Deck Construction – advice
I am a beginner at home improvements. I have built (mostly) a deck this summer. The deck is built on a ledger on the side of the house (2, 2x8s) and the joists come out from the ledger to 16ft from the house (joists, 2×8). The beams at approximately 7ft and 14ft are doubled 2x8s. The structural elements are all pressure treated wood except for the rim joists and header which are cedar. The building inspector is perfectly happy with my choice of materials, spans, joist spacing etc…
When I hung my joists I put up all of my joist hangers at once. The wood goes on the hangers fine. The only thing is that in some cases because of the crown of the wood joists are slightly above beams by as much as 1/4″ in a couple of cases.
There was probably a better way of building this. However, now that it is constructed and the decking is on (5/4″x6x10 cedar decking)… I have not done the railings yet.
My intention to solve my space problem over the joists was to go under the deck after some load was built onto it (so the crowns of the joists would collapse a bit) and put in shims, then fasten them in place. At that point I would actually attach the framing clips I have partially in place (attached only to the joists, not the beams) to the beams as well.
Help. I could use an experienced opinion on this.
Thank-you.
Replies
That all sounds fair to me, though I have some bar clamps that I would have used to pull the joists down to the beam before the deck was on. a quarter inch is within tolerance levels of framing and you can even find that a lot of framing lumber will vary by that much within a load. The more important thing is that the tops of jists are stright than to have them seated tight onto the beams. Shims are good.
how you attache the posts for the railing could be an issue. I usually sink them in the framing behind the rim joists - or what you call the header. I have seen them lapped and bolted onto the face of the rim but that doesn't look as good or as strong to me.
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Thank-you for the reply. It makes me feel much more comfortable to know that I am within framing tolerance. The top of the joists are nice and straight and level and the decking went on easily.
I am not too concerned about the railings. I got fairly specific instructions from the building inspector on that (he gave me the common options). It will be 42" balusters screwed with 2 3" screws into the header all around. 4" gap between balusters. Then 2 more 3" screws into the guard, onto which the railing is fastened. All of this in cedar.
The inspector claims that this is stronger that the other common option of 4x4 posts at 4' intervals with balusters fastened to a top and bottom rail. Posts to be fastened between joists as you indicated in your post.
Whether it is stronger or not is a moot point for me. As long as it is strong enough.
Tomorrow I finish my stairs...
Thank-you for your help. I really appreciate it.
that is a strong and fairly erasy way to do it - as long as the rim is well attached to the joists. I have ssen jobs where the ballusters were so attached, but the rim was only fastened into the joists with a couple of 16d nails end nailed in each with no hanger hardware and no toenails. The thing falls rtight off because the rail acts as a lever to pry the rim off.
The other thing I would recommend for you doin git this way is to pre-stain /seal he wood between that connection because it will tap water and be the first place for rot to begin.
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Don't forget blocking between the outer joist and it's next inner one, this takes a lot of flex out of the railing connections, I use at least 1 block at each post location..esp. if the outer is not a double.
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And you reaslize that a 4" gap is a not-to-exceed number. You might want to fudge a little on the narrow side ... maybe plan on 3-3/4" gap. One nice thing about using 4x4 posts every 8 feet or so for the railing ... you can set the balusters between the posts and adjust the spacing for a nice balanced look, and stay under 4".
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