Virginia Garage and House - Let the process begin.

[hcallaway]

Nice to see a plan come together. Hope to have garage done next week. At least released by the County after final inspection.

 

[hcallaway]

16 x 16 Screened Porch with Trex

Trusses on site. If the rain holds off they will go up on Thursday. It should have shingles by next week.

 

[EddieWalker]

Did the bolt the ledger board to the wall? Bolts are the best way to do this and in some parts of the country, are the only way that's allowed due to deck failure almost always being caused by the ledger board pulling away from the house.

Eddie

 

[hcallaway]

I am not sure what fasteners they used. I know it was not lag bolts but some tan colored fasteners that used a special drive bit. They were driven in about flush with the board.

 

[EddieWalker]

I am not sure what fasteners they used. I know it was not lag bolts but some tan colored fasteners that used a special drive bit. They were driven in about flush with the board.

It's your house and I don't know what code is there, but I would suggest doing your own research on how a ledger board is supposed to be attached. Sounds like they used timber lock lag bolts. They are just another type of lag bolt. In some areas they are acceptable on existing buildings when adding a deck. There is some engineering involved with how many to use, how many rows and how far apart they have to be. Most contractors don't come close to using half the number they are supposed to use. With new construction, bolts are the best by far and it's so easy to do it right at this stage that there isn't any reason not to.

Eddie

 

[hcallaway]

Builder said they have used structural lag bolts.

 

[s219]

Best thing nowadays is to use Simpson brackets that run through the ledger board and attach the porch joists to the interior joists with threaded rod, brackets, and structural screws. That makes the type of attachment of the ledger itself much less critical (and to be honest, is way better than *only* bolting the ledger, since the joists could still tear away from the ledger in that case). Don't know if statewide code requires those brackets now, but they were used on my porches down here in James City County (built in 2012-2013).

This is the bracket:



Using those to resist horizontal pull-away loads, structural lags are fine for attaching the ledger itself, as they will only be bearing vertical loads.

 

[EddieWalker]

I've read about those brackets for decks, but thought they where designed for retrofitting decks that where coming apart from the house. I can see them being a good idea when building, but I've never used them myself. Usually what I end up doing is putting in posts and a beam next the the house to deal with the load of the deck and then use the timberlock lag bolts to hold it in place. They come in long enough lengths that I can get through the brick and into solid wood.

Seems like a shame they wont bolt the ledger board to the house when it's so easy to do it at this stage of building.

Eddie

 

[hcallaway]

I think I can it do as access will be easy.

 

[srs]

Eddie is correct about "bolting" the ledger board to the house, simple and cheap to do and adds a tremendous safety factor to the porch.

Also hcallaway the place looks great and really appreciate all the photos and updates. Stanley