Replies

1. 
   gdcarpenter | May 07, 2006 08:29pm | #1

   If you are through bolting, as required her in NC, I'd make sure to drill the holes a good 1/16" oversize or bigger. That way when the board dries and shrinks it won't have as much tendency to 'split' around the hole. Eslewise I would say mount away. Anchor the sucker before it dries and twists, warps and curls on you.

   Let's not confuse the issue with facts!

1. 
   RRooster | May 09, 2006 05:19am | #2

   What he said.

   We don't have time to let wood dry before going to work.  Work with wet wood, just compensate for it.

     

   Grunge on.  http://grungefm.com

    

2. 
   Dinosaur | May 09, 2006 07:02am | #3

   Just out of curiousity, why do you need a 2x8 for a ledger? 2x4  is usual; 2x6 is considered a luxury.

   Dinosaur

   How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not brought
   low by this? For thine evil pales before that which
   foolish men call Justice....
   

   

1. 
   gdcarpenter | May 09, 2006 07:55am | #4

   I belieee he is attaching a ledger the same height as the joist to attach joist hangers onto. I suspect that you are thinking of a ledger strip that the joist would sit on, ususally a 2x2, in lieu of joist hangers.Let's not confuse the issue with facts!

1. 
   Dinosaur | May 09, 2006 04:48pm | #5

   Okay--but just because I feel like picking a nit this morning (LOL) that's not a ledger, it's a rim joist.

   Correct me if I'm wrong (get ready to duck, Dino!!)....Dinosaur

   How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not broughtlow by this? For thine evil pales before that whichfoolish men call Justice....

1. 
   davidmeiland | May 09, 2006 04:50pm | #6

   That would be a ledger out here, and it would be soaking wet. I don't think I'd do a ledger strip detail for an exterior deck, for a couple of reasons.

1. 
   Dinosaur | May 10, 2006 05:02am | #7

   A true ledger can be flashed as I described above because the joists sit on top of the flashing and wall-drip water drains under them and away.

   BUT: if using a rim joist and joist hangers, how to flash the sucker?

   Can't be done that way when the joist top is at the same level: the flashing will lead the water right in between the joists and the deck boards. But it has to be flashed somehow...or water will seep right down between the house wall and that rim joist and rot it out along with the mudsill or sole plate that it's lagged to.

   If I wanted to do nothing else but re-build rotted-out decks, I could. Only about one carp in five in this area flashes that joint properly. Most of 'em just run a bead of caulk down the deck/house joint and call it good. (It's not.)Dinosaur

   How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not broughtlow by this? For thine evil pales before that whichfoolish men call Justice....

2. 
   RRooster | May 10, 2006 05:09am | #8

   If the one in five is true in your woods, then it can't be far off in everyone else's.

   Sounds like a good topic for the magazine with pictures and diagrams, etc.

     

   Grunge on.  http://grungefm.com

    

3. 
   Dinosaur | May 10, 2006 05:29am | #9

   That figure is just a grumpy guesstimate, based on how often I get the same kind of plaintive call from some poor HO who thought he was gonna fix a few rotten deck boards on the weekend and just kept finding more and deeper rot....

   The problem around here is that it's 'cottage country', and pretty much everyone wants a deck of some sort. So a lot of decks are DIY-built by people who are okay with a hammer and saw but don't really understand what water can do to a wood structure that's not correctly designed and built.Dinosaur

   How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not broughtlow by this? For thine evil pales before that whichfoolish men call Justice....