My First Deck- ConHart Redwood

This is my first deck project, and I’m pretty pleased with how it came out. It’s 12’ x 12’ and
cantilevers off the hillside. The challenge was that I couldn’t put any sort of anchors into the ground near
the oak tree because I couldn’t disturb the roots and the topsoil. I ended up having two concrete footings
poured for the two 6×6 posts, then set the unsupported end of the beams on top of a bed of gravel so
that water draining down the hillside wouldn’t sit around the beams and cause them to rot. Unfinished in
the photos is the trough between the end of the deck and the dirt around the tree. I’m going to fill it with
more gravel, then finish off the top with some red rocks to match the deck that will fill the area around
the tree as well as the space between the deck and the tree. I also haven’t put a finish on the deck yet
as it was only completed a few weeks ago. Any suggestions of a good clear or translucent finish that
would help bring out the natural beauty of the redwood would be greatly appreciated.

You may notice that I pinned the mitered corners on the top rail of the railings with dowels. I was
concerned about the wood warping over the years and thought adding 1/2” birch dowels through the
joint would help keep the joints closed and looking good. We’ll see if I’m right!

In the second photo is my younger brother who was helping me build the frame. The deck was for our
mother, recently she’s gotten into potting succulents and needed a space to do her potting that was
outdoors and in the shade but far enough away from the house that she wouldn’t make too much of a
mess. Next up will be a table for her potting needs that will wrap around the tree.

Thoughts, criticism, etc. would be welcomed!

eff (redsox9)- my hope is that the dowels I put through the joints will help keep the miters together, I’ll let you know
what happens.

DrDirt and s2h-

If any of you (or anyone else with the knowledge) could help me calculate the proper counterweight I’d really
appreciate it, I’m actually planning to build a table around the tree with my leftover redwood lumber (with supports
bolted to the end of the deck) and use it to help counter any tendency to overbalance the deck off the hillside so if I
need to add weight I can easily do so in the design of the table. I stopped taking mathematics after high school so I
don’t remember much beyond basic trigonometry, and I’m totally lost on calculating the moment about the cantilever
as you suggested.

Here’s the relevant info:

The support posts are roughly 3’ from the overhanging edge of the deck, and there is 9’ of deck between them and
the end that’s sitting on the hillside. There is also a diagonal support bolted from the bottom of the support posts to
roughly 3’ from the end of the beams that sit on the hillside, which locks the perpendicular relationship between post
and beam (assuming the 1/2” hot dip galvanized bolts don’t fail). The posts are 6×6 and the beams are 2 2×8s
screwed together with #9 2 1/2” screws. The posts are notched at the top for the beams and bolted together with
1/2” stainless steel bolts.

Now I don’t think it’s a matter of treating it as a simple lever, because the diagonal support means the pivot point is
at the bottom of the posts, not the top. How would I go about calculating this? My instinct was that this design
provided much greater resistance to potential tipping even with a lot of unbalanced weight, but I could definitely be
wrong!

Thanks LJs!