The Log house Project begins........

[boxygen]

Box, funny you should mention that, I initially thought about the high tensile horse fence 1/8 solid wire every 4" horizontally. It would be cheap and easy to install by drilling holes through 6x6 posts. I kicked it around for a while but again came back to that "too modern" look. I still think it's the perfect see through railing...I just don't think it "fit's" on a log house...arrghhh.

Darin, I ran them that way because I ran the North(creekside) deck the "correct way" and I wanted the deck to match as it came around and turned the 90 degree corner(all deck boards run West). Which 2x12 are you asking about? the angle from North deck to West or the 2x12's that are the final joists on the West side out over the 32' Ibeam?

Box, again ther is no ledger(I called it a header board) on the logs...just joist hangers(5).The first actual nailer joist is 4" off the side of the house...does that make sense? I did this specifically to avoid moisture damage cause between a "ledger" and the logs.
I will pick up some more 2x10 hangers & nails, I don't mind overdoing it every now and then...no problemo.

Motor, Great thinking on the high tensile fence wire. Kinda like a poor mans cable rail. I may consider that for a porch I will be building at my own house next year. I agree though, it is awefully modern for log building.

I see what you have done with the joist and hangers now against the building. Im not familiar with your climate, but that would lead to rotten wood here in less than five years. Each of those connections is definitely vulnerable to water damage and since your load is concentrated at those 5 points, it will lead to a structural problem of the entire deck. I would flash each connection like it was a ledger connection. That means a piece of flashing that starts above the decking surface travels vertically down the wall and then horizontally out on top of the joist away from the building. On a normally sided building this flashing would be behind the building paper or taped to the paper. On your log building, I would bend another leg on the flashing that went in between the first log course above the decking surface.

 

[Obed]

Box, again ther is no ledger(I called it a header board) on the logs...just joist hangers(5).The first actual nailer joist is 4" off the side of the house...does that make sense? I did this specifically to avoid moisture damage cause between a "ledger" and the logs.

We used a ledger board when we framed our deck and porch. However, I wanted to minimize rotting of the ledger board so we put pressure treated wood spacers between the ledger and the brick. If you look carefully at the last picture, you can see the spacers between the the ledger board and the brick. When the spacers start rotting, I can easily tap in new spacers.

I will pick up some more 2x10 hangers & nails, I don't mind overdoing it every now and then...no problemo.

Rick, personally, I don't think you'll have any trouble with the floor joists the way you made them. I don't think anyone is going to fall through the deck because you didn't use joist hangers. If the joists do start to give way, I think you would start to see a gradual sag. You could always retrofit in joist hangers later if you started to see sagging.

The only question I would have is will the 5 joists attached to the log walls with joist hangers be able to hold the weight of the deck without pulling away from the wall? I would probably bolt the joist hangers to the cedar longs instead of screws if I were doing it.

Obed

 

[boxygen]

We used a ledger board when we framed our deck and porch. However, I wanted to minimize rotting of the ledger board so we put pressure treated wood spacers between the ledger and the brick. If you look carefully at the last picture, you can see the spacers between the the ledger board and the brick. When the spacers start rotting, I can easily tap in new spacers.

Rick, personally, I don't think you'll have any trouble with the floor joists the way you made them. I don't think anyone is going to fall through the deck because you didn't use joist hangers. If the joists do start to give way, I think you would start to see a gradual sag. You could always retrofit in joist hangers later if you started to see sagging.

The only question I would have is will the 5 joists attached to the log walls with joist hangers be able to hold the weight of the deck without pulling away from the wall? I would probably bolt the joist hangers to the cedar longs instead of screws if I were doing it.

Obed

Thats a good detail Obed. Really no need to flash it since it is against brick. If the spacers are also presure treated like the ledger, I doubt you will ever have to do anything to that in your lifetime. On a wood frame building you would flash out over the spacers but behind the ledger board. You also sometimes see two ledger boards with spacers between them sometimes. The first ledger board is flashed.

