Extending Concrete Footings out of ground

[MGooch]

Hello,

I had a Veka deck installed a couple of years ago. Very happy with the product but I recently noticed that when they installed the concrete footings, that the top of the concrete is below grade and they buried it about a foot and a half. I was doing chemo at the time and couldn't keep on top of them at the time and only asked questions from what I could see from my living room.

I'm concerned with the pressure treated wood that is in the ground ... is there a way to extend this concrete so that it is above grade or install a product to get the wood out of the ground? Deck is 2 tier (about 48"/40" off the ground, so not a lot of space to work with underneath).

I've tried to contact the company, but of course, they are out of business ... they verbally told me that they were going at least 4 feet into the ground and there hasn't been any movement in the deck in 2 years, so I'm pretty sure that theconcrete is deep enough ...

Thanks.

Mike

[gtblum]

I'm concerned with the pressure treated wood that is in the ground ... is there a way to extend this concrete so that it is above grade or install a product to get the wood out of the ground?

One way, would be to support the deck near the post, remove the post, drill down into the existing footer, put rebar in the holes, clean the footer, form around the whole thing, and pour concrete to extend it.

[John Kogel]

Pressure treated wood in the ground will last quite a while. Any cut ends should be coated with a preservative. My guesstimate would be 10 years before you will notice any change in the wood, maybe longer. If the backfill is well-drained, gravel instead of dirt, the posts will last a very long time.

So yes, you could excavate and pour concrete piers under there, which is what they should have done, or you could just enjoy the deck and concentrate on getting healthy.

In termite country, all bets are off. Termites will find the untreated cut end of the post and start tunneling. But Ontario is only termite-riddled in the Toronto suburbs, AFAIK.

[MGooch]

Thanks guys ... appreciate the advice. Dug a little more around the most accessible post and the post is actually embedded in the concrete below grade ... they told me that it would be anchored, but doesn't seem to be the case ... looks like I'll wait it out until my mobility is better and tackle it then.

Thanks again!

Mike

[Marc]

I installed a wood fence not long after I purchased my present home 11 years ago and found out 3 years later, much to my chagrin, that my new posts had rotted almost completely across the cross section at ground level. They didn't rot at all above ground or below a 6 inch depth, in fact, they were still green. These were pressure treated posts. I don't recall what saturation level. I changed them perhaps 7 years ago but wrapped them at ground level with 12 inch wide black plastic used my bricklayers to flash under the first course of brick veneer.

No problems yet. I'm swimming in termites but they haven't touched the treated posts.

Marc

[kurt]

If they're buried in the concrete, you definitely want to do the repair. High grade/heavy saturation treated lumber does remarkably well buried in dirt, but bury it in concrete and it rots. The posts slowly degrade and settle, like pushing a pencil into a sharpener.

[Jim Katen]

My vote: Keep an eye on it and plan to fix it when it starts to go south. It's not going to fail for years yet and when it does, it won't do anything very dramatic. It won't be any harder to fix then then it is now.