Curious method of attaching porch ledger
Soultrain
| Posted in Construction Techniques on
I’m about to put the siding on our new house (vinyl) & my plan is to attache the ledger for the front porch & flash it before putting the siding up, but I noticed that my neighbors house (just recently built) has the ledger on TOP of the siding. It looks like they just put the board over the siding, bored holes & put the lag screws in.
Is this a common practice? Apparently it is acceptable to our local building department. On the one hand it keeps the ledger from being pressed right up against the house so water doesn’t get trapped, but on the other hand, it seems like the connection wouldn’t be as strong since the screws are not completely encased in wood.
Replies
Is this a common practice? Apparently it is acceptable to our local building department.
Maroons are everywhere, don't join up.
Joe H
It is not uncommon practice to leave an airspace between the ledger and the house so that any water/moisture that finds its way in there can dry out.
However.....you said "porch"....I`m assuming you mean a covered porch and not a deck. (Please don`t take that as my not expecting you to know the difference, but I can`t tell you how often people confuse the two.) If it is a porch, covered by a roof, I wouldn`t concern myself with much water getting in there. Bolt the ledger right up to the sheathing......flash properly......and sit the siding atop the flooring.
J. D. Reynolds
Home Improvements
It is a covered porch, but it could still see water in a driving rain from the side. I'll still flash it even though there is a roof above it. I just had never seen a porch or deck ledger installed over the siding like that.
Had the same detail on my house and entire neighborhood. Ledger bolted through vinyl. I ripped it off (and the attached deck), and attached the ledger properly.
To be fair, as far as tensile strength (pulling out from wall) I don't think it has much effect. But in shear strength (holding up the deck from movement down with gravity), I'd assume the lack of friction between ledger and house and the lever effect would greatly reduce the load capacity.
If there is no problem with those houses, I would suggest that the practice is working.
I could make comments about lag screws not being the proper fastener but I am not doing the work and I expect they will last long enough.