The Importance of Proper Deck Ledger Attachment

by Rich Bergman

Read This Article First...

A great place for you to start before you get into this specific article would be to read what I think is a seminal article on the topic of basic ledger techniques. Then come back and dig into all this other stuff.

A recent investigation in the Chicago area emphasizes the importance of proper deck ledger attachment. In 2009 a deck collapsed injuring a woman. She sustained a compound fracture and the builder agreed to pay $1 million dollars to the woman.

I just read this in the Journal of Light Construction November 2010 issue and thought that it would be a great thing to reiterate because it is crucial to the safety of homeowners if you are attaching to the ledger of the house - and that would apply to any deck that is over 6 feet above grade. Double check in your local area as to how high you can build a free standing deck.

This turned out to be an isolated case for the builder. Sounds like this never was standard practise - nailing deck ledger boards to the house - thank goodness. Build safely!

Attaching Ledger Board to House

My contractor wants to nail the ledger board to the house and not use lag bolts. He recommends only nailing the header to the house as the deck is only 2 feet off the ground. What is your advice?

Deck Ledger Problem - Old Joists Sit on Wall Plate

by Rick
(Cincy, Ohio)

I would like to replace or repair my old deck. It's about 28' x 12', 8 ft above a concrete porch for the walk out basement.

The 2 piece solid beam (4 x 10's) is rotting, I wanted to replace it and the 4x4 posts with 6x6. The decking also needs to be replaced. I was debating on replacing the whole thing, since the joists and railing are whats left and the joists may be soft on top in some places and the railing wouldn't pass building codes of today.

The deck must have been built with the house in 1972 because the joists set on the wall plate, and the first floor joist is nailed to the ends of the deck joists. On the outside there is the plywood type siding around the joists, sealed with caulking.
If I was to replace the deck joists, how would I do that? I am assuming the deck joists are load bearing for the wall above it.

I don't know if there's blocks between the joists yet, there's insulation between them and there's only a 1/4" gap between the first floor joist and the wall plate.

Also, the posts now sit on cast metal bases on the concrete slab. Then there's metal angle brackets screwed to the posts and concrete. If I replaced them would I have to dig up the slab and put footers in first?

I don't know how thick the slab is but was thinking of using the Simpson post bases with the 1" diameter bolts drilled and glued into the concrete and post.

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Can I use Tapcons to Attach Ledger Board to Masonry Bearing Wall?

by Don
(Philadelphia, PA, USA)

I'm building a roof deck (approx. 11' x 13') which is to be supported along the 11' side via a 2 x 12 ledger attached to the adjacent masonry bearing wall w/ a (2) 2 x 12 rim joist along the opposite 11' side.

The rim joist will bear on an existing masonry wall below (acting as a sleeper).

The rest of the framing consists of 2 x 10 joists 12.5' long spanning between the rim joist & ledger @ 20" o.c. supporting 20" structural deck tiles.

I originally was going to use 1/2" lag bolts @ 16" but my contractor would prefer to use 1/4" x 3-3/4" Tapcons @ 12". Is this likely to work?

Attaching Ledger to 4x6 flooring joists on 32 inches

by Joshua Parrish
(Shaver Lake, CA)

Hi I've done framing and some deck construction in my younger days. My parents inherited an old cabin built in the 1960's by my grandfather by hand.

Anyhow the cabin is built using 4x6 flooring joists that rest on a beam inline with the foundation and they are spaced every 32 inches. We have designed out a deck but working on how we want to attach the ledger to these 4x6 flooring joists. The cabin has no rim band on on the end of these 4x6 joists.

What would we need to do to add a 2x10 ledger to these joists. I've read about blocking but how would you block through the 4x6 joists. I'm pretty sure I cant just attach the ledger to the ends of the 4x6 joists right?

Attached is a rough drawing of the flooring joists of the cabin with all the wood depicted being a 4x6.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Installing a double ledger board for deck

(Plainville, Mass)

Do i need to install a double ledger board for deck that is attached to a raised ranch where the deck is 8 ft high. This is for a house in Plainville, Mass.

Extending Ledger Board ?

by Danny
(St Joseph, MO )

I'm building a 20 x 40 deck and at the most its going to be about a foot off the ground in most areas. My question is : 14ft of the foundation is where I'm going to put in a ledger board, but i still need to extend out another 16 ft to the remainder of the over all length .

Will i use a 20ft piece from the furthest point back to the house which would make it 4ft attached to the house, and just add another ten ft ledger to it?

Ledger for 2nd story deck with no rim joist

by Todd
(Shoreline, WA, USA)

I am replacing an existing 2nd story deck where the current rotting joists enter 6-8" into the house with blocking between them. The 2nd story floor joists run perpendicular to this with the first one being 16' inside and a heat duct between it and these existing joist stubs. There is no rim joist between the lower floor and upper floor, only the joist tails and blocking. To what do we attach a ledger board for the new deck which will utilize joist hangers?

Extending Ledger Board and Deck Footing Piers

by Desperate for suggestions
(Edmonton, CANADA)

I have a new home with a deck that has a 10 foot ledger board. I want to extend the ledger board to 12 feet and don't want to cut the vinyl siding to do this.

The new deck will be 12x12. I haven't poured the footing piers for the deck yet.

How many piers will I need and where should they go?

Deck is longer than the length of the house, should the ledger be?

by CJ
(Edmonton, Canada)

We are rebuilding our deck and increasing the size to 14' x 14'. Now, the deck will stick out at the edge of the house by about 4', which is what we want.

However, we were wondering if the ledger should stick out or how to deal with this scenario so the deck is properly built.