Do they make 6 inch concrete blocks?

[Robert Green]

Sadly, not hard to believe at all. It seems that on day one of a new thread, one third of the posts are scolds, as in "you did something stupid/wrong/different" - another third are poor attempts at stand-up comedy - and the final third might somehow be tangentially related to the subject. After that first day, most of the threads degenerate into political screeds, WD-40 retorts and stories about the "good old days." I think that's why a lot of web-based boards and chat groups encourage people to vote for the "most helpful" answers. That tends to quickly sort out the people who are genuinely interesting in helping from the people who feel compelled to respond to every post, whether it's relevant, helpful or completely self-serving.

Some threads remain remarkably free of drift while others, like this one, wander away in the wrong direction right out of the starting gate.

-- Bobby G.

[hallerb]

well its t least a matter of safety......

a deck not on footers, not bolted to building could move and toss people off. People dance and do all sorts of things on decks like kids playing ball. Plus decks often have a grill on them adding even more hazards.

the cost to build a deck properly isnt much more than a cheap job. you still need all the joists, deck boards, and hopefully a railing. although this deck may not have a railing.......

[Evan]

Why should be people here give the OP advice on how to build something improperly ?

We confirmed that 6" concrete blocks exist... Or he could cut down larger blocks with a gas powered cut off saw...

But seriously, people who give advice here are interested in explaining how to do things properly, not how to redneck the f*ck out of the job...

~~ Evan

[Evan]

Wow, a 24" fall... Right, so the people who might be standing near the deck within the area it could fall down won't be in any way injured or hurt by the thousand some odd pounds of lumber pinning them to the ground or taking their feet off if it fell...

Oddly enough, your trailer house is considered a VEHICLE... So jacking it up on blocks is ok, as it is designed for that purpose, the blocks are there to provide a base for the levelers, your trailer is anchored down to the ground by other means rather than being bolted to structure supported by footings like other types of buildings are...

Your wooden "raft" laid on blocks at your door however is not, and if you want to call it a "deck" it needs to be bolted down to properly constructed structure so that if an accident happened a thousand or so pounds of lumber won't be able to move freely on its own...

You know, like too many people sitting on the edge of the deck, as you said its only 24" up its likely it doesn't have a railing... Or someone hitting it with a car, lawn mower/tractor, go cart, dirt bike or something... There is a reason why decks are supposed to be bolted down to proper footings... That is so that it won't move as an entire unit if a small accident happens and disturbs the status quo...

Hope you fix your "deck" properly so you don't end up getting sued if an accident happens...

~~ Evan

[Evan]

LOL... Yeah too people who know what they are doing...

But to someone who doesn't... ROFL, well the lumber is *used* so that means they need to get new stuff so they can cut on it and hammer nails into fresh wood...

~~ Evan

[Evan]

No, if you built a platform/deck in the middle of a field you would have to definitely build it on properly dug footings and bolt posts and beams to said footings to support the deck joists...

Stacks of CMU blocks would not be either adequate nor proper for supporting a safely built deck... However if you have the money to afford to either settle or defend the lawsuits, do whatever you feel you want to until a civil court Judge and jury tells you that your way of doing it was wrong, oh and pay the people who got hurt money...

~~ Evan

[hallerb]

this discussion is like somone coming here stating i wired my home with light cord, the stranded wire doesnt connect well at breakers. and what do I do with these green ground connections cut them off:(

sometimes people need to be informed what they did isnt safe.......

people sitting with feet dangling over 24 inch high deck could see their legs crushed if the deck suddenly moved.

in such a case your homeowners insurance company may refuse to pay. the homeowner with the hazard could lose everything they own.

shouldnt the person at least be informed what they did is unsafe?

then its up to them to fix it or not.

if it were me i would want to be informed

[hallerb]

so the bottom step will be 2 inches less than the remainder. a door to door solicitor comes by and trips because the steps dont match.

they can sue you if they get hurt. say lower back pain, impossible to prove one way or the other......

do you have homeowers insurance?

theres a reason code requires all steps to be the same height, because far too many people got hurt in the past from disassimiliar steps.......

oh well you were warned

[Robert Green]

Good golly, what do you eat that you can fit several of their bodies on a pan? Possums? Squirrels? Pigeons? Mice? (-:

-- Bobby G.

[The Daring Dufas]

Neighborhood pets and the occasional small child. I love children, the toes are the crunchy part. :-O

TDD

[plharris]

Yes I did see it, and thank you. If they are hollow core, I just fill them with Redi Mix for a use like this.

