Hiya - first time deck builder here. Building a freestanding deck on a flat lawn.
All the videos/blogs I've seen indicate you anchor in your deck supports (fence posts) with concrete and then lop them off at the level of the frame, and then lay decking on top.
And then if you want to add a pergola (or support frame), you bolt the support posts for that onto the frame of the deck.
But is there any reason you can't just run 4 tall posts up from the ground that act as both the support for the deck and the pergola support? I can't find a single example of this being done, so I wondered if it was regarded as a bad idea, i.e. if the flex involved by adding a pergola could loosen the foundation of the deck if they're the same post.
i.e. all the advice I've seen says you start with this:
And then you cut those posts down to frame level:
But now if you want to add tall supports for a pergola, you have to bolt them to the side of the frame.
Is there any reason I can't continue 4 (or 6) of the support posts up to where the pergola will be?
I can't seem to find any examples of someone having done this (there's another post o this forum where somebody seems to have done this), so I thought maybe someone would know if that's just because no one really does it or if it's a bad idea for a reason I can't fathom.
TIA
