Truckee Back Deck Rebuild

Work began with full demolition of the existing 368-square-foot rear deck. The old decking, framing, ledger, and peeled-log railing were removed down to bare ground, along with the original timber stair and treads. The existing concrete footings were broken out to grade to clear the way for a new engineered foundation.

Eight new spread footings were laid out per the engineered plan and hand-excavated to a 24-inch depth through the site's decomposed granite and cobble soil, working carefully around the pines flagged to remain in place. Rebar cages were cut, bent, and tied on site, then set inside Sonotube forms with Simpson CB66 post base anchors before pouring with an on-site mud mixer. A small concrete landing pad was also formed and poured at the base of the new stair location.

The ledger was reattached to the house with Z-flashing and a self-adhering waterproof membrane, then eight 6x6 posts were set on the new footings to carry two spliced 6x10 beams. Eighteen 4x8 joists were hung at 16 inches on center in Simpson hangers, with sistered joists and field-adjusted layouts where the framing had to route around the retained trees. Simpson tension ties anchored the ledger back into the house framing, and solid blocking was added atop the beams.

Huber ZIP System flashing tape was run across every joist, beam, and ledger top before decking went down, sealing the fastener penetrations and keeping water off the framing where rot typically starts.

Redwood decking was cut and fit around the retained trees and fastened down, with redwood fascia wrapped around the full perimeter. Heavy-timber stair stringers and treads were built to match the cabin's existing rustic character, landing on the new concrete pad.

In place of a standard guard rail, the open edge of the deck was built out with bench seating: nine shaped redwood seat posts were through-bolted to the fascia and blocking, with continuous redwood seat treads running the full open perimeter.