What I did not mention is that the deck itself can now be set on footings which are poured cement and buried deep into the ground with the underside below the know frost line depth - ergo a "frost footing".
I just mentioned that one of the benefits of building a deck that is not connected to your ledger allows you to avoid all the labor, skill and cost involved to properly open up a building's envelope and surgically connect, waterproof and install a ledger board and re-install the siding to make it look like new.
But not all free standing decks are floating. Think of this.Īll floating decks are free standing decks. You will often hear the term "floating deck" interchanged with "free standing deck"and you along with many other people may wonder what the difference really is. But a free standing deck is by far the first concept you should be considering. Trust me, there are only a few situations where you definitely should and indeed must build a ledger connected deck, second storey walk out decks are one very good example. Just so you know this very issue is one that is constantly talked about in builder circles as to what is required, what is overkill, what is necessary and on and on it goes. You will then have to attach the ledger to the rim joist and carefully follow one of several accepted building techniques. You may have to install dimensional lumber blocking depending on what your investigation reveals. You will also have to note whether the joists and rim joist are dimensional lumber or engineered joists. You will also have to gain access to your floor joists from your basement to determine which way the joists run. But again, this is critically important work. There are now some good alternatives to mechanical flashing such as many of the adhesive membrane materials. You will have to remove it high enough up that two layers of mechancical flashing can be installed properly to make the connection water tight. You will have to carefully remove whatever kind of exterior siding, cladding, masonry, stucco material your house uses. Here are a few of the challenges you will experience if you decide to ledger connect your deck.
Things To Understand About Ledger Connected Decks When you build a deck that is not connected to the ledger you obviously avoid all the complicated carpentry and building techniques that are required and often mandated in order to do it properly. These kinds of decks are often built in a renovation project after the house has already been constructed. There are plenty of very good reasons that a homeowner would like to have a free standing deck. It can be within 3/4" to 1" from the siding or exterior of the house and appear like it is connected to an untrained eye but it is truly freely standing from the house. I would hate to see other people find themselves in this predicament.įor a deck to be free standing it really must be unattached to any other structure like a house.
Let's break this free standing deck concept down into bite size pieces for everyone to understand. I would call this a "faux standing deck" to be honest. Your deck is definitely not a "free standing deck". This story you have shared has really surprised me as I have never seen anything quite like this before. We are not even sure anything can be done at this point. Our Virginia county inspector agrees that we did not get what we paid for and the rear beam now only serves as a show piece with no purpose. They are all anchored by joist hangers attached to a ledger board that is fully attached with lag bolts to the house. The joists are in no way anchored to the rear beam. Over 60% of the joists have an air gap between the underside of the joist and the beam closest to the home. My question is, what classifies, or makes a deck to be considered in the industry as "free standing?" What we got is a fully attached deck with a beam and support posts installed at the end of the deck build. I paid to have a "free standing" deck with a rear support beam and rear support poles.