Tacking a deck ledger 90 deg to joists?
I need to replace my deck. It was built off the kitchen extension and there was no ledger board. What the original builder did was frame joists in the same direction as the house (N-S), attach blocking at the end of the kitchen, install a 2×6 strip under the deck joist ends and nailed the deck joists into the blocking.
‘most everything was rotten.
Besides a cantelevered deck not attached to the house not really being to my liking, I’m concerned about putting a PT ledger board in to either end grain or the blocking, especially since I’m going to have it out about half inch spacing for water shedding.
Can anyone suggest a better idea – and, no, naturally I’m not taking the easy way out and just nailing.
Quality repairs for your home.
AaronR Construction
Vancouver, Canada
Replies
You can attach a deck ledger to the house, but it's a lot of work as a remodel job, easier in new construction. The ledger can be bolted thru the sheathing to the blocking that's between the house joists, or to the rim joist if there is one (sounds like not in your case, but I'm not sure I'm clear on what's already there).
The main issue is flashing. You need to remove siding and expose the existing building paper so that you can make sure that water cannot get behind the ledger. This generally calls for getting a custom Z-flash made. Use spacers behind the ledger against the sheathing so that there's air space back there.
A good solution would be to build the deck freestanding, not connected to the house.... an extra set of piers and an extra girder instead of a ledger.
Here is a picture of the end of the house. It's a small file.
I usually don't mind banging on a ledger to a set of joists - but this is MY house, and I never want to work for "free" again, on this project, anyway.Quality repairs for your home.
AaronR ConstructionVancouver, Canada
It's a small file.
241KB.
Geeze, I hope you never post a large one.
SamT
Sam, it went down to that size from a 600kb file. I do have mercy. That's what happens when it's a 4 megapixel camera.
As soon as the business can afford it, I'm going Canon SLR 8 mega.Quality repairs for your home.
AaronR ConstructionVancouver, Canada
Aaron,
For what it's worth I faced the same dilemma about 6 years ago. The info I read was dig (UGH). I dug footings and poured pillars about 18 in. from the house. Used 4x6 posts and triple 2x beams. Laid the joists across the beams and framed as usual. The deck is in essence "floating" free of the house. Even today (and I used pressure treated limber throughout) you can't see any gaps between the deck and the house.
Good luck,
Don
Aaron, from the photo it looks like the old deck framing was a pretty standard set up. That wasn't a cantilevered deck; in a cantilever set up, the floor joists continue straight out past the beam or foundation wall, which acts like the fulcrum of a 'see-saw'. (I don't particularly like cantilever decks for this reason; when people get rowdy at a barbecue and start jumping around out there, it makes the floor inside the house bounce up and down....)
You've got a few options, but because the house is finished with parging, you're gonna have trouble flashing the deck properly without doing some demolition and re-parging on the house wall. Assuming you don't want to do that, you are looking at rebuilding it the same way it was built, but (a) using rot-resistant timber, such as hemlock or cedar for the ledger and joists; or (b) caulking the joint between the first deck board and the house and then resigning yourself to maintaining that joint water-tight to prevent a new case of deck rot. As already mentioned, an alternative (c) would be building the deck detached from the house, which means additional footings and sonotubes.
A few things you can do to extend the life of the deck no matter which way you build it:
1. Top all framing--joists, ledgers, blocking--with strips of roofing membrane such as BAKKOR Eave Guard or, failing that, some 90# roll-roofing. This will help prevent rust-rot in the framing at nail penetrations.
2. Use hot-dipped galvanized nails or stainless steel screws to lay the deck boards.
3. Remember to set the heart of each deck plank facing UP, so the board face will crown and shed water. If you set the heart on the underside, the board will cup and become a trough full of water every time it rains.
I really do not recommend the use of PT lumber for decks; people do like to wander around on decks barefoot in good weather, and getting a poisoned splinter in your foot is no fun, and is even less healthy for children should you have any. If cedar decking isn't in your budget, you can use plain SPF, but give it some protection in the form of something like teak oil (re-apply on an annual basis) or Sikkens RUBBOL DEK.
There is no permanent, one-shot way to prevent rot in unprotected decks--especially in your climate, LOL!--but you can stretch the life of one from 7-10 years to well over 20 years by taking these measures and keeping up with maintenance.
Hope this helps....
Dinosaur
A day may come when the courage of men fails,when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship...
But it is not this day.
Thanks for the help.
I know about the flashing problem, so I am going to be using PT ledger and Grace joist protectant under flashing. I don't build with PT surface material, I'll be using Pedra (Brazillian Mahogany) for the surface.
Honestly, since I'm such a nit-picker about structural integrity and solid building, I'm probably going to make the deck detached. Not what I want, but it will outlast the house.Quality repairs for your home.
AaronR ConstructionVancouver, Canada
I'm probably going to make the deck detached. Not what I want, but it will outlast the house.
And it will prevent any ledger rot from taking the house framing with it. Nothing quite like having to tell a client who called you for a 'simple' deck repair that you're gonna have to jack up his whole house to replace the rotten mud sills....
Dinosaur
A day may come when the courage of men fails,when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship...
But it is not this day.
Edited 7/29/2005 2:43 am ET by Dinosaur