[poolecw]

I am getting ready to build a rather large deck. It will be an "L" shaped deck. One leg of the "L" will be 40' and the other will be 30'. On the 40' section, I will be able to attach a ledger board to the house (will attach to poured concrete blocks). However, the 30' part of the deck will be an issue. It will back up to the garage wall. The location where the ledger board should go is only hollow 2' x 4' wall. There is no band board to tie into. Should I just use a set of piers and beam to make this portion free standing?

See picture...

 

[SeniorSitizen]

No, you should make it all free standing.

 

[de-nagorg]

A lot of digging necessary to install it as all free standing. But well worth the effort.

That way you do not need to anchor it to your home, or garage. It will not need flashings at the walls, it will be easier to keep swept/ washed off.

You will not need to penetrate your house envelope to bolt it to, which will help in vermin infestation elimination.

Plan it as a freestanding unit. you can leave an inch or less gap between the existing building and the deck, and still have plenty of space to build the framework, then install the decking to be close to the doorway access point to eliminate a possible stumbling gap.


ED

 

[woodworkbykirk]

you can either make the second section free standing or you can bolt the ledger into the studs making sure to predrill first so you dont splkit them

 

[ront02769]

you can either make the second section free standing or you can bolt the ledger into the studs making sure to predrill first so you dont splkit them

This. Except for the pre-drill. The new ledger-lock product does not require same....and they are VERY easy to use. Ron

 

[poolecw]

Thanks all. This has been a project 4 years in the making. Its time to finally get it done. I'm sure I'll be on here asking more questions. I like the idea of totally free standing as it would solve a couple more issues that I would face if I were to use ledger boards.

 

[Daniel Holzman]

If you build free standing, you need additional sway bracing. Not expensive, but necessary. Your building inspector will refer you to the proper code, my town uses the Prescriptive Residential Wood Deck guidelines, which have a nice diagram of proper sway bracing for a free standing deck. Your town may use a different code.