Thread: what footings?

gday coansha

what are the dimensions & height of the deck you plan? what type of soil are you building on? there should be no problems with the t/p & ironbark plan. i would be inclined to use stirrups in your instance.

r's brynk

In reply point for point -
1. I have a big preference for stirrup in ground with posts attched to these out of ground.
2. Fill footing hole with concrete - NOT Quickset!!!
3. You can build decks 100mm of the ground but in the end the height of the deck will be governed by whatever house level or pool level you want to join it to.
4. On the job I just finished I bolted the bearer straight onto the brick wall. People will recommend Chemi-bolt. I just Tru-bolted.
5a. Be wary of bounce and spring in your deck when using treated pine. Your sectional sizes of timber will need to be bigger. I always use F17 because of it's strength. I then rubber strip (Protectadeck) all the members to protect from rain before laying the decking boards. The thing I hate most on decks is spring. With the job I just finished you jump up and down and you may as well be jumping on concrete, that's how strong and sound it feels.
5b. never used Red Iron Bark but am thinking of it. I'm sick of the tannin bleed from Merbau (although it looks fantastic when wet).

Hope I helped,
Dr - 307.

brynk/ Dr-307, Thanks for the replies.
I have attached a picture of where the pool will be, also showing existing brick deck. I will use stirrups, but should I concrete them to the footings or bolt them in? Also, is there any issue with termites with building the deck to the wall. I noticed a couple of posts about ant caps, are they required on to of the posts? I am 100k south of sydney. Thanks for the rubber strip tip.
I will use red ironbark if I can gt it, although the deck will be approx 80m2, so price will have a bearing, nothing against Merbau but it just seems everyone is using it!

Hopefully you can see a picture of where the pool will be, also an exel file of the plan.

Originally Posted by coansha

I will use stirrups, but should I concrete them to the footings or bolt them in?

350 diameter hole by 600 deep. Put stirrup (with a 350 - 400mm leg) in hole and fill with concrete (remember NOT Quickset!!!!!). I normally fill 1/2 the hole with concrete then set the stirrup in to the correct height, jiggle it into place roughly, fill the rest of the hole around the stirrup, jiggle and move stirrup into exact position. I make the concrete mix slightly wetter and I mean only slightly wetter so that I'm sure it's filling all the air bubble gaps around the stirrup. Never had a problem.

Attachment 66271

Thanks for the rubber strip tip.

You're welcome, it's the best stuff.

Can someone tell me if you can wall ledger along a pool's concrete side. I was talking to a pool guy at the job I just finished and he says no problem. Any other opinions?

Cheers,
Dr - 307.

Can someone tell me if you can wall ledger along a pool's concrete side. I was talking to a pool guy at the job I just finished and he says no problem. Any other opinions?


I was thinking of doing exactly that! - ledger along pool concrete side. I will use a supporting wall on the other side and so plan to put the ledger on that. I will use the footings for the end section....

sal-yoots - guess i'll play devil's advocate...

i would be dis-inclined to drill into the concrete wall of a pool (while it is filled with water or otherwise), mainly because...
(a) it is better to keep the two structures independent of each other for movement concerns - this holds true in most cases where part of the structure is supported by its own footings and part by the existing structure; and
(b) because i don't own a conc. pool and if i had cause to be drilling into one it would probably be a friend's or client's and if something went wrong then i wouldn't want to have to fix it.

dr, hate to be anal but concrete mix has a specific maximum strength water/cement ratio of around about 0.57:1 - if you're adding water to make it to that ratio then no worries, if you're adding water beyond that then you are only weaking the concrete in the long run. if you get up to around 0.7:1 then you are now weaker than a packet-mix of rapid-set (which is at best 60% of maximum strength of a good batch of general purpose) - if you are concerned about voids in the mix then agitate/poke/prod/slap it as you place it. you know you are on it when it is looking like jelly when you jiggle the top of the mix rapidly and it bounces around like the layer of potential energy around my beer gut.

r's brynk

No probs brynk,
I poke and prod too. No worries. Of course I don't get out my chemical set to work out water ratios and I would bet that most if not all who mix concrete would use the 'it's about right' method of mixing it up. And not many would know the water ratio. I only meant wetter than drier / stiffer although stiffer would help with the prodding.....

As far as the pool wall ledger goes, the pool guy said no problem. They build decks around pools like that all the time.

Cheers,
Dr - 307.

hi 307,
why no quickset?
you reckon that not as strong? wouldnt it depend on how thorough the mix is and water addition etc?
I have used it over the years with no probs, but then that maybe just what ive not heard!