Ask 'Dr. Spa' Q & A Message Board

Thanks for the reply Vinny... appreciate it. The deck was built in July 06 so this is its first winter. It's freestanding (not attached to the house) and built right at ground level so (rightly or wrongly) deep footings were not required by local code. It currently sits on (what was in July) level ground, 2X2 patio blocks over crusher dust with 6X10 PT beams, 2X8 PT supports and 5/4X6 PT decking. We've just gone thru a pretty solid cold snap, hence the frost heave. Don't get me wrong... I'm not happy that my deck has heaved and the builder is coming by early next week to confirm its integrity. There's still a good 3-4 inches of water above the filter. I guess what I was really wondering is if others may have experienced anything similar... and what did they do when their deck heaved? Drain the tub and wait until Spring thaw? Abandon the deck in favour of concrete? Live with the seasonal movement of the deck? Again, thanks for replying to me.

: How old is the deck?

: Since you're not too concerned about a structural item being lifted by
: frost, let me put that concern in you! I'm not a Structural Engineer
: but you have a bigger problem that your deck was lifted by the frost.
: It sounds like it wasn't built to local codes for footing depth.

: Will your tub be hurt having a 1.5" out of level water, it depends
: on where the filter is. Will the deck start becoming structurally
: weak, probably. Having a 2 ton + item on a weakened deck is not a
: good thing IMO.

: Before you answer me as it's no big deal ... think about this, if you
: bend metal enough it fatigues and breaks apart. As the deck rises
: that 1.5", it is pulling on structural items not made for that,
: eventually it can fail.

: This is my $0.02. Please get your deck looked at.