Unpopular Opinion: This looks like a really overbuilt deck, I seriously doubt that support is ever going to make an ounce of difference in the overall life of the deck. Throw the hate throw the hate. I've seen houses with 2x4 rafters on 36in centers still standing fine from the 1920s.
the majority have voted for this with their wallets. Houses were traditionally much smaller than they are these days. $/sqft is what sells, unfortunately.
This kind of shit is why I do everything myself. Just because you pay out the ass doesn’t mean they know what they’re doing or are going to do it right. Hired a plumber from a business that’s been around for years, he did a jacked up job and charged me literally twice the other estimates. One contractor pretty much told me what kind of tile I was going to buy. I told him “well hell, if you’re paying you can use whichever tile you want” so that was the end of him. I’m glad I didn’t because I went to someone’s house he did a job for and I could feel the corners of the tile sticking up even with shoes on. Three or four contractors never even came back to start the job. That was all within a few years or less. Since then I’ve bought enough tools to start a construction company and have to use my free time because I’m better off.
Amen. If you want something done right, do it yourself. Too many “jack of all trades” guys out there who think they know everything. It does suck though. I’m redoing my parent’s bathroom right now, and then there’s a second bathroom that’s even worse, and going to need redone soon too. On top of about 100 other projects. Whatever, you can’t find good help these days, not that we could afford to pay their prices anyway. Everybody wants top tier pay for garbage work. Thank God my grandad taught me how to do all this sh*t lol.
Guys that do work like this have kept me busy for years fixing their mistakes/laziness. Sad to see stuff like this out there but I appreciate the work 😂
Honestly there are way too many videos of shit jobs and not nearly enough of good workmanship. Because honestly I start to think 50% of contractors are garbage.
@@minimonkeyplay most of my work isn't fixing crappy work, exactly. Usually the work isn't too bad. Most of the time it's just not built with the elements in mind. Like, something would be built to last indoors, but it's outdoors. So they clearly never had water, drainage, rot, etc. in mind. Or they just flat out used the wrong kind of wood, fasteners, etc.. They build stuff to pass inspection. But they give zero thought to what it will look like in 20 years. Lazy shit like building a deck/fence with drywall screws that are just gonna rust away quickly, especially treated wood. That's the kind of stuff that drives me crazy, but pays the bills.
@@minimonkeyplay 50% aren't garbage. 50% are crooks. 40% are garbage. But there is that rare 10% guy who knows his stuff and won't steal from the customer. Love those guys!
They took the time to measure, mark and cut notches out of the beam, but couldn't be bothered to properly install a vertical, load bearing support 🤦🏻♀️ This is why I am so glad and proud of my husband for doing things like this himself. He will take weeks (if needed) to learn the proper way to do something, gather all the correct materials, and take a as long as it takes to do something properly. Especially for a project like this, where lives are possibly as stake if that were to collapse with someone in or possibly below the deck with a full hot tub.
@@SubWaySpiderman You can see very much so that this isn't the case though. Is the lumber shrinkage the reason they used a Deck Block meant for 4x4s and they used a 6x6, on top of grass instead of digging "2 inches down" for the concrete slab?
*Homeowner:* The hot tub is sinking on the deck! *Contractor:* Nope! That's your imagination! You have the newest WIRELESS deck supports! You can't see it, but it's there! That sinking is meant for "comfort".
This is exactly why inspections and permits are important, and with that being said, I don't worry about ever getting them because I am not a piece of crap.
I grew up working in this field. Sometimes I doubt myself, and then I see these videos and it reminds me that, although I may not be perfect I am far above the level of these fools
Happens a lot more than you think. I was going to buy a house that had about 10 reinforced supports for the floor on pea gravel and then I wondered why they were there. I asked for 15k more off the price the owner said NO so I didn’t buy the house. Don’t be afraid to back out of sketchy construction
I was willing to go for 2 branches of aluminum wiring (7k to fix, by licensed electrician), but was very mad they walked w all the original light fuxtures (1968 MCM), 62 brass pulls that were real unique, the drapes (wtf? Who steals the DRAPES on a huge window that's 20 feet long??), you name it. Then proceeded to paint (?? Nobody asked to you) and go over original parquet floors. AFTER the signed contract!! Then Coldwell jerked me around for weeks to get my EM back. KNOWING the manger there, even. They didn't want to budge, AT ALL, on price. If you believe that. Never again deal w any real estate agents or brokerages as long as I live. I'll buy FSBO. It's not brain surgery to read and set up the contracts. Any idiot could do it in a few hours, max. Lawyer. That's it.
