I have a new deck going in the back of my house, about 6' off the ground. Made a HUGE mistake and made cuts on the posts 4.5" too short. Short of removing the posts and concrete, digging new holes and starting over, do any of these sound like good solutions?
- Bolt a 4.5" shim to the top of the post to raise it
- Remove post, add 5" of wet concrete to hole, re-use post
- Place beams in notch and bolt to post. Add three 2x4s on top of each beam, attach these to the joists
Feeling pretty low right now, any guidance is much appreciated! Thanks!
Update #1: Responding to questions below:
- Posts are 6×6
- Top has been cut off posts and notch made for beams
- Cement was added around posts in the post holes per code requirements
- Primary goal = safety/code compliance. Cost is the major consideration in not starting over with new posts
I'm leaning towards option #3 below (clarified above). Any concerns about this? I discussed it with the city code inspector who thought it would be fine.
Best Answer
Were the posts going to be notched or is the beam going to sit directly on top of the posts? If they were to be notched, you could skip the notch and put the beam directly on top, attaching it with some metal brackets.
How many posts are we talking bout here and what size are they? 4x5 or 6x6? How tall is the beam? Cold you just make the beam taller? That is essentially what you are suggesting with the 2x4s on top. For example, you could go from a 2x10 to a 2x12 and then add a single 2x4 on top of it.
user68825 is right, you almost never want to put the post in concrete in the ground. If its on top of the pier, you can always repair or replace them years later down the road when it comes time to rebuild the deck.