 

[EddieWalker]

Rick, personally, I don't think you'll have any trouble with the floor joists the way you made them. I don't think anyone is going to fall through the deck because you didn't use joist hangers. If the joists do start to give way, I think you would start to see a gradual sag. You could always retrofit in joist hangers later if you started to see sagging.

The week point in the design is not the size of the lumber, but in the way it's attached. Joist hangers are cheap and effective. Suggesting that they not be used IS NOT something that I would agree with.

Eddie

 

[Obed]

The week point in the design is not the size of the lumber, but in the way it's attached. Joist hangers are cheap and effective. Suggesting that they not be used IS NOT something that I would agree with.

Eddie

Eddie, I've observed your work and know you do high quality work. I wish I could have had you build our house. If it were me, I would use joist hangers just as you suggested. But I normally overbuild and using a hanger for a short 5 ft long deck joist might be overdoing it a little as Rick hinted. Rick seems to be comfortable without the hangers at those specific spots and he sounds like he has some experience.

Obed

 

[KRBrouwer]

Some of my clients wished the same result and considered store kits that used narrow black rods to minimize visual obstruction.
Quite pricy solution.

What I came up with was cedar 2 x 4's top and bottom pair drilled out 5/8" every 4" with the bottom rail only only partially so.
For spindles I used 1/2" copper pipe that very rapidly takes on a greenish patina.
With the dark patina and narrow spindles the eye sees right thru like nothing was there.
Compared to 'store bought' kits this proved to be very cost effective with a unique look.
As a finishing touch I capped the top rail with lengths of 5/4 cedar strips.

For insurance purposes be sure to check out railing height requirements as well as gaps (generally 3.5")

BTW
Nice project.

I used copper on my deck, but ran it horizontal in 4 foot sections between the posts instead of vertical. It weathers nicely, and doesn't obstruct the view. That was about 6 years ago when it was less expensive. However, you could run other metals horizontally or look into cabling.

Ken

 

[MotorSeven]

Kr, got any pic's??

If I bought at a BB store copper will run about $3 a 30" baluster. I can buy actual 5/8ths square balusters for $1.67 ea, but they are hollow and powder coated. I'm not crazy about power coating for anything that lives outside and had bad luck with the stuff.
4' spacing puts me around 220 balusters, so both options are pricey. I am going to hit the scrap yard first & see what I come up with and they might even have copper. I'll keep y'all posted....

 

[955Lincoln]

Kr, got any pic's??

If I bought at a BB store copper will run about $3 a 30" baluster. I can buy actual 5/8ths square balusters for $1.67 ea, but they are hollow and powder coated. I'm not crazy about power coating for anything that lives outside and had bad luck with the stuff.
4' spacing puts me around 220 balusters, so both options are pricey. I am going to hit the scrap yard first & see what I come up with and they might even have copper. I'll keep y'all posted....

How about just a safety net down below?

 

[twinjayhawks]

Kr, got any pic's??

If I bought at a BB store copper will run about $3 a 30" baluster. I can buy actual 5/8ths square balusters for $1.67 ea, but they are hollow and powder coated. I'm not crazy about power coating for anything that lives outside and had bad luck with the stuff.
4' spacing puts me around 220 balusters, so both options are pricey. I am going to hit the scrap yard first & see what I come up with and they might even have copper. I'll keep y'all posted....

One thing to keep in mind with Copper... it will patina over time. The final color or patina is has it greatly influenced by its environment. It may turn brown in some environments or it may turn shades of green in others. You can change what colors it shows with chemicals or let it go naturally. Also, it will stain everything around it with whatever patina it chooses. Your deck will be stained and so will everything else around it. Some people like this look... like me, but others don't. If you see a building with a copper roof everything below the roof that is drains on will take on that look with streaks where the water drips or flows.

If it were me I would choose copper and if you do just keep in mind what it will do.

 

[forgeblast]

You could patina it yourself. Just use a salt spray and it will turn blue-green. There are a lot of art metal sites that will give you copper patina recipes.
If you want it to stay shiny use copper laqure.