Building a deck that can be disassembled?

[mm]

Posted to ahr.

Can I build a deck, two feet above the ground, that can later be partly or totally disassembled and moved away temporarily?

I"m thinking that if instead of nails, I used lag screws and deck screws, this would be feasible. If I used stainless steel lag screws, they would still look nice for many years, until the deck fell apart for other reasons.

In fact it might even look cool, and certainly not like everyone else's, with the heads of the lag screws showing.

Are the odds good that I could do this, or is there something that I can't overcome? When the time came to move the deck away, I would remove all that I could and if there were still a big piece in the middle, I could get several people and some device with wheels to help me move away what couldn't be disassembled, and later help me move it back. Other than moving the deck around later, I can do all of the deck building by myself, or with one helper.

I live in a townhouse, at the end of the group, no one behind me and no one on one side, because the street turns 90 degrees even before it gets to my house and continues away from the house.

I need to replace my tiny rotting deck with a 10'x10' deck.

I had a mental plan to also, first, have someone enlarge my basement (for more storage) by the same size as the deck, and to cover up the basement room with the deck, especially the top 18 or 24 inches that would be above the ground, so the basement room wouldn't be ugly to look at, and the absence of grass above it would be normal. I don't have the energy now even to contract this part out, and I have never approached the architectural committee about it. But on the surface, do you think this is a ridiculous or a feasible idea? Physically. (Financially, I will almost certainly save 300 to 500 a year, since I'm renting a ministorage locker now, and I expect to stay here a long time.)

The odds are, now, that I will never actually do this, but I've been postponing for almost a year rebuilding the deck because of this.

I'm thinking that a compromise that would allow me to proceed with the deck would be if it were disassemblable sufficiently that I could move it out of the way in a year or two while finally putting in that extra basement room.

But I also need to consider if it will fall apart sooner, or look bad because of my efforts to make it partable (There has to be a shorter word than disassemblable.).

Thanks.

[hallerb]

just put up a block or eterior matching room with a concrete slab surface,

provided zoning etc will approve.........

its likely cheaper and will last the life of the building

[Red Green]

mm wrote in news: [e-mail]:

Any good contractors combo kit or mild explosive should do the trick.

Do you think it's feasable to stop Niagra falls? The American Falls were dewatered in 1969 for a few months.

[HeyBub]

Sure.

1. Number each bit of lumber on a non-visible side as you construct the monster. Log this number on the drawing. That way, when you take it down, you can put it back up. Don't lose the drawing.

1. You don't need stainless lag bolts. If one starts to rust, replace it.

[hallerb]

Hide quoted text -

build the room with rubber flat roof, then build deck later deck lays glued to rubber roof..........

to drive new yourk to los angeles you cant wish you started in las vegas......

do things in proper order

[Norminn]

I don't know about your construction technique. What does come to mind is, first, do you need permission of HOA to expand the basement and/or deck? If you do, indeed, expand the basement and put the deck over it, I would surely have some hinged panels to alloc access to the basement roof (sloped roof, of course). And if you are planning to stay there a long time, why on earth do you want to be able to dismantle the deck and take it with you?

[mm]

Probably. And a couple of them are on the warpath now, so now is not the best time to get one.

Yes, but they'll soon be begging or insisting that I do so. My new size is the same as all the other new ones, so they're not going to have a problem with that.

Not take it with me. Move it to the side so that I can build the room under where the deck will be. No time or energy to get the permit and build it now.

Like I said, I'm probably never going to build the room, but if it only takes a few hours to disassemble the deck, then building the deck first won't interfere much with building the room later.

Originally I started thinking about tearing the deck apart and wondered if I could then renail in the same holes. Maybe if I spent enough time at it, but noow I think screws would go a lot faster and be a lot better.

Thanks Smitty. The thing about the footings is just the sort of thing I wanted to be reminded of.

And thanks Bub. I guess I thought stainless would look pretty, and galvanized would look so-so.

[ransley]

10x10 is alot of wood, 4 5x5, or 2 10x5 sections is lighter to move.

[HeyBub]

You're welcome. I suggested galvenized simply because of the price. You can still make 'em look pretty by dipping the heads in paint before screwing them in. When I built a gate for the cedar fence I painted the lag bolt heads black. Looks nice - sorta like wrought-iron - and matches the hinges and latch.

I'd go with red paint (with red washers), but you could use silver and claim the bolts were stainless...