Deck Footing Spacing for Dummies - The Freelance Files MMLXXXV

A footing for every post

It's a little thing, to be sure, but the bogosity contained in those little bios freelancers dump at sites like Hunker.com can be a major peeve – almost a pet in some cases – for staffers looking through their work. A case in point is today's DotD nominee, a returning DotD named Gia Miller. Gia's bio claims, and we quote, that "She then spent several years at Elle DECOR [sic] magazine where she immersed herself in the world of interior design. Several apartments and homes later, she’s now mastered the art of DIY." The staffer who found that was confused: since when is interior design a form of DIY? Based on Miller's puny rewrite of the Hunker.com post, "Proper Spacing for Deck Footings," no one here thinks she'd mastered deck-building... at all.

Miller's version is a rewrite of a circa-2013 post written by Frances Burks, on which it was not an improvement. Frances' job wasn't all that great to begin with, but what Gia wrote is, frankly, almost pure padding. We mean, really: a 137-word section on how to use batter boards to lay out a deck? That has something to do with proper spacing of teh footings? No, Miller managed to pack her entire definition of "proper spacing" into the following sentences:

"The standard rule for footings is that for a basic deck, the larger the beam and footing size, the fewer footings you'll need. If you're building a simple deck, footings and posts should be placed less than 8 feet apart. However, if your deck will include a hot tub or roof, you must support that weight with additional footings. Or, if your deck has many angles, additional footings are necessary."

Really? That's all you've got, Gia? Looks as though you haven't really "mastered... DIY" to us!

Here's a partial list of the variables that a careful designer takes into consideration when determining the spacing of footings for a deck:

• Joist width, e.g., 2-by-8 vs. 2-by-10.
• Support post dimension, e.g., 4-by-4 vs. 6-by-6.
• Supporting beam spacing
• Joist and/or beam overhang (cantilever)
• Live load
• Dead load

All of those must be taken into account when properly designing a deck. Miller's assignment was ostensibly to provide this advice, not to prattle at length about how to stretch layout string and mark square corners. She met her minimum word count, but, unfortunately, our Dumbass of the Day wasn't even familiar enough with her topic to realize she'd engaged in bait-and-switch.

Or maybe she was, which is even worse...

DDIY - DECKS