I'm building a deck at the entrance of my rear door. My question is, should I attached deck to my house or not? Will it rot out house in anyway? Should the deck be detached but just really close?
What would you do and how? thanks
If it's possible, many people now build decks freestanding, not attached to the house. While attaching usually saves the need for some footings, it can create more problems if it's not attached properly to the rim joist, and can often be a lot more trouble than it's worth in regards to sealing out water.
Ground Level? How High off of the ground?
I would make sure, if you have any snow in your area, that the deck is a step down from your backdoor.
Dealt with a house (rental) with bad door rot because the nice deck was flush with the door (well, below the sill).
Which meant in the winter, that snow piled up (fine) but as it melted, water pretty much lay on the lower part of the sill. For years and years.
Attach to the house? Yeah, but do it right and don't let water in. If you don't, it WILL draw away from the house (it won't get closer).
Other issues to ponder? My brother just fixed some clapboard stuff at my mom's and they put in a 'crete board as the bottom couple because her roof *does* drip and splash.
There is a tax difference in some locales for free standing vs. attched structures. Might be worth checking at your assessors office. HTH
Joe
If you attach it be sure you have proper flashng, A hack did mine and the flashing allowed water to rot the house sill, cost me 3000 $ to replace. Free standing reduces rot risk , attached reduces supports needed.
Guys I am from Newfoundland Canada where we gets loads and loads of snow in the winter. My door step is about 2' high from ground. I am considering building it separate from the house and perhaps a few inches below the door step. I am just unsure how to go if I attached to the house, in terms of perventing damage to the house/door step/sill/ etc.
All your suggesti>
The grass will just die on it own
The key here is sunlight. Grass can easily grow in the cracks of asphalt and not under the dark of a deck. This is of course a little dependent on how you build your deck. If you want to be sure, just get any of the good grass killers that kill the root. This should do the trick.
I built my deck last years using this system at
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