I have a deck that is 4 ft wide. It is fully cantilevered and supported by 2x8 floor joists that run from a bearing wall in the middle of the house about 15 ft away. I want to extend the deck another 3 ft. I'm told that if the deck had been originally built 7 ft wide it would have met code, but to extend another 3 ft by joining to the existing joists I'll have to run supports to the ground. Is there some connector or joiner for fastening two joists to extend the length that I could use to avoide the supports to the ground?
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What you can do is to "sister" your new lengths of joists onto the side of the existing joist(s) on both sides, from the house to the new length. Then put a third filler piece in the middle at the end of the original joist to match the length. That will make a "laminated" joist three pieces thick. You must contact the building dept. with any new plans for this type of job. If they OK it you can do it, otherwise try using the same idea with posts and a rim joist to hold the ends at the new length. Good luck...Mark Hammond
