Hi- Quick question on deck framing. I have successfully built a handful of basic rectangular decks. Current project is the same (smallest, in fact) with one twist. It will be a ~11×7.5 deck, but it will be attached at an inside corner of the existing structure. My hope is that I can get away with only one post and two ledgers. The piece I am unsure about is connecting the beam (spanning the long side) to the shorter ledger. Anyone done this? Thanks…
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Study the Simpson Hardware catalouge. They have a piece for any and every structural joint you can imagine, and will do custom builds too.
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Good question. Let's see...Do I have this right?
11' beam carrying one end of the joists with hangers, 7'-6" joists (2x6?), 11' ledger at the house carrying other end of the joists, 7' -6" ledger would only be there to carry one end of the beam. That short ledger would have to be securely bolted to the house and you'd probably want a heavy-duty angle iron to connect the beam to the ledger.
The beam would be spanning about 10' or so from one post to the ledger. It seems to me it would be a good idea to put in another post anyway and then you wouldn't have to worry if the the beam/ledger connection was strong enough.
Al Mollitor, Sharon MA
The hassle of adding a second ledger seems far greater than simply dropping in a second post, unless you have horrible conditions for digging or something like that. Ledgers need to be properly flashed or there will be water damage to the building down the road.
That said, you could try to use something like a Simpson MEG hanger (without top flange), and bolt it to the wall of the building to carry one end of the beam. If your deck is such that there is accessible crawl space where the beam end abuts, it should be possible to get inside and add solid blocking down to the foundation, and then drill and bolt the hanger to that blocking, thru the siding.
http://www.strongtie.com/products/connectors/leg-meg-eg_glulam.html