I’m replacing worn-out deck. The deck was about 16 feet square and attached to the house, about 3 feet off the ground. There’s a septic tank behind the house, and the pipe between the house plumbing and the tank runs under the deck. We live in zone 5, with a frost depth of around 32 inches.We’ve decided we’d like a pergola over the new deck, and we’d like the deck to be as low to the ground as possible to keep from having a railing breaking up the view of the yard. The new deck will be the same size as the old one, maybe a little smaller.Concrete piers are the obvious solution for footings, but I’m not wild about the idea of disturbing the ground anywhere near the septic line. Also, because the new deck will be lower to the ground, I’d have to attach the ledger directly to the cinder block foundation wall instead of the sill joist, which I’m also not crazy about.So I’m considering a floating deck. I think this could work, but I’m wondering about footings for the pergola posts. Should the pergola posts be anchored to the ground with concrete piers, while the deck floats around it? I can position the pergola so that it’s clear of the septic line. Or should the posts and the deck be allowed to move together? This part of the country can get high winds so I’d need hurricane anchors for the deck, but how do you tie down a floating pergola?I’m having trouble finding plans or solid instructions for this type of construction - does anyone know of a site with good information about something like this?Thanks! via /r/DIY http://bit.ly/2XbAUAQ
