Lag bolts work in a similar manner.Īll things being equal, a through bolt makes for the strongest connection per fastener. When through-bolts are used, you’ll either see the head of the bolt or the end of the bolt at the ledger. This is typically done using carriage bolts, pictured above. Through-bolts can be used to attach a ledger to the house when the interior of the rim joist is accessible. While these fasteners may cost a little more, they’re fast and easy to install, and they’re code approved to be used in place of 1/2″ lag screws. These fasteners are designed to be installed without any pilot holes, and they already come with a washer attached to each head. Simpson Strong-Tie makes a similar fastener, called the Strong-Drive® SDS Screw. One such fastener is the FastenMaster LedgerLok®, which is pictured above. Special Ledger Screwsīecause of the tedious process involved in drilling several pilot holes in the wood to use lag screws, there are a few products available that are designed for the specific purpose of attaching a deck ledger to a building. Lag screws are fairly inexpensive, but they take special steps to install correctly. You wouldn’t want to put too many people on that deck. In the photos below, the lag screws at this Eden Prairie townhouse were only attached to the fiberboard wall sheathing, which is basically worthless. When a home is constructed with floor trusses and there is no rim joist for the deck to attach to, it’s important to figure out what the screws are going in to. One problem that I occasionally find with lag screws is that they’re not attached to anything substantial behind the ledger. There’s no way of knowing if all of these steps were followed just by looking at a deck, but if lag screws are visible, you can feel a little better about the deck attachment to the building. For specific spacing and installation instructions, you can turn to page 12 of the Prescriptive Residential Wood Deck Construction Guide. After that, a 1/2″ hole should be drilled through the ledger only. To properly attach a deck ledger using 1/2″ lag screws, 5/16″ holes need to be pre-drilled through the ledger and rim joist. Traditionally, lag screws have been the most common method of attaching decks to buildings. The piece of wood that connects a deck to a building is called the ledger, or ledger board. Is your deck properly attached to the building? It’s not always possible to know for sure, but today I’ll discuss a few different ways of attaching a deck to a building. The cause of collapse is quite obvious – it wasn’t attached properly. The photo below shows a deck collapse that happened here in Minnesota, and this is exactly how most decks collapse. Most decks are supported on one side by the building, and on the opposite side by the earth. May is National Deck Safety Month, so I’m going to start off this month by writing about the most common cause of deck collapses – improper attachment to a building.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |