There are solutions to digging and pouring cement deck footings. And the options allow for supporting structures that are connected or not connected to a house.

The former requires an engineered helical anchor that is resistant to surface soil movement or expansion.

While the latter is for floating decks or "free standing" as they are also called.

The benefit to both of these anchor styles which drive into the ground - either like a screw or a spike - is that all the time and cost of digging, mixing, pouring cement and waiting for it to cure are gone!

Let's look at and compare engineered helical piers and screw or spike anchors.

An excellent solution for supporting almost any structure regardless of frost or soil condition.

Helical piers are proven to be very good at supporting almost any structure in almost any soil type.

They are long rods with a helix at the bottom and can be made to any length. They are screwed down to whatever depth at whatever torque rating is needed to support any load.

These will work for decks very nicely and you can attach your deck to a ledger if they are installed well below frost levels.

But they require some machinery to do the drilling and its not a do it yourself job. But its engineered and its quick.

These are a great non-concrete deck footing solution.

Check out Techno-Post for more information on engineered helical piers.

The common link between ground anchors for floating decks is the fact they are driven into the ground.

A good example of this the Oz-Deck system which uses a load plate that its fence post anchor fits through.

You just need to rent an electric jack hammer and insert the correct hammer tool and away you go.

It's very fast and makes for a good secure foundation for your deck. The jack hammer even allows you to compress the plate at the end to really get the anchor settled in the soil.

Here is a bit of a hybrid product halfway between the traditional helical foundation and the spike system.

Rather than driving down a spike, the Titan Deck Foot Anchor concept uses the screw or helix but installs with a lightweight hand held impact wrench.

The impact wrench is very affordable tool starting at as little as $99. But a good one by DeWalt is $150 and up.