With all the ledger connection discussion here and at JLC, I found I had an issue which I have not seen addressed. I have a timberframe house enclosed with SIP’s, and I need to attach a deck ledger. I was planning on bolting the ledger through the SIP and the band joist (OSB type band joist for I beam floor joist system), but I was worried about the outer layer of OSB being strong enough. Despite the three layers and 8 1/2 inches of wall, there is no real solid wood to attach it to. Will lag bolts on a tight schedule be enough?
Mike Fitz
Replies
NO!
the foam will compress and cause movement.. not a good thing when you have tons of brick attached..
put your brick ledge down to the foundation where. it belongs..
If you aren't putting brick on it, and just need to attach a ledger for something, try to connect to either the 2x material that the SIP sits on or make a solid connection into the inside timber..
Frenchy-
The ledger is for a deck, not bricks. I can't attach the ledger to the timber frame because the frame sits on top of the 1st floor deck (the insde floor framing deck, not the outside deck I want to build- sorry if this is confusing). I can lag into the foundation plate, but that will only give me a solid attachment along the bottom of the ledger. Challenging, huh?
I can't imagine my situation is all that unique, however. What do most people do who want to attach a deck to a SIP house?
Mike Fitz
Nobody has any ideas on this one? Pro-Dek?
dont attach it..use more posts.
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Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations.
There are several ways to do this:
1) Double ledger - One inside, one outside, both thoroughly glued to the SIP with construction adhesive - Through bolt to sandwiched the SIP in the middle. I like PL-Premium for this application a lot. Don't be stingy with the glue - It's every bit as important as the main fasteners.
2) If the ledger occurs at the top plate of the first floor SIP's on a two story house, use overhang joist hangers nailed into the top plate to carry your deck joists and skip the ledger all together.
3) Use a carrier ledger underneath the main ledger or a minimum 2x12 ledger to create the maximum surface area of contact on the face of the SIP. Coat well with construction adhesive and pull it up tight with structural screws through the SIP top and bottom at 12" O.C. minimum. R-Control calls for 24" O.C. minimum but screws are cheap insurance. Again, the adhesive is very important.
4) If the SIP panels have not been built yet, the best solution is to have an LVL beam imbedded into the panel at the height of your ledger. That will give you all the meat you need to attach anything you want to the panel. This is also a good idea behind upper wall cabinets if you plan far enough ahead.
5) If none of those solutions work for you, call the R-Control plant in Kerrville Texas (Chapman Building Systems) (830) 792-5050. Ask for Thad Chambers and tell him Kevin Halliburton referred you. He is the best resource I've found for the tough questions on SIPs and he always seems happy to answer questions, even from people using a competitive product.
Good Luck!
<P><FONT size=3><EM><FONT face="Comic Sans MS,Sans-Serif" color=darkblue size=2>"Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will serve before kings; he will not serve before obscure men." - Solomon</FONT></EM></FONT></P>
Sorry Mike, I just realized that you are not attaching directly to a SIP but rather to an OSB Band Joist. My last post was for attaching directly to a SIP.
I think in your scenario, one solid way to approach it would be to use overhang style joist hangers attached to the top of the band joist to hang the deck joists without a ledger. Come back with spacers and blocks up tight to the house as if you were installing a ledger but in short pieces between the joists rather than one long board behind them. Nail through the sides of each joist into the "ledger/spacer blocks" for the full length of the assembly and then run lag bolts with washers through the back of the band joist, the spacer blocks and into the back of "ledger blocks" to pull the whole assembly up tight to the house. (The spacers are to get the ledger blocks out past the overhang joist hangers enough to nail into them through the sides of the joist and to allow for drainage behind the pieced together "ledger."
Other random thoughts that may totally negate that idea as well:
What is your band joist sitting on? Is this first or second floor? Can you attach the ledger to whatever the band joist is bearing on at the bottom? (ie. make a "carrier ledger" tied into something solid below to support the main deck ledger above) Can the band joist be inset to allow a solid lumber ledger to sister up to it and bear on the same surface? Do you really need a deck at all? :-)>
<P><FONT size=3><EM><FONT face="Comic Sans MS,Sans-Serif" color=darkblue size=2>"Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will serve before kings; he will not serve before obscure men." - Solomon</FONT></EM></FONT></P>
Around here, unless the deck was foreseen during house construction, in the examples I've seen they made the deck free-standing.
Phill Giles
The Unionville Woodwright
Unionville, Ontario