Legal in Virginia? ** Edited by EDGEMAN at 3/25/2026, 6:17:39 AM

I had honestly not seen the "Tuff Blocks" before, but I like the concept. However, I would probably never try to use them as Haxman did as joist supports. Doing that means you have to set every Tuff Block at exactly the same elevation, which becomes incredibly tedious. I would much prefer to see them used as post supports such as in the last video you linked. Then you don't have to worry about the elevation of any of the Tuff Blocks. You just set your posts in them and then you level your deck platform on your posts using a laser level, water level, bubble level on a string, traditional level on top of a joist board, etc. That speeds up construction considerably. Now, if you simply have to build a "ground level" deck, then yes you can do it like Haxman, but you better have an engineer's level that is well calibrated because you're going to have to be very precise with the elevation of every Tuff Block or your deck will undulate a lot. The good news is, there's medication for that. TIC When it comes to Tuff Blocks vs. traditional precast concrete pier blocks, I do see some advantages to the Tuff Blocks in that they are obviously much lighter and easier to handle, and they will not absorb water the way that precast concrete will, meaning your deck structure should dry more quickly. Obviously the lumber should be pressure treated regardless, but the drier you can keep it, the longer it will last. With that said, any structure that might experience uplift from wind should be anchored to a traditional below-grade concrete pier or footing rather than an on-grade footing. Standard decks don't really meet that criteria, but if there is any sort of awning or roof structure involved, that changes things.

Can these be used instead of pouring concrete pads? ** Edited by EDGEMAN at 3/25/2026, 6:20:49 AM

...inserting metal footers into those poured concrete pads. You definitely have to have those lined up correctly, or you'll have to do it over... ** Edited by EDGEMAN at 3/25/2026, 6:25:25 AM

Regardless of which one you use, there has to be a way for the water to drain effectively to not rot the wood.

...replace the original top boards with composite boards, but once I removed the skirt I found rotted legs. Since I'm doing this myself, I really don't want to have to pour concrete footers if I don't have to. Several of the videos I've recently looked at show builders removing grass, tamping down the dirt, then pouring crushed limestone on top (and tamping that down), then using those plastic footers. What's great about that, other than NOT having to pour cement pads, is that it's easily adjustable. You can move those plastic pads around to line up the boards. Just talking about a relatively small, ground level deck, and not an elevated "2nd story" monster size deck. My current deck is even with my backdoor, and has two steps to the ground. What I want to do is to keep the current hight out to 3-4', then have the rest down a step so (a), you only need one more step to reach ground level, and (b) a railing is not necessary for the lower section. Frankly the current one is <36" off the ground, so it doesn't require a railing. But I do want it lower than it's currently sitting. Why keep it the same height several feet from the door, you might ask? I have one foundation vent that's currently located under the deck, and I want to continue to have access to it with the new deck. I also don't want to have to step down right out of the door. That seems like a good compromise. Construction to begin this year...lol

And so does Lips Manlis. ** Edited by KCHokie2 at 3/24/2026, 7:12:42 PM

It took longer to cure and affected overall durability. ** Edited by TomTurkey at 3/24/2026, 7:06:35 PM