Construction/Deck Builders
 

Started ripping out my deck today, ran into a little snag here...………..how does one go about pulling these 4X4 posts out of the ground...……..any ideas on how far they go down into the ground...……..im replacing the deck with a cement slab.

Yes, I know a machine could pull them out...…….but I have more time than money. lol

Thanks

Rich

I just went through this. I hit each with a sledgehammer and they seemed to break up easily. My concrete only went about 6” deep

I have strapped them to a floor jack and/or my Lemans jack at times. Pulls them right out sometimes.

Bumper jack and a chain

I'm guessing code in WI is similar to here in CT, where the post/footing is supposed to be 42" below grade. Depending on who built that deck, pulling the posts could be relatively easy or an absolute nightmare. Worst case scenario, the posts are set in a giant lump of concrete buried 40+ inches down.

Well, around Wisconsin they should be 40” deep. That doesn’t mean they went that far as some try to cut corners.
The addition I just redid they had green treated 4x4 sunk 16” or so on top of concrete footings that went to around 36” deep

LOL, usually the worst case scenario is always my first option. Not sure this would fly or not, but im gonna try pulling them up with a jack...……..BUT could I possibility dig down say a foot or so and just cut them off...…….im thinking im gonna need quite a bit of sand to raise the ground up, so even with 5-6 inches of concrete the posts should be quite a bit under.

Im gonna mess with this tomorrow, supposed to be in the upper 80"s I will wait until then just to make it all the more enjoyable. lol

Thanks

Rich

I’ve had very good luck with an engine hoist/cherry picker

Wrap chain around post, or drill eyelet for long bolt to pass through. Pulls em right out (I did this for an old metal cyclone fence where the posts had about a large bucket of concrete holding them in the ground)

Construction/Deck Builders
 

Have ya seen the videos of using a car, a chain & a spare tire/wheel? Looks promising. You should at least get an interesting video out of it. [emoji16] Seriously tho, it seems to work.
Cherry picker, if you’ve got one or a Hi Lift jack.

ETA. https://youtu.be/vcskAyeCE1A

Have fun!
Murf


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Murf, showed that vid to my wife, all I got was your not using my truck for that, lets try it with the Gto……….so we did it the hard way.

Wasn't too bad, got 5 of them out with the floor jack, of course the six one was rotten and broke off half way, so I had to dig down a foot, drilled a hole in it and yanked it out with a screwdriver.

Just wanted to say thanks for the help

Rich

How deep were they? Where I live (Houston) you dig 40” you are either hitting oil or water.

Didnt get a chance to measure them, starting raining and i called it a day............at best 36 inches.

Another question for you guys, dont have a good pic as of now, but seems like i have a "ground cable" about 2 foot from the house...…...does this have to be moved or can I cement over that.

Rich

I think you can cement over it. It’s only to ground the house in case it gets struck by lightning (I think). As long as it is buried I think you are good

I live about as far from you as anyone could go but to me the principle is all the same....

You are deconstructing your timber patio and pouring a concrete slab so why are you not simply knocking the old 4x4 posts down to ground level (cut them off even), and now starting to form up for a concrete slab? Just leave the old posts in the ground.

Seems to me you are giving yourself a lot of hard work all for no good reason.. Am I missing something here???:confused:

You know Heybuck, you bring up a fine point there...….I was worried about the posts moving up and hitting my cement...……..the temp ranges from 90 in the summer to anywhere near 10-30 below in the winter...……...not sure if this would make a difference one way or the other...………...maybe someone who does this for a living could chip in.

Cement up here seems to fall apart without anything underneath pushing up on it...…...I got all the posts out now...…...not that big of a deal.

Rich

So, do I understand that you are saying that the variance in ground temperature can literally force the stumps out (up) of the ground??

I've never heard of such a thing. Our ground temperature here never freezes so its nothing I've never encountered.

Footings around here when we were building anything slab,garage, any bldg ,the frost line sometimes would go down to 36 inches. It's rare but can so we put are footings down 36. Never had a problem. Remember you are only going to do it once. My dad taught me that.

