How to Replace a Deck Post | This Old House

we're going to replace these three posts right here on the outside how do I get started first thing I want to do is temporarily sure the deck up alright that's it weights off and now we can remove our old posts first thing I want to do is remove this diagonal now we have to pull the nails and these brackets right here so we can free up post as a nail and somewhere all right Kevin let me show you what I have here with the old post we have a hole on the bottom of the old post this pin that sticks out of the concrete pier was meant to keep the post on the pier so if someone should hit it it won't slide off but it doesn't stop the post from rising up up lift no up lift protection so what we need to do is improve upon that and we're going to use this post base right here I'm going to set it on top of the pier and we're going to fasten it alright so this is going to give us a separation between the concrete and the bottom of the post so that's going to be nice to slow down the rock right and it's also going to make the connection so the post can't lift up so we've got to get this into the pier how we going to do that I'm going to drill a hole into the post because I can't use this threaded rod because these threads are no good I can't use it now I want to place the post base over the pin and right about in the same location the post was so now I can drill a new hole I decide this pin for a new fasten using a masonry bit in the hammer drill I'm going to drill down about two-and-a-half to three inches all right that's it now I want to cut that pin off here's how we're going to attach our post base to our concrete pier using this mechanical fastener right here it actually goes into the hole and at the bottom of the fastener there's actually a cone at the top there's a nut when I tighten the nut the cone pulls into the cylinder expanding the sidewalls locking it into position all right set the post base into position and I'll take the fastener drive it into the hole that's it so now to get the post height we want to measure off of our post base to the underside of our beam and our new post will be 51 and 3/4 of an inch now to nail it off I'm going to use these nails right here that's specifically designed for metal hangers post caps and post bases now I'm going to reattach this 2x4 nailer to the post using a small timber hanger our two outside posts are in and before we install our Center posts we want to make sure that this beam is straight to do that we've measured down from the top of the beam 16 inches in place to nail now we'll take a string line and we'll run it across the porch connect it on to your nail pull it tight I'm going to nail here that's also down 16 inches and I'll measure down from the top of the beam to our string line and we have 16 inches so now we can cut this post okay knock off the temporary post now the old diagonal braces that were nailed to the deck before were actually nailed to the beam here and to the post here and they were placed on the flat I like to take the diagonal braces and place them flat against the beam and flat against the post which gives me more surface to screw to and it's a stronger connection those diagonal braces are really important when you're building a deck up on posts like this because it really stiffens it up laterally all right so some good bracing some new posts and we've got some new bases too we're good to go

Channel: This Old House

Views: 587,865

Rating: 4.8898535 out of 5

Keywords: This Old House, Ask This Old House, DIY, Home Improvement, DIY Ideas, Renovation, Renovation Ideas, How To Fix, How To Install, How To Build, deck, decking, post, supports, Construction Worker, ConstructionHome Repair, Do It Yourself, Tom Silva, kevin o'connor, tom silva this old house, tom silva house, tom silva construction, tom silva tools, tommy silva

Id: fpA_NyFQcqU

Length: 4min 18sec (258 seconds)

Published: Sun Oct 12 2014