Footing options for composite deck

[Dylan T]

Hi all - Currently planning out my composite deck build, and am weighing up some footing options. It's not a high deck, with the joists not far above the ground and after watching various videos there seem to be so many more products and options around now. I haven't built a deck before, but I've done a lot of fencing, and was going to repeat the basic option of a post in a hole with some postcrete. It's been fine in the past, but does seem a little overkill for such a short post to go in, and I have a lot of holes to dig. My garden is also quite boggy and i know sometimes the postcrete clumps can end up moving about.

The other main options out there I would have clearance for seem to be:

- Ground screws such as here
- Cardboard tube former with concrete such as here (seems to be an american thing)
- A hole with a couple of concrete blocks and then an adjustable foot, either in plastic or metal (that does give me an extra degree of flexibility to level as I go). I think some call this a block bearer system.

I've got 15 holes to do overall. Would be interested to hear people's opinions of the best way to do this in 2022!

 

[phatboy]

I did mine by digging down about 60cm, putting half a concrete block in the bottom, then the post and a bag of postmix. If there was any movement, when the frame was bolted onto it there wouldn't be anymore.

I took it all apart a few weeks back for an extension... I'd over engineered it, it appeared! Nightmare to remove....

 

[cdbe]

I used a load of (free from Freecycle) 2 foot concrete slabs - great for load spreading on soft ground.

 

[Dylan T]

I used a load of (free from Freecycle) 2 foot concrete slabs - great for load spreading on soft ground.

Thanks - just bracketed some uprights off this? I've got loads of slabs to break up (unfortunately i cant use them where they are as their ground level is too high)

 

[Nige F]

I used a load of (free from Freecycle) 2 foot concrete slabs - great for load spreading on soft ground.

I had slabs that were already laid so I just had short wooden legs going onto the slabs resting on a piece of dpc. Legs were soaked in preserver for a week