My House Is Falling Down! | DIY Deck Post Rot Repair & Replacement

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Welcome to the official April Wilkerson YouTube channel. I’m April and I’m the creator of Wilker Do’s. I'm not professional or have any training, so I just pick the project I want to tackle and figure it out step by step. On this channel you will find a variety of content like DIY home improvement, How-To’s, construction and more.

[CharlesSoden]

Great tips, the only thing I dont like is encasing the post in concrete. For a load bearing application pouring a pier or footer that the post can sit on is much stronger. Think of a continuous load path downward. Pouring concrete around the post is great for fences where you need to hold the post side to side but don't have a downward force. Use a sono tube to bring the footer above grade and add a standoff post bracket and you'll never deal with rot again

[_WillCAD_]

I've seen so many deck supports rot over time because they're not properly protected from ground moisture.

I'm not a builder or anything, but I've always thought it made more sense to pour a solid concrete footing first, then use a steel post base connector to set the wooden post on top of the concrete. This way, the posts never touch the ground, never absorb moisture from the curing concrete, and if damaged they can be replaced without digging out the ground or the concrete.

[wilburfinnigan]

It seems a better way to fix would have been to pour a concrete footing/pillar with a simpson galvanized tie bracket to hold the wood post above the ground, very common method !!

[scottmarrero]

Great video as usual. I would totally have used 3/4" galvanized bolts to hold the new scabbed section to the existing post. Those posts are holding up the weight of multiple levels. Construction adhesive and deck screws alone, don't supply the same shear strength that large deck bolts have. Just my thoughts.

[reddragon]

Old school, dip the posts in tar. Burn them or dip in Creosote. I've seen so many pressure treated posts rot prematurely. Or best cement footers with posts in a metal bracket above the cement so wood dries quickly. Even with Life Long Post sleeve products, a footer with post in a metal bracket will last the longest. We use this in the Northeast of New England. Then to make them last evan longer on the footer's spray regular for termite's!

[MannyFontes]

April, next time use a 1/4 inch thick by 3 inch square metal plate at the top of the jack piston to keep it from digging into the wood once you start jacking the porch up.

[TheDjcarter]

WoW really....I'm from Texas too and if I'm supporting a huge double deck porch like that I'm going deeper and using footings, you are just doing a quick easy fix that will probably last 10-20 years if you are lucky but with that much weight deep set footings above ground with metal brackets are the way to go. Even if I was doing a good size deck I would probably do footing although they wouldn't need to be that deep. In south Texas we dig to the Caliche and then would dig past it a little just to be sure and it is a huge pain and hard going but needs to be done to do it right. Finally make sure the deck is NOT level it needs to slope away from the house a quarter to half inch is plenty but necessary.

[WillysPerformanceCycleCtr]

Great solution to a common problem. You definitely found a couple of jacks big enough for the job! Thanks for sharing your step by step instructions for leveling a deck. Take care April. Certainly appreciate all you do!

[Hoakaloa]

Thanks! This gave me such a relief of perspective in terms of the minor problems I have with my deck!

[robertgullickson]

I’m glad you explained the frontline situation and as well as the bedrock in your area. You tackle any job. I’m impressed!

[anindividual]

I've had similar struggles. I've starting pretreating my posts with a used motor oil/diesel fuel 1:1 mix. That's seemed to help. I have some cattle sheds to rebuild, so I have decided also that I'm going to pour a concrete casing and then use brackets to connect the posts from here on out. The water and manure mix is really hard on stuff.

[jbmorrow]

Our deck is supported on cement filled ABS pipe - never any rot. Thx for all your content!

[cdb]

Your right there is a solution to what ever the problem is. The problem is coming up with the right solution.

[prestonlane]

In addition to the other comments about not putting the posts into ground, here in the southeast a lot of porches have that much slant (out of level) to allow water to shed during a storm.

[evslone]

Great fix, April. So important to pay attention to your structure. It may sound crazy but doing a walk around every month or two can discover and solve problems before they get out of hand.

[berrymand]

Well done. We have been waiting for a video of you using the outdoor kitchen, cookout, giant deck, ...

[dddube]

Absolutely great content!!!! Thanks for more great ideas, and jigs!!!! Always something going on at the Dave!

[kxmap]

Soo, ya had a tough day at work, came home and jacked the house up!! Very nice very nice!!

[erselbst]

The beam will only last a few years and then rot again. On the one hand, because it is unprotected where wood transports water best. and on the other hand he is buried in the ground. In this way, it will always absorb moisture from the soil. Since it cannot dry off again in the ground, it rots again. It would be better if the beam would sit in a concreted steel beam (in Germany this is called "Balken-Schuh") or it would stand on a stone foundation with a moisture barrier. Of course, it would be better if it were additionally impregnated. I see your way of setting up a balk more often in videos from the States. But I don't understand why the rotten beam is replaced in the same way instead of being placed in such a way that it doesn't get wet again. In Germany you can find half-timbered houses that are 300-400 years old. And they consist of a wooden framework on a stone base, so that the base beam never has direct contact with the damp subsoil.

[BearCreekWoodworking]

Ok… This is one of your MASSIVE projects April! You did an awesome job fixing it! 👏👍😃