And I’ve seen what happens when guys cut corners and don’t go below the frostline

It's called frost heave- here's a link that explains it:


https://theconstructor.org/practical...vention/29754/

That’s a ground for your house’s electrical system. We had to add one on my former ‘50’s built house when we did an addition. My “new” (‘60’s built) house has one, too. (That was added on at some point.)

As I remember, it’s an 8 foot copper pipe hammered into the ground. You may be better off starting somewhere else with a new pipe.

The ground cable should be connected to a ground rod via a bolt connector or sometimes hot weld( called Cad weld). It really should be accessible at the rod connection point and verified as being firmly connected as this is the primary ground for your electrical service. Homes built before 1978( I believe) only had to have one a single ground.
Can you take a picture?

Hey West Coast, here is a pic...…….the house was built in 86, I bought it in 92, I thought you needed two wires, I have two copper wires going into my electrical box in the basement...…..im thinking I have another post , just have to take the basement window guard off to check on that.

Got to look into it some, talked to an electrician and he said as long as there is sand & gravel over the rod, I should be able to put cement over that.

Thanks

Rich

I would make sure to leave access to the rod. Use a Heavy 4 or 6 inch PVC coupling with a recessed threaded cap. If you have any major electrical work done in the future they will want to inspect it. With the recessed cap it wont be a trip hazard.

The photo shows an acorn type clamp connecting the ground rod to the grounding conductor. If you are going to cover with concrete, the connection should be accessible ( they sell small round pre-cast concrete sleeves and covers or plastic sleeve and cover at electrical supply stores or you can have an electrician permanently connect rod to wire with an exothermic weld called Cad Weld) If you have two wires going into your electrical box, then the other wire should be connected to a cold water pipe via another rod/ clamp/ wire connection OR be connected to to the concrete footing rebar in a Ufer connection. BTW, if you see bare wires connecting water heater water piping ( and maybe also connecting to a visible gas line) , those are bond wires and not grounding electrode conductors.

Thanks West coast...………..not sure how pre-cast sleeves and covers are gonna look like in the concrete patio deck...……...im thinking of just getting a new rod or two installed elsewhere on the side of the house...……..any thoughts on this.

Rich

This is an example of both concrete and plastic ground wells( I called them sleeves). Concrete photo does not show lid. Both are placed to where concrete is to be finished before pouring concrete deck.
You can definitely getting a new rod installed away from the deck but if you use the same ground wire and extend it to a different rod location, the wire must be " irreversible spliced or exothermic welded".

LOL, probably even a dumber question...……..why would I need access to it...….lived here 28 yrs and didn't even know it was under the wood deck...……

Rich

Access is required by the National Electrical Code on splices, unless they use irreversible or welded connections. For the same reason that switches and receptacles in your home are connected inside junction boxes. Your ground connection at the ground rod uses a bolt threaded thru an acorn shaped nut to tighten the wire against the ground rod. If that came loose( or was never tightened in the first place), you would lose the primary ground path required in case of lightening strikes. The connection should have been visible from day one.
In addition, your home has ( like all modern wired homes after the mid 60's)) a three wire system of a hot( energized) wire, a neutral( grounded current carrying conductor) and a ground wire.The ground wire positively trips the hot( energized) wire thru the circuit breakers in case of a dead short.
.

Hey West Coast, looks like I have to get someone out here ……..just so I get this straight in my head, can I just get this welded and then I don't have to mess with the sleeves ……....or is it just easier to get a new pole put in elsewhere and run new wire to the electrical box...………...Im guessing this is gonna be a mess one way or the other.

Thanks for the help

Rich

If the splice was Cad-welded, then it can be buried the same as a Ufer ground is buried in the concrete footing. That would be easier and much cheaper than new pole/ wire to electrical box. You may want to check your local building department requirement in that they MAY allow an irreversible splice( something that you can do yourself rather than paying an electrician).

West Coast, many thanks, gonna start looking into this tomorrow.

Rich

Also every time I've built a deck I don't make it level with the door stoop unless it's really needed. I keep it around 5" down from finished height. Keeps from rain splashing up ( premature rot)and or snow instantly piling up against the door.