# Take a look at this disaster and offer some thoughts on repairs.



## barry1219 (Oct 8, 2011)

*I went to look at a job yesterday unrelated to this issue and when I mentioned to the new owner I was a GC he said take a look at this. Went out to the back of the house and looked up and quikly backed away..took out my camera and said i would have to get with my Arch/Engineer and get back to him.




























Near as I can tell the plans called for the walkway to be supported by 2 other columns. He had a set of plans on site I looked at quickly & 2 off set columns were proposed. Seems like the change or deletion came into play when the walkway would only be <38" wide and it leads to a rental so he had fire/life issues. Walkway as it sits now is <65" and he achieved that by deleting the columns. If the beam were constructed of steel I-beam I don't think the issue would be so bad..he used lumber and the flashing was not done correctly and the rot has set in since work was done in 2005. Builder is long gone and house is not going to get CO until this is addressed. I also can't believe the beam is not attached on the left end to a column!...it is a bad situation all around. 
My gut feeling is pool may have to be shortened to allow for columns to be placed or get a variance for smaller in width walkway and replace with steel I-beam.
Some quick details:
Length of beam is 30'
Width of walkway is about 63"
Elevation to bottom of beam is about 9'
I am not in any of the pics..lol..owner and son in law.
*


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## 480sparky (Feb 1, 2009)

barry1219 said:


> [.......Seems like the change or deletion came into play when the walkway would only be <38" wide and it leads to a rental so he had fire/life issues. Walkway as it sits now is <65" and he achieved that by deleting the columns.........



I'm confused.

65" up above? or 65" at ground level?

I can see, _maybe_, 65" up above.... but no way is there 65" at ground level.... between that slider and the pool.

Besides........ where were the columns going to set? In the pool???


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## TimNJ (Sep 7, 2005)

Tear it down and start over.


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## woodchuck2 (Feb 27, 2008)

I think he is saying 65" width of the upper walkway. I do not know what the code is but i am going to assume 60". A steel beam may resolve the issue but i would tear the whole thing off and start over. That would be a huge beam though and now you talking large supports for the beam, next will there be enough concrete to work with or will that have to come up so you have a good foundation for the beam supports?


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## woodchuck2 (Feb 27, 2008)

"*Seems like the change or deletion came into play when the walkway would only be <38" wide and it leads to a rental so he had fire/life issues. Walkway as it sits now is <65" and he achieved that by deleting the columns."

It would seem to me they could have left the beam in with the columns and cantilevered the deck out to get the 65" width. Actually now that i look at it does the walkway between the pool and the home fall into the fire/life issue for egress? If so then the pool is the whole problem and needs to be shortened.
*


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## KnottyWoodwork (May 23, 2010)

Throw a couple skyjacks under there, and call it chicken :laughing:

But that's going to take the struct. engineer's input, and follow his plans. My bet is going to steel support beams.

What I have questions on is the two different styles of railing. The part on the right by the door is different from the rest.


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## Randy Bush (Mar 7, 2011)

Is that out beam a glue lam now?? I agree tear it off and start over right.


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## Randy Bush (Mar 7, 2011)

KnottyWoodwork said:


> Throw a couple skyjacks under there, and call it chicken :laughing:
> 
> But that's going to take the struct. engineer's input, and follow his plans. My bet is going to steel support beams.
> 
> What I have questions on is the two different styles of railing. The part on the right by the door is different from the rest.


Iam thinking that is a step up for the door on that side. Skyhooks all the way, problem solved. :thumbsup:


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## Red Adobe (Jul 26, 2008)

Yah thats a mess, what about a deleting the existing and not spanning the pool at all, wrap around to the right of the door and down

beings its above a pool (a whole lot of moisture 24/7 from evap) the only other thing I see to do is a steel walkway


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## Inner10 (Mar 12, 2009)

Looks like you need some submersible jack posts.


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## jb4211 (Jul 13, 2010)

It seems like you have no choice but to tear it down. Do you need a deck above the pool? If so, when rebuilding possibly some angled posts going from beam to bottom of the house. 

I don't see a ledger board. What are the joists attached to?


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## jb4211 (Jul 13, 2010)

What about running several GluLam's parallel to the house to act as joists. They can span great distances unsupported. Run the decking at 45 degrees to aid in preventing lateral movement.


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## Paulie (Feb 11, 2009)

jb4211 said:


> It seems like you have no choice but to tear it down. *Do you need a deck above the pool*? If so, when rebuilding possibly some angled posts going from beam to bottom of the house.
> 
> I don't see a ledger board. What are the joists attached to?


What else are you going to jump off of after having a few to many?

It's a demo and rebuild vote here. So much faster/cheaper to demo. Then you can cover liability (which looks large here) on your work.


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## D. Jones Const (Dec 31, 2009)

Tear it down and start over, get an engineer to spec out a beam and proper size footings for the span.


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## barry1219 (Oct 8, 2011)

There is no doubt it is a tear down and rebuild. My questions were ideas to correct issues. 
When I looked at plans I think the original mistake was assuming there was enough area on back end of pool for
columns at the width walkway needs to be for code. On site they figured out they only had about 38" of area for columns. So they punted. Lol.


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## Rio (Oct 13, 2009)

It looks like there's another issue with the wall next to the pool. There's supposed to be 7' of undisturbed or compacted dirt from the edge of a footing to daylight and it looks like there's only 3' or so which means that unless the footing for that wall goes below the pool it is putting a surcharge on the pool wall. This also might be the case with one or more of the columns.

For the screwed up beam situation the first thing I'd do is strip off all of the stucco and get it down to the wood to see what is going on specifically and then enlist the help of a competent engineer or an architect who knows engineering (rare but they do exist) and take it from there.

Also I'd shore this up in some manner before proceeding on doing anything; wouldn't want the whole shebang to come crashing down while doing the forensic work.


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## mrcharles (Sep 27, 2011)

If you ripped all the decking and the railing off. and the ledger is secured at the house better than it looks in the pictures, then there is enough room under the pool to build a temp wall and jack everything back in place. 

Then rip out the existing beam and replace with a steel beam specked out by your SE, cut the concrete on the left side and replace install a new column. 

FYI you can try and jack the deck with the decking in place, just I have found it much harder to get the movement you need everywhere. 

Re deck and re install the railing... Bada-bing.


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## G5handyman (Jan 20, 2012)

I agree with the other post. I'd rip the old deck, then remove the decking. Then you can either replace with steel or you could look into a fab beam but I think you'll find the steel the better choice. Then it's just a matter of jacking the beam in place and reinstall the decking. Remember this, it's easier to build a fence then to repair an old one.


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## Rio (Oct 13, 2009)

Thinking more on this project and the proximity of the pool to the building I'd bet that the pool was an afterthought, done without a permit, and as a result is way too close. This is also probably the reason the original posts were omitted. 

The pool will probably have to come out, backfilled and compacted (or backfilled and compacted or backfilled with sand or other non compressible fill per an engineer's recommendation).


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## TLHWindows (Jan 5, 2012)

Remove downstairs door and replace with window, and then add in a twisty slide into the pool. Tell the inspector is was designed as a water park! :thumbsup:


But serious, that project looks like a big  waiting to happen.

I'm not a GC, but I would think fill in the pool, tear down and rebuild the deck. Then either build a deck with a super cool hot tub or small pool if it will fit. I'd build a Tiki bar!


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