Good deck designs also take into account the effects of frost heave on deck footings. Luckily for most people with inadequate deck designs, the connection between the deck and the house usually has enough flex to tolerate deck footings that heave in winter. Consequently, even though many poor deck designs result in deck footings that undergo significant uplift in winter and produce an undulating deck surface over time, the flexible connection between the deck and the house prevents any serious damage.

Good deck designs resist frost heave. There are ways to easily determine and minimize the potential for heaving deck footings and thereby ensure a flat surface for the life of the deck. Read this section on deck designs and learn all about deck footings as well as additional points like why using stubby sections of 4x4 posts resting in metal saddles in deck designs is a bad practice.

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