[wvw]

Greetings, I'm replacing a deck, it's a rather straight-forward job except for one thing - the existing deck did not have a ledger board attached to the house band board, there were simply joist hangers attached directly to the band board. The band board was end-nailed to the inside floor joists and toe nailed to the sill plate - it's quite solid. I don't see reason to add a ledger where there was none before but I can't find any examples of this kind of deck attachment. Is it acceptable construction? If so, what nails should be used to attach the hangers to the band board that's only 1 1/2" thick with nothing behind it? 1 1/2 ? 3 ?

 

[jaros bros.]

Unacceptable. The reason is that when the water runs down the siding or is driven back against the house it will soak into your rim joist and framing and cause damage. I took your "band board" to be a rim joist from your description. Also, as it stands, you need some added resistance to keep the rim joist from being withdrawn from the joists. End nailing into the joists and sill plate do not provide enough anchoring. Simpson makes a hold down tie that works great. Everything needs to be flashed properly and a ledger board added. Use spacers, to create a minimum of 1/4 space between the ledger board and the rim joist. This will keep the moisture that soaks into the ledger from transferring to the rim joist. Some ripped pieces of pt works or you can get creative and use sliced hockey pucks or something. Use bolts or lags to secure the ledger to the rim joist. Through bolts work better if you have the access. Grace Ice and Water works great for flashing in these areas. Also make sure to use a piece of flashing over the top of the ledger and tuck it under the siding. You should also run a piece of Grace down the wall on top of the rim joist. Good luck.

 

[cbeingessner]

I have a similar situation but I added a ledger board. However, it hangs down below the "band board" -- should I tie it into the concrete foundation as well as into the "band board"? I used 6 1/4" lag bolts to attach the ledger -- will that be enough? The deck is only 8' by 6'. Thoughts?

Chris
http://handymansdream.blogspot.com -- follow along as the "Handyman's Dream" rises from the ashes!