I was thinking the same thing. It was a pretty simple question. I've been noticing this newsgroup seems to be going the same direction as th tv show "This old house". Seems these days nothing is a simple repair, it's always got to be very costly, complicated, and involve a whole crew of pros, inspectors, and whatever else makes something as bloated as possible.

[Harry K]

Yep. I don't think I have ever seen on go off on a tangent and never address the base point before though :)

Harry K

[Harry K]

But with 43 posts about it being improperly attached it turns out it _was_ attached all along. Talk about people making unwarranted assumptions.

Codes vary from one place to another and saying that a deck has to be built to 'earthquake' standards without knowing what the codes are does the usual "assumption" thing. I think I will check with my local code enforcer today and see what they say for my area.

Harry K

[Evan]

ROFL... Being "held up off the ground on loosely stacked CMUs is not STRUCTURALLY SUPPORTED... Even if you grout the CMUs solid, they are not tied down to footings and bolted with the proper hangers, to keep the entire structure from shifting... Relying on the mass of the deck to hold it down IS *NEVER* proper, and it is not "independent support"...

Sounds like you are just playing semantics with the words and totally not understanding the defined concepts in the standard building code which still applies above and beyond whatever specific interpretations and additional protections the local AHJ adds to it...

~~ Evan

[Harry K]

=A0I dunno where this "deck" is located,

You don't know where it is but you somehow know what the local codes are.

Have you told the building inspectors in florida that footing need to be 4' deep for FROST protection? There aren't very many states that need to be that deep to be below the frost line. Last time I dug footing (1986 in E Washington) I only had to go 30". And yes tht was the code.

So all those pole buildings, sheds, etc being built around the country are not code compliant? Clue, you dig a hole tolocal code specs, stick the pole in and till with well tamped soil or gravel. Here, at least, there is no requirement for a "bell end".

So you don't know wher it is but insist you know what thelocal codes are.

Harry K

[hallerb]

theres a reason 43 posts were about what he did wrong......... because it was pure wrong and someone could get hurt:(

beyond the fiancial liability just the thought of hurting a person perhaps permanetely by building something half assed chills me.

I was at home depot the other day, a customer was telling the clerk he wanted to buy a 125 foot extension cord to run power permanetely to his back yard. he wanted to run the extension cord down the center of his driveway in the crack control slit the concrete guy just cut in his new driveway.

I said extension cords are not permanent and a real hazard someone walking down the driveway could step on the cord and get electrocuted.

the shopper asked wheres the extension cords? and he said he would tell his kids not to walk in that area:(

as i wealked away the sales guy who had a clue was attempting to explain futher why this wasnt a good idea.

i saw the customer later at a register, and said hop you never kill anyone........

he muttered something and must have been a wife said i told you that wasnt safe........

codes are there to prevent unnecessary pain and suffering

[The Daring Dufas]

I have come to believe in my latter years that there should be NO government mandated safety standards. I now believe that everything should be as dangerous as possible. All consumer items, all sports, all recreation and all manufacturing should be as perilous to life and limb without regard to protecting the dumb-asses of the world. If you stand in a puddle of water and operate a plug-in electric power tool, you deserve to be electrocuted. Ride you bike without a helmet, go ahead, get your brains scattered all over some street. Forget wearing eye protection during construction, being blind isn't so bad. I want natural selection, the human race is degrading because for some inexplicable reason, we promote reproduction of stupid people by protecting them from themselves. I want education for sure, I want the information about safe living to be available but I want nobody to be able to demand compensation when they do something stupid. I want extreme personal responsibility. You cause an accident through your stupidity and kill someone, it's a capital crime, death or life welded in a steel box where you will never have a chance to pass on your stupid genes. IT'S TIME TO THIN THE HEARD!! ^_^

TDD

[Harry K]

Yes, and codes are LOCAL. There is no US wide code. When some idiot says that footing need to be 4' deep for frost but "doesn't know where the poster is"... There is a whole bunch of bushwa in here about code compliance and noone even knows where he is or what the "code" is there. My guess is that his deck doesnt' meet them.

If you read through my posts, you will see that nowhere do I claim what he did is OK. I onlypoint out the stupid part of the posts people are throwing at him.

Harry K

[hallerb]

well snow and ice are accumulating so he isnt in florida, and would need some footer. so OP provided enough info to get a idea of what he was up too......

[krw]

You do it for the children?