I’m building a deck and I need some advice on joist spacing. Joists are 2×8 with spans 6′ and 8′ between beams . Decking is 5/4 x 6 CCA/ACQ. Can I get away with a 24″ joist spacing without the deck being springy or do I need to go with 16″? Its a pretty much a standard deck, ie no hot tub or massive planters on it.
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Replies
Just a thought but sooner or later you or somebody else will be replacing those deck boards.
With the exponential growth in the use of synthetic decking, those replacement boards might possibly be some type of synthetic. Many (most?) of them won't work with spacing larger than 16".
I'd bite the bullet and use 16" spacing, but that's just me.
My impression is that 5/4 feels springy on 24" centers. Not even sure it would be code here, but I've seen/felt it a few times.