I've been doing construction for 25 years and lost jobs because some illegals will do it for a couple hundred cheaper. I stopped doing any jobs for anyone now because no one wants to pay. I'd rather stay home and do nothing then work for peanuts. I have trailers full of tools and trucks and excavators all sitting for over a year now only doing projects around my house. People don't want good they want dirt cheap and that's why you get this
It's everywhere now. No longer just Chinese tofu/dregs construction. Even the UK isn't being spared. With developers still using the building cladding that caught fire and killed people.
Precisely why I do it myself. If you want it done right build your own deck. Do your homework first. I saved myself $6000 by doing it myself. Too many contractors want to collect your money and move onto the next job. It’s hard to find a conscientious and responsible contractor.
Professionals did my concrete patio, and a number of years later I doubled the size of it myself. It’s not obvious when it’s dry, but when it’s wet you can tell that my slab is smoother because no water accumulates anywhere on it. They just did their half as quickly as possible and left. Unless they were the same clowns that poured my driveway so it slopes towards the garage when it could’ve easily been sloped away from the garage. The amount of f@ckery it took to correct that was unbelievable.
@@josedias2585 The economy is going to shit because people keep voting for individuals who only want to line their pockets. And the reason skilled labor is expensive is because there are so few people who are skilled now a days. Everyone side the trades were for stupid people with no options.
@Gravedigger933 there's really no one with a clear head to vote for, so that's not anyone's fault but big corporations, big money companies. Your right though. There is no true skill with this new gen. Some companies don't help that, instead of teaching and taking on young apprentices they turn them down for "experience" on paper. I'm a maintenance mechanic and I see ppl come in all the tike with certification for electric and welding and don't know how to wire up a 3 phase motor or put a connector on a 240 wire.
i work in Atlanta and i cannot tell you how much shit like this i'm seeing. the build quality and short-sightedness around the home renovations, pools, and "McMansions" being literally thrown up is astonishing.
I moved with my mom to live and help her. Years back during covid time frame. The house is now more or less repaired. What I saw from the Hispanic workers is really pretty terrible. Blacks shitty. One white guy good. Tree company was Hispanic and amazing. Most of the juans can't get much done past 80 percent
It's the hard working Mexicans they keep letting do all these jobs. People need to understand, Mexicans are hard workers, but they are not good craftsmen. So, the job will get done really quick and under budget, but then there's the lawsuit from the customer and bad reviews.
@Pleasemison um, are you okay? Why did you make this about ethnic background? Contractors don't do good or bad work because they're Black, white, or Hispanic; they do shitty work because they're shitty contractors, or good work because they're good contractors. Ancestry doesn't figure into that at all.
I hate lazy contractors. The guy that did my in-laws basement never ceased to amaze me by how frequently he cut corners and screwed every little thing up. And then complained, lied, or tried to avoid fixing it. I could never continue to do business with someone like that. The in-laws just kept paying him. I'll never understand.
Except, we've estaished that jacking it up isn't necessary, because the support isn't even touching the block now anyway. So, do everything you just said, but skip the first step, because it's not even necessary😅
@@KiraBKADestroyerOfWorlds You still probably need to jack up the deck to make enough clearance, to not only install a proper footing, but make it so the deck can put a load on it, when lowered. There by making it stable and level.
