Floating deck questions

[Anna]

Jaybee, that's exactly what I'm thinking of using. How do you attach the 4x4 to the concrete pier?

[jonmulzer]

Jaybee, that's exactly what I'm thinking of using. How do you attach the 4x4 to the concrete pier?

Usually gravity.

[rnelson0]

Jaybee, that's exactly what I'm thinking of using. How do you attach the 4x4 to the concrete pier?

Gravity works fine.

Also, if your deck is only floating a few inches off the ground, most of those concrete piers have a cross cut in them, so you can lay the deck beams directly on them without a post. My neighbor did that when building his deck that was 6" off the ground.

[Anna]

Usually gravity.

Heh.

My yard slopes a little so I have to use some 4 by 4 to level it out. So gravity it is.

One last question that perplexes me. When do I use nails and when do I use screws?

[rnelson0]

When do I use nails and when do I use screws?

I understand that you can use either, but it's your choice. If you don't have a nailgun, then a screwgun is fast. If you have a nailgun, a screwgun suddenly looks slow. Functionally the only difference is that you can back out a screw. Might be helpful if/when you have to take the deck apart to replace a board or rail. The difference in time between using a nailgun and a screwgun (and pre-drilling) really is huge, though.

[jaybee]

Gravity is the tried and true method of using 4x4's. Now, around here we use deck screws for most of the attaching - of course our common deck screws have Robertson (square) heads. For attaching to the 4x4's - we usually drill and use Carriage bolts.

[rjwaldren]

For the decking use screws...Even the spiral deck nails will work themselves out over time.

[jaybee]

This:

http://www.pylex.com/html/page_08-en.html

is similar to the supports I used. I used them to hold 2 2x8's , which supported the 2x6's upon which the cedar deck was built. The decking pro we hired was unsure of them until we were finished, at which point he said that he would consider using them himself.