Deck Building Problems

[Brutus Brewer]

So I'm building a deck this weekend. I'm no Bob Villa by any stretch but feel that with enough research and help from others with more experience I can pull it off. I got the ledger board set level to the house and the posts locations marked, dug, and set I then used a board, square, and level to mark a line on the posts that corresponds with the joist location from the ledger board to mark the height of the beam.

Now is when things started going bad. The beam is two 2x12's one bolted to either side of the 4x4 post. I built the beams and installed them as noted and for some reason the beam on the back side of the 4x4 sets higher than the beam on the front of the 4x4. I have no clue as to why this is happening and it's driving me crazy. Everything should line up but it isn't, any ideas?

 

[brewthunda]

It's probably from crooked drilling. I'd probably nail the joists exactly where you want them and then drill them in place.

 

[pickles]

Brewthunda hit the nail on the head. You really shouldn't bolt a beam to the side of the post without letting in the beam to the post so the weight is carried by the entire beam; and they'd be level. They way you have constructed it the weight is being supported by the wood above the anchor, the wood below it isn't doing much. Beams need to be supported from below; not saying it wont work, and for all I know the 2x12 is grossly oversized for the load; it's not proper. Notching the post would ensure things are level and will make for a strong beam connection.

 

[Bobby_M]

Agree. I don't know how the codes vary state to state, but in NJ you can't bolt beams the sides of posts. The beam has to be fully supported from underneath.