Massive heavy grill on wooden deck?

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mph33

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I live in the mountains. my back deck is approximately 60 ft to the Earth. even if I had a flat area in my backyard, I wouldn't want my smoker to be down there. I'm going with a offset cabinet smoker with a warming box. the approximate weight is around 1200 lb. My question is this... Can a wooden deck hold that type of weight without causing structure damage? I would have no choice but to have the LTL company do a curbside delivery and transport the smoker through my house to the back deck. Literally the backyard is not an option at all. I guess I could keep it in the garage and pull it out and use it in the driveway but I would really like to use it on my back deck. Any helpful hints or suggestions I would greatly appreciate it
 
mph33 said:
I live in the mountains. my back deck is approximately 60 ft to the Earth. even if I had a flat area in my backyard, I wouldn't want my smoker to be down there. I'm going with a offset cabinet smoker with a warming box. the approximate weight is around 1200 lb. My question is this... Can a wooden deck hold that type of weight without causing structure damage? I would have no choice but to have the LTL company do a curbside delivery and transport the smoker through my house to the back deck. Literally the backyard is not an option at all. I guess I could keep it in the garage and pull it out and use it in the driveway but I would really like to use it on my back deck. Any helpful hints or suggestions I would greatly appreciate it
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Having ridden a two story deck to the ground I would suggest get a local Builder to inspect and maybe truss as needed
 
Sounds like you might need an Engineer involved to certify what you have, or design something to beef it up for the task. The law of gravity is strictly enforced and has zero tolerance for violations!
 
As far as the engineer suggestion goes, you might be able to do a video conference with one. We used that service about a month ago with a highly rated local firm. With Covid, they had started offering a Zoom meeting to help and inspect remotely. It was very affordable, quick to schedule, and very helpful for us.

Depending on the situation, they might still want to come out and inspect things in person, but for me it was a 15 minute video meeting and I was on my way with confidence.
 
My two cents here : putting a stickburner on top of a WOOD deck which has a 60' drop is a bad idea. Wood fires have hot coals and without a doubt those hot coals will occasionally end up "jumping out" of the firebox. In your case they will end up on your deck and so what's your plan in dealing with those hot coals? You can put down some of those "burn mats" but what happens if the wind is blowing and the coals go beyond the mats? I'm kind of a worry wart when it comes to wood burning fires, so to each their own.

I really think the capability of your porch to hold that kind of weight is not your main problem.
 
SmoothBoarBBQ said:
My two cents here : putting a stickburner on top of a WOOD deck which has a 60' drop is a bad idea. Wood fires have hot coals and without a doubt those hot coals will occasionally end up "jumping out" of the firebox. In your case they will end up on your deck and so what's your plan in dealing with those hot coals? You can put down some of those "burn mats" but what happens if the wind is blowing and the coals go beyond the mats? I'm kind of a worry wart when it comes to wood burning fires, so to each their own.

I really think the capability of your porch to hold that kind of weight is not your main problem.
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Very good point
also be a great up draught with 60 foot
 
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I’m wondering what model cabinet smoker would fit moving through your house and out of the to the deck in the first place. The garage sounds like a much safer bet to me...
 
edapp said:
I’m wondering what model cabinet smoker would fit moving through your house and out of the to the deck in the first place. The garage sounds like a much safer bet to me...
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My thoughts as well...my 800Lb cabinet smoker won't even come remotely close to fitting through a single door in my house.
 
Simple enough, hire a $300 hr. crane (travel to and from not included).
Ed
 
You could look at options for strengthening your deck to support a hot tub, you would be in great shape with those options as hot tubs routinely weigh 2000lbs-4000lbs.
 
I know something of home construction. I have seen a lot of woefully under framed decks.
 
I think I would have a nice wheel kit put on it and wheel it out of the garage, decks can and will sag and they do have to be replaced at times. a nice cover and stored on the outside of the garage would also be a better deal in the long run.
 
Go get a piece of 1-1/8x 4'x8' sheet of cdx, lay it over the deck with the 4' edges breaking on yer joists...as a framer, I would be completely comfortable with that. I would be okay with 3/4 if it was me, but I'm a tad overkill.
As far as putting a wood burning offset on a wooden deck...those are personal choices, but then they require so much looking after...ya know. The one thing I would be looking closely at is the connection at the house and the exterior. They make grill mats, and if I was ta do what yer getting on with, I'd pick one twice the size of the cooker.

-D
 
I prefer the garage solution but if you go with the deck please pay attention to the suggestions of an engineer and listen to inthewoods as per the cdx and grill mat.
 
Inthewoods said:
Go get a piece of 1-1/8x 4'x8' sheet of cdx, lay it over the deck with the 4' edges breaking on yer joists...as a framer, I would be completely comfortable with that. I would be okay with 3/4 if it was me, but I'm a tad overkill.
As far as putting a wood burning offset on a wooden deck...those are personal choices, but then they require so much looking after...ya know. The one thing I would be looking closely at is the connection at the house and the exterior. They make grill mats, and if I was ta do what yer getting on with, I'd pick one twice the size of the cooker.

-D
Click to expand...

The plywood is a good idea Dave but I would like to know the joist size, span and spacing also the girder situation
 
I would hope a deck 60 ft in the air would be properly built but you never know. inthewoods has a good idea about a sheet to spread out the load. I've been on a deck that collapsed, but only 6 inches off the ground
 
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