Driving Nails Inside 18" Footing

Posted by Bill Woessner on July 25, 2009, 5:33 pm

I'm planning a deck for my new house. I think I've got pretty much
everything figured out, but I'm concerned about one thing. My county
requires 18" round, 24" deep footings with 8" of concrete. If I only
use 8" of concrete, the post bases will be 16" down in an 18" hole.
There's no room to swing a hammer down there. How can I attach my
(6x6) posts to the post bases?

I have a couple ideas. Obviously, I could just pour enough concrete
to raise the post bases up to the surface. That's a LOT of concrete
to mix by hand, but it's not impossible. Another possibility is to
use screws instead of nails with a 90 degree drill attachment.
Anybody have a better idea? I'd really appreciate it.

Thanks in advance,
Bill

Posted by John Grabowski on July 25, 2009, 6:00 pm

> I'm planning a deck for my new house. I think I've got pretty much
> everything figured out, but I'm concerned about one thing. My county
> requires 18" round, 24" deep footings with 8" of concrete. If I only
> use 8" of concrete, the post bases will be 16" down in an 18" hole.
> There's no room to swing a hammer down there. How can I attach my
> (6x6) posts to the post bases?
> I have a couple ideas. Obviously, I could just pour enough concrete
> to raise the post bases up to the surface. That's a LOT of concrete
> to mix by hand, but it's not impossible. Another possibility is to
> use screws instead of nails with a 90 degree drill attachment.
> Anybody have a better idea? I'd really appreciate it.

*I think that every deck that I have seen has the footings come above the
surface so that the wood and hardware is not in direct contact with the
earth. The only thought that comes to my mind is to make wider holes.

I suppose you could put a long bolt directly into the footing with a long
protrusion. Then drill out the center of the post and have it slide over
it. I don't know how you would make a solid connection though.

Posted by Mike Paulsen on July 25, 2009, 10:20 pm

Bill Woessner wrote:

> I'm planning a deck for my new house. I think I've got pretty much
> everything figured out, but I'm concerned about one thing. My county
> requires 18" round, 24" deep footings with 8" of concrete. If I only
> use 8" of concrete, the post bases will be 16" down in an 18" hole.
> There's no room to swing a hammer down there. How can I attach my
> (6x6) posts to the post bases?
>
> I have a couple ideas. Obviously, I could just pour enough concrete
> to raise the post bases up to the surface. That's a LOT of concrete
> to mix by hand, but it's not impossible. Another possibility is to
> use screws instead of nails with a 90 degree drill attachment.
> Anybody have a better idea? I'd really appreciate it.
>
> Thanks in advance,
> Bill

Dig your 18" diameter hole 24" deep. Pour 8" of concrete.
Stick in a few vertical rebar near the center.
Let that sit for a bit.
Position an 8" (or 10") diameter sonotube over the center of the base.
(Pro Tip: the rebar should be inside the sonotube :)
Cut off sonotube, leaving at least a few inches above grade.
Carefully backfill.
Pour.
Done.

Run this by your local building inspector before you do it, of course.

Posted by jloomis on July 26, 2009, 9:41 am

There should be no post base and or wood post below grade.
The county will concur with this also.
If you are building a fence then I can see a post below grade.
What the county is saying is that they want the footing to be on undisturbed
soil and at least 24" deep and at least 18" round with no less than 8" of
concrete. It is a lot of concrete.
Usually we pour the pier hole with concreteand then drop a concrete pier in
that puddle of concrete and push it down till the pier pad is at least 3" or
more above grade......
johnLconstruction&concrete

Posted by Cabot on July 26, 2009, 9:17 pm

> There should be no post base and or wood post below grade.
> The county will concur with this also.

Where on Earth did you get such information?

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