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I am building a deck which will have the ledgerboard attached to a concrete block wall.What I was wondering what the best way to secure the board to the wall was? I was thinking lag shields or using threaded rod completely penetrating the wall and secured with steel or wood plates on the inside of the wall. Any suggestions or other ideas would be welcome
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Hey, this is pretty much what I've been asking about.
The lag shields i understand don't have great pullout resistance. They make wedge anchors for concrete that perhaps hold better. On a brick wall I drilled yesterday -- double brick, so 8" -- I just went all the way through ... will insert loooong bolts through ledger, standoffs, holes, then 3/4 plywood on inside. But this is a special situation -- I believed an individual brick could pull out too easily -- and the bricks that were inserted by those builders 60 years ago to fill the joists space were particularly askew. "An abundance of caution," as we lawyers say.
I assume through bolts are overkill unless pullout resistance is a particularly high priority, as with a high deck. But perhaps not?
*cigna 63 - I am wondering, if you try to attatch to a concrete block wall, are you in effect, attatching to ONE block, and then relying on the mortar surrounding that block to resist any lateral forces? It seems questionable to me, unless there is concrete poured down through the cells of the blocks, creating a single wall, or a bond beam poured every few courses and you can attatch to one of them. That is how we do it on large commercial jobs (schools etc) I have worked on. - jbHey andrew, nice to know someone listens! - yb
*Hey, i bought the 13" bolts today. i don't think anyone can find fault with this method as far as safety. A large section of the wall would have to come out for the ledger to be removed ... more likely, the bolts woul pull through the ledger first. But then this is just a set of stairs!!
*...that sounded good when I read it, how big are the plywood pieces you are using? With my luck, the whole freakin' thing would tumble over onto "aunt Tilly" and I'd have been better off if a single brick had hit her! Can't you just picture that? - jb
*I have some 3/4" pt lying around from something else. Or some 5/4 decking board. 2x is just a little too much.What's holding up the stairs now is about twenty wood filaments. It is amazing how little is really required to keep a building standing. Of course, i try to do a good deed and end up with liability exposure. Oh well.
*Jim....yes if I use lag shields I would in effect beconnecting to one block only as the blocks are not concrete filled,I'm pretty sure that I'm going to lean the way of overkilland use thru-bolts like Andrew did.....better to overbuild than to risk pullout
*...agree, pullout can be unfortunate. - jb
*cigna,Why use a ledger at all? How high is this deck? I assume you have some type of post supports at the opposite end. Would it be feasible to do the same against the hose? That would make the ledger unnecessary or at least redundant.If you do use a mechanically fastened ledger I would think one of the many stud anchors like the Rawl or Thunderbolt wedge would hold if you take care to drill into the thick part of the block and use alot of them. Most of the load is in shear not in tension unless I'm misunderstanding your question.Richard Max