So whats the fix since the rest seem okay? I ask bec i have almost exact problem but just for 1 beam that could not be dug due to sprinkler system interference. Thnx
nuh uh. tear the whole thing down. i wouldnt trust these original builders worth an inch if they're making mistakes like this. ESPECIALLY with a hot tub on that deck. this sort of stuff is a sick joke
@@adamwielebinski7837Yeah total replacement probably isn't necessary here. This can be fixed. Contractors shouldn't exaggerate the issues, that's just as bad.
@@markcleary9169 both of your comments are correct and reinforce my comment. He said 2Xs, and 4Xs, he didn't say 2X4s. They are mede for 4X4s vertical, and 2Xs horizontal, but not 2X4s, they aren't strong enough to support either way.
I have little understanding of what exactly is going here. However I have one question: DOES IT WORK? Y/N Does it do what it is intended to? Does it support the hot tub? If the weight of the tub/deck increases.. will it support the maximum weight? As in.. act like the fourth axle on a dump truck?
You know what, these guys are genuis, when it falls or sinks in that 2x4 will meet that deck block perfectly, so theres just room for error it will be flush eventually
@@riclmena9395LOL the block doesn't matter one bit. It will sort the load regardless of whether the post sits on top or inside the groove. That post doesn't care if it's in the groove or not.
It's good quality. Once that 3000 plus pounds of water in in that tub the deck will set perfectly on that block. People are not thinking about the deck flex before commenting. I've done a similar deck for a hot tub and this will end up working perfect.
Lolol this is what i preach about the cheap guy! I used to get upset when i lost a bid to someone being a few thousand cheaper, now i just laugh because the customer will have to pay twice!
Decks are one of those things where you really get what you pay for. When I worked for a builder, we had a subcontractor who's entire focus was building the decks. Some builders pay the framers the same low rate to frame that ,as the rest of the house. A builder near me just put up about 100 homes with decks and all (some a story high) with no footings. Caused a bunch of problems In the houses as well.
I do concrete and I am of the same mind. Customers will get a quotes that is pennies on the dollar from my quote and all I can do is laugh because their quote won’t even cover the cost of materials most of the time . Skilled labor isn’t cheap and cheap labor isn’t skilled
I remember when I first started building houses, the first project I ever took on, was eleven town houses. I was in way over my head, so I asked my buddy if I could hire him to help me manage for the first few months until I got the hang of it. He was happy to help. The only thing he said was if I steal any of his subs, our relationship will be over, and he might even get into a physical altercation with me. Good subcontractors are very hard to find. So when you find them, protect them, and take good care of them. Because the good ones don’t need you. They have a line of people waiting to hire them.
@@rawfoodwriter not really. The deck boards will have a slight bubble to them. Once the weight of the filled hot tub pushes down on the arches of the boards it will level the boards perfectly sitting on the concrete block. This is actually a perfectly acceptable job in my opinion. I've helped build a deck like this and the deck leveled out after a bit and was perfectly fine
I build pools and do hardscapes and every wood deck even on new builds are shit. I’ve seen them on mortar foundations, screws stick out in steps, loose handrails, loose everything else. It just makes you wonder what the framing in the walls looks like. 😬
I can almost guarantee that this was a homeowner special. Someone took the time to notch the beam at every joist. If you're a builder trying to cut corners you don't make a bunch of extra work for yourself. To address your comment though, I can give you an explanation. Everyone thinks they can build decks. They think it's easy and doesn't require any skill or knowledge. Builders don't want to pay to sub out the work so they just have their framers or whoever they have around throw up a deck.
This is why I have trust issues and fix everything myself. If im paying someone to fix something, im going to be watching them like a hawk the whole time lol
@@sigma7285 That's what I say. If you know so much, have at it. I don't need your money. I'm not being stared at the whole time. You can come in and check, watch for a few minutes, but the whole time? If I catch that vibe I'll raise the estimate.
