Raised decking over existing patio, footings?

[kayellj]

Hi guys,

Our garden is currently two tiered.

• Grass furthest from the house
• then a raised (~500mm) patio made up of 600x600 concrete flags adjacent to the house

We need to install a small raised deck roughly 3400x1200x600 (WxDxH) to provide access to the back door.

I am struggling for a plan with what to do about the footings for the support posts. The general advice is to dig holes below frost line and concrete posts in place which would be fine for soil. I have lifted one of the flags to find roughly 400mm of hardcore, sat on top of what looks like another level of concrete flags which digging through is going to be a nightmare.

Would bolting 4 100x100 steel post shoes to the existing patio be sufficient or do I need to crack out the hammer drill?

Advice would be appreciated.

 

[Tigercubrider]

There are plastic devices like loft legs that are designed to work in your situation