasbey Kendall Park Lake Hopatcong decks nj Lakehurst Lakewood Lambertville New Jersey Deck Landing Landisville Lavallette Lawnside Lawrence Lebanon Liberty Corner Lincoln Park Lincroft Linden Falls Little Composite Deck NJ Ferry Little Silver Little Livingston Lodi Logan New Jersey deck Long Beach Long Branch Long Hill Long Valley Decks Longport Lumberton Lyndhurst Lyons Madison Manasquan Maple Shade Maplewood Composite Deck decks nj Medford Medford Lakes Medford Trails Mendham Milford Composite Deck Millburn Mine Hill decks NJ Montclair Montville Morris Morris Plains Mount Arlington Mount Freedom Mount Olive Mount Royal Mountain Lakes Murray Hill decks Neptune Netcong New Brunswick New Milford New Providence New Vernon Newark Composite Deck Newfield New Newton North Arlington decks NJ North Bergen North Branch North Brunswick North Caldwell North Cape May North Haledon North Hanover North Plainfield Composite Deck Northfield Northvale Nutley Oak Ridge Oakland Old Bridge Decks Repair Old Tappen Oldwick decks nj Orange Oxford New Jersey Paramus Park Ridge Parlin Parsippany Passaic Passaic Park Paterson Paterson Perth Amboy Pine Brook Pine Hill Pine Valley Piscataway Picatinny decks nj Plainfield New Jersey decks nj Pompton Lakes Pompton Plains Port Elizabeth Port Monmouth Port Murray Long valley Composite Deck Norris Port Reading Port Republic Pottersville Princeton Princeton Rahway Ramsey Randolph New Jersey deck Raritan Readington Ridgefield Park New Jersey Decks Ringwood Rockaway Rocky Hill Park Rosemont Roxbury Rutherford composite decking.

Custom decks design and services Please contact us Tel: 1-877-388-7360

with any questions