Building a deck for the first time can be a real head scratcher. Especially when it comes time to figure out critical components of your deck framing – like how close a deck post can be to your home.
As a general rule of thumb, you want to keep your deck post spacing locked into an 8 foot span throughout the project. That means 8 feet between each individual post and 8 feet from the foundation of your home where your deck is going to butt up against the property.
In this quick rundown we go over all the things you need to know about deck post location, including things like:
- How close deck posts can be located to your home
- The importance of soil composition when it comes to deck posts
- The role that your deck framing layout plays in post placement
… And a whole bunch of tips and tricks to help make this part of the project go a lot smoother!
How Close Can a Deck Post Be to a House?
When you are laying out the plans for your deck (something we dig little bit deeper into in just a second) it’s important to think of your home – the exterior wall that your deck butt into, anyway – as a structural component of the deck itself.
Far too many first-time deck planners think of these kinds of structures as freestanding and then lay them out (and then build them) that way, too.
That’ll work for sure. You’ll just end up with an overbuilt (and probably overengineered) deck that will cost you a whole lot more money than one you designed using your abutting exterior wall as a structural component.
Every deck project is going to have different framing demands that are unique to that specific project itself.
But when you get right down to it, all professional deck installers and deck designers recommend that you try and keep your posts 8 feet apart or less.
If you stick to that “Golden Rule” of deck post layout you won’t have a whole lot to worry about.
Soil Makeup is Key Everything
Of course, the 8 foot “Golden Rule” of deck post spacing assumes that the soil you are installing your deck footing and your piers into is pretty solid, pretty consistent, has good drainage, and isn’t going to shift a whole lot from year-to-year.
The foundation that your deck is built on (where talking the underground footings and the piers that have been poured to go from the footings to the surface, the piers that your post are set on top of) is a huge piece of the puzzle.
Not only do you need to be sure that you’re using the right foundation material (there’s different kinds of concrete out there, for example), but you need to be sure that you are using the right design and layout for soil composition, too.
You don’t want your foundation getting wobbly or wonky.
That’ll have a much bigger impact on whether or not your deck is safe than the final layout of your posts.
Your Layout Plays a Big Role
Secondly, the deck layout that you’ve decided to go with will impact post placement in a big way.
Relatively simple and straightforward decks aren’t going to require the most complex deck framing. Posts can be “stationed” pretty consistently in these kinds of deck designs.
Multi tiered decks, multi material decks, and other unique layouts are going to introduce a whole lot more complexity into the mix. And that extra complexity almost always necessitates adding new posts into the plan.
You might find that spacing your posts every 6 feet or even every 4 feet (or sporadically, never stretching beyond 8 feet or so, though) is required for these kinds of designs.
There’s nothing wrong with more complex deck project. Not as long as you account for the complexity and make sure that you have enough posts distributing the full load of the deck (and anyone else enjoying it at the same time) down to the foundation without any trouble.
Beam Size Matters, too.
The larger the beams you’re working with the further apart you can space your posts.
Let’s say, for example, that you’re using triple 2x8s to build a beam where you’re going to attach stair stringers later down the line. You might want a post layout that’s about 7 feet apart from one another.
If you bumped that new beam up to 2x10s, though, you might be able to get an extra foot of space between each of those posts – stretching them to 8 feet (or even 8.5 feet) apart from one another because the beam is beefier.
At the end of the day, though, you have to take into account the deck design, the deck layout, and the cost of these beefier materials as well.
If it’s going to cost you a small fortune to upgrade to the 2x10s while saving a little money on having one fewer post it may not be worth it.
What Does the Code Say?
When you get right down to it, though, you’re going to want to make sure that you are constantly referring to the building code to decide how far you can space your deck posts apart from one another.
This code is going to let you know:
- How big your deck posts need to be (4×4 versus 6×6, etc.)
- How big your footings and piers need to be
- How deep your footings and piers need to be set into the ground
… As well as crackle information about post distances between one another, bracing material, the kinds of beams that can be used, and so much more!
Closing Thoughts
Any professional deck builder will tell you that you really want to try and keep your posts eight-foot apart from one another if not even closer when you can.
They are also going to tell you that it’s a good idea to use 6×6 deck support posts even when it’s a little bit “overkill”, just like they will tell you that 2×8 or 2×10 beams are the way to go even if a 2×6 could’ve technically snuck into the plan.
Trust not just their gut instinct but also their years and years of experience.
This advice will point you in the right direction!
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