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Attaching Deck Ledger Question

frontiercc | Posted in General Discussion on April 19, 2005 04:17am

Pro-Deck you out there?  Got a deck question and seeing as how you are laid up . . . . .  BIL is building a deck.  Went to attach the ledger and house has a rim joist of Georgia Pacific “Fiber Strong Rim Board”.  Looks like plywood but it’s an engineered product to be used in conjunction with engineered I-joist floor system. 

Anyway, we check the GP website and get the instructions for attaching a ledger to this stuff by through bolting.  And we are just not really comfortable with it.  Primarily becuase all the decks we’ve built in the past have been to a 2x rim joist. 

Has anyone ever attached a ledger to this stuff?  Any precautions or warnings to offer?

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Replies

  1. FHB Editor
    JFink | Apr 19, 2005 04:47pm | #1

    How thick is the GP rim joist? and why are you nervous about bolting through it?

    Justin Fink - FHB Editorial

    1. frontiercc | Apr 19, 2005 06:25pm | #2

      It's 1" thick.  Nervous about bolting through it because it looks like OSB.  And we have all seen that stuff tear out. 

      1. PenobscotMan | Apr 19, 2005 07:15pm | #3

        Could you put a piece of thick PW on the inside to act as a sort of washer to dissipate the strain of the bolt?

  2. User avater
    ProDek | Apr 19, 2005 07:16pm | #4

    Just one more labor intensive thing we'll have to do to fasten a deck to a house.

    We are now using stainless hardware because of the corrosiveness of ACQ .

    Now we will have to remove sheet rock inside the house to through bolt the ledger with stainless bolts nuts and washers to the new Fiberstong rim board on a house that is finished.

    I haven't run across this product yet, but it sounds like it will fracture if you pound the ledger bolt in or drill too close to the edge. It also states that if you over tighten you will lose lateral resistance(in other words the bolt may pull through) Great!

    I would pressure block with 2x8 between the joists inside the rim before through bolting any ledger to that junk............

     

     

    "Rather be a hammer than a nail"

    Bob

    1. frontiercc | Apr 19, 2005 07:19pm | #5

      Thanks guys, my thoughts were to cut  1x or 2x material to fit in the joist bays on the inside, then drill and through bolt everything.  Luckily, the interior is unfinished.  Sounds like you guys agree.

      1. FHB Editor
        JFink | Apr 19, 2005 08:16pm | #6

        This is getting a writeup in our next issue, but since it may help your problem....I'll give you a little preview:

        http://www.mtdecklok.com/index.cfm

        Should solve the problem for you.

         

         Justin Fink - FHB Editorial

        1. User avater
          BillHartmann | Apr 19, 2005 10:45pm | #7

          If he has an engineered rim joist most likely he has I-joist.And I don't think that you can bolt those up to i-joists either. They will need some filler material.

          1. FHB Editor
            JFink | Apr 19, 2005 10:56pm | #8

            Good point Bill, I never put 2 and 2 together on that one. Good catch!Justin Fink - FHB Editorial

          2. User avater
            BossHog | Apr 19, 2005 11:10pm | #9

            "If he has an engineered rim joist most likely he has I-joist."

            Could be any one of 3 things I've seen done at exterior walls:

            1. A 1" thick rim board alone

            2. A 1" thick rim board with an I-joist sitting right next to it.

            3. An I-joist with NO rim board

            I've seen all 3 done - Depends on the builder. No way to know without looking at the job.
            If your brain itched, could you scratch it by thinking about sandpaper?

          3. frontiercc | Apr 20, 2005 01:22am | #10

            Thanks for the input guys.  Situation is engineered I-joists with the new-fangled rim joist.  I think the solution is to cut 2x8 or 2x10 to fit between the joists agaist the rim joist.  Then drill through ledger, rim, and 2x on the inside and through bolt it all.  Make a sort of engineered rim joist sandwich so to speak. 

          4. ADM | Apr 20, 2005 03:21am | #11

            You are correct, sir. I run into this all the time and this is the easiest and most acceptable solution in my opinion.

          5. Woodbutcher | Apr 20, 2005 06:04am | #12

            Unless you are also somehow attatching those 2x8s or 2x10s to the joists or the sill plate or something, you really aren't doing anything IMHO.   My personal beef with these rimboards is the fact that they are typically toe nailed to the sill plate in a couple of spots and then nailed to the i-joists, one nail in the top and one in the bottom, and we all know how well those flimsy things hold a nail.    the plywood   flooring may or may not be nailed to the rim joist,  all in all, I see very little in the way of mechanical fastening keeping the deck from just pulling the entire rim board off of the house! 

             I think those deck fastening brackets that they're advertising are just the ticket.  In fact, I did something very similar on a house not too long ago,  I just got some angle brackets and bolted them to the sill plate, then ran my through bolts through these then the rim board then the deck ledger.  I only used about 4 of them, but it certainly gave me piece of mind on that particular deck. 

          6. DaveRicheson | Apr 20, 2005 01:27pm | #13

            What will be under the deck? Is it space that will be used for storage or anothe patio area?

            Why not just add posts and beams to that side also? With proper footing for the post and bracing, you have a free standing structure designed for the loading, independent of the house framing.

             

            Dave

          7. User avater
            BossHog | Apr 20, 2005 03:27pm | #14

            I don't see the concern with bolting a ledger to rim joist. The literature from the manufacturers allows it. So what's the big deal? I don't see that it's any different than bolting to a 2X rim board.
            Sometime when you're bored, try putting a slinky on an escalator.

          8. PurpleThumb | Apr 20, 2005 05:35pm | #15

            What I did on my own house was to install some half-inch rebar vertically from sill plate to subfloor--slip it into holes drilled in each.   Half-inch eyebolts hook to rebar and through rim joist.  I just didn't feel comfortable with that composite material nailed to I-joists with 10p nails.

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