Four *thousand* pounds? I have two 100gal fuel tanks. Filled completely (they never are; gotta have the expansion space), they’d only weigh 1,500 lbs (the tanks don’t weigh much empty). Four *thousand* with water and the Klumps sitting in it! 😂
Water weighs around 8 pounds per gallon. A hot tub that can accommodate 6-8 people (granted this is on the large side but that deck looks like a large area) contains anything from 500 gallons or more. 500 x 8 = 4000
Once the hot tub is filled, it gives the needed tension to the deck and all connections, so this is more rigid to vibration. The 2 inches of dirt to the lowest concrete are working just fine as a damper against earthquakes.. Really thoughtful design. Thanks for sharing Jeff. #Masterpiece #Woodheads@work
Dude- the notches are obviously Japanese joinery and the free floating 6x6 doubles as earthquake protection and helps the rest of the deck to flex and accommodate a large load for when he brings a drunk fat girl back to his hot tub at 2 am - learn something new every day
Why a fat girl though? A fat girl would put less weight on the deck than a skinny girl. Water by volume is heavier than a human and the fat girl occupies a lot more volume which means less water weight in the tub overall which means less load on the deck
Man, American building is wild. Even the fact you have deck blocks. Here every pile needs to be driven or bored to a certain depth and concreted in place.
@HUEMOB yeah, and humans don't live long at all either. Parts of my house were built in the 1860s, and they're still in good shape. Any good dry laid stone wall should last 500 years or so. The earth has been spinning around the sound for billions of years. Imagine a city with a population of 100,000. Ten times that, is one million. One million is 1 1000th of a billion. My point is that 50 years is nothing. We are also nothing. We are little, tiny, pathetic hairless apes that exist to be born, breed, and die. Actually, we don't know why we exist. There is no real purpose to life beyond what purpose a person gives it. We go through so much effort to rationalize, to make it easier to handle that reality. Religion gives a set of hard rules based upon what feels "right" and "wrong" and has consequences to make people feel they need to follow those rules. That's why so many younger people don't have any sense of being or purpose because they were never taught to accept religion or rules. Morals are just a suggestion to them because there is no concept of an eternal consequence. If shit gets too hard, you can just kill yourself without any consequences.
No worries. Jack up the deck 1/2 inch, remove the soil, and replace the block with a bigger one, or shim the existing one after the soil is removed. Easy Peasy. You’ll thank me later !!!!
Yeah and your good ol boy trailer park repair job would've failed the inspection again. What about the integrity of the saddle beam? All those notches have completely ruined it. My guess, is the contractor forgot the joist clips, and cut-corners so he didn't have to drive and get them. Even if you "shimmy" the block, the post still isn't fastened on the bottom. And since the house is high off the ground, I'm assuming it floods there. Bye Bye post.
Don't people understand that every time you REMOVE material, you reduce strength?? There's no good reason to ever "notch" anything. Simpson makes 1000s of different wood ties for exactly this reason.
I'd cut the bottom out of a 5 gallon bucket. Pull everything between post and the concrete. Drill some holes in the concrete for some short rebar. Use the bucket toob for the form.
😂, Love how these jacklegs notched their beam, or what ever they got cobbled in there. I'm amazed that homeowners don't know , or learn anything. The hard part is the foundation, any one can watch a video or This Old House and see how to build just about anything, Decks are relatively simple. It really helps to know a little bit about anything you try to do. 🔨
Who would have thought to dig for previously installed footers if they are covered with 2 inches of dirt and grass? Only those who were going to dig to install footers. If you're going to add a hot tub after the fact, make sure it is well supported. If you know that there's going to be a hot tub up there, footers. Period Should be footers for that large of a deck anyway.
It's a float load. It's specifically made for this purpose. It just carries extra load when you fill the hot tub up. Look at your deck. Chances are if it doesn't have a hot tub there is no post in the center. They're at the corners.
What is more concerning than the "contractors" who do this kind of work is the sheer number of consumers who don't know any better and pay a TON of money for the shoddy work.
Clear the dirt under the block and set it down on the cement. Then put a couple of wedges between the 6x6 and the block until it's snug using a mallet.
I think id solce ot now by digging underneath, placing the deck block directly on the concrete footer, and then I'd put some fitted 2 by somethings in a cross formation under the 6 by 6, and maybe add something to attach it all together. Should work out. I am not a professional.
