
What Is a Header Board (or "Ledger")?
What is a girder on a deck?
What is decking flooring?
What is a joist hanger?
When building a deck that will not be adjacent to a house, what is the girder?
How are joists attached to a house?
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What are the posts called that hold up a deck?
Joists are one of the most prominent parts of the anatomy of a deck as provide structural support to your deck floor. Joists are installed between beams and are typically spaced at 16” on center, but can be spaced 12” for a sturdier foot feel.
What are the parts of a deck called?
Parts of a Deck: A Guide to Deck TerminologyBalusters.Balustrade.Beams.Blocking.Bridging.Decking.Fascia.Flashing.More items...•
Whats a header for a deck?
A ledger board, or header, is a horizontal piece of lumber attached to a wall to support the ends of deck joists.
What is the difference between a header and a beam?
A header in the construction and engineering world is a beam over an opening that disperses the structural load to the outside of the opening to keep structural integrity. Otherwise, the load from the roof, floor, or whatever is above the opening can lead to stress that can cause cracks, shifting, or even worse.
What do you use to support a deck?
Ground Anchored Spikes But some of them use modified load plates and are a good deck foundation option. They are less expensive than an engineered helical pier and provide more lateral strength than surface deck block footing. The installation method is either brute strength with a sledge hammer or use a jack hammer.
What is a girder on a deck?
In fact, they are the components that are keeping the deck floor in place. Girders connect to the posts and the joists (perpendicularly) acting as the backbone of the deck's support system. They are located along the border of the deck. The joists rest on top of the girders running the length of the decking.
What is the purpose of a header?
A header is the top margin of each page, and a footer is the bottom margin of each page. Headers and footers are useful for including material that you want to appear on every page of a document such as your name, the title of the document, or page numbers.
When framing a deck where are headers used?
The header board is one end of the deck, and the deck at this end derives support from the house. This board will be the same width as the deck joists. The joists will be hung from the header board using joist hangers.
Are headers load bearing?
Headers are only needed on structural load bearing walls where weight will be placed on top of the void. Non structural walls usually don't require headers because there's almost never weight placed above the opening. If there was, the wall would be considered load bearing.
What does a header sit on?
The header spans an opening for a window or door, or it is a cut-out in the roof or floor for a skylight, chimney, or staircase. Typically at least twice the size of surrounding framing members, a header is often built up from two studs, joists, or rafters.
What is a wood header?
A header is a single member composed of two or more wood members, securely attached together and used to transfer loads above openings. Headers are used to create openings for windows, doors, and interior passageways. They serve a significant structural purpose.
What is floor header?
What Is a Header? A header, on the other hand, is simply the last piece of hardwood installed where the the wood floor joins with another type of floor, such as tile or stone. Depending on the layout of the floor, the installer can lay it either parallel or perpendicular to the floor.
What are the 5 parts of a deck?
The ledger, footings, support posts, beam(s), hangers, joists, and rim boards are all parts of the deck frame.
What makes up a deck?
Decks are made from treated lumber, composite lumber, composite material, and aluminum. Lumber may be western red cedar, teak, mahogany, ipê, reclaimed and recycled ulin and other hardwoods.
What is a wood ledger?
A ledger board is a horizontal lumber beam attached to an existing wall and used to tie in construction elements such as porch roofs and decks. A deck ledger is installed as part of the deck frame construction. The frame is then attached at either end, with the deck joists butting up to it.
What are decking joists?
Decking joists are long pieces of treated timber used to create a framework on which to lay decking. It's important to ensure that deck joists are installed securely and evenly across the area, to allow for a safe and level decking to be laid on top.
What is a ledger board?
A ledger board, or header, is a horizontal piece of lumber attached to a wall to support the ends of deck joists. The ledger can be attached using one of three methods.
When fastening to uneven stone, or stucco, the ledger board must be supported from beneath?
When fastening to uneven stone, or stucco, the ledger board must be supported from beneath with a ledger attached to the solid concrete foundation at the bottom of the wall.
How to anchor ledgers to wall?
Position the ledger against the wall and mark the anchor positions through the hole onto the wall.
How to drill holes in ledger?
Mark anchor locations on your ledger and drill through the board with a ½” bit
What are the parts of a deck?
A deck is made up of five core sections, including the foundation, surface, framing, stairs, and railing, all of which are composed of several other parts. For example, a deck’s foundation is made up of a pier and a footing, while the framing is made up of a ledger, a support column, a beam, a joist, and a post base.
What are the components of a deck?
The next category of deck components is the stairs. Deck stairs consist of virtually all of the same pieces that standard staircases have: treads, risers, and stringers. Treads are the flat surface that you step on to ascend and descend the stairs. The risers are vertical portions of the stair that are viewed as the ‘face’ of the steps.
What is the best way to build a long lasting deck?
2. Deck Framing . The key to a safe and long-lasting deck is a proper foundation and a sturdy framing. After you’ve built a solid foundation that will provide necessary support, framing is where the building of the deck begins to take shape.
What is composite decking?
Composites: Composite decking boards and other relevant synthetics are becoming increasingly popular in the decking board industry. They are a sustainable choice, as they are constructed from recycled plastics and wood fibers. Composites are also virtually maintenance-free, look and feel like real wood, do not warp or splinter, and are resistant to rot and insects.
How thick is a deck board?
Most decking boards are manufactured or specially milled to be thicker than one inch, and are generally between four and six inches wide with rounded edges to prevent splintering.
How deep should a deck foundation be?
How deep the foundation of your deck needs to be poured will depend on your local building code and the frost depth in your region.
What is the next category of a deck?
Once you’ve achieved a solid framing with the above components, the next category of a deck is the physical surface that rests on top.
What is header on deck?
A header is fastened to the ends of the deck?s interior joists. Rim joists or end joists are the outermost joists perpendicular to the ledger. Joist hangers: Metal fasteners that allow you to fasten the joists in place without notching the ends of the board. A joist hanger secures a joist to a ledger or rim joist.
What is decking in construction?
A deck is essentially an outdoor floor supported by a frame, posts, and footings secured in the ground; assembled in stages; and built from the ground up. The following terms define all of the important components of a typical deck.
What is a stringer on a stair?
Stringers: Long, diagonal framing parts (usually 2x12s) that support stair treads. The stair treads are attached to the stringers.
What is bridging in framing?
Bridging: Short pieces of lumber between joists that strengthen the framing. They are designed to prevent the joists from twisting.
What is footing in concrete?
Footings: Concrete columns below grade that support the posts and, thus, the deck. On sites where the soil freezes and thaws, concrete is poured in an above-grade form and a cylindrical hole. Ask your building department for footing depths in your area.
What is a ledger board?
Ledger: A board (usually 2x stock) attached to the house to support one side of the deck.
Can you use posts on a deck?
Posts are used on all but the shortest decks. The posts can be cut off below the deck surface, or they may rise above the surface to provide support for the railing. Posts may rest on top of concrete footings or they can be set plumb in the hole before the concrete is poured.
What is a ledger board?
Attaching a Ledger Board for Your Deck. The ledger provides much of a deck’s strength; it supports the joists at one end, and it provides stiffness to the framing. (A free-standing deck, of course, does not have a ledger.) The ledger is made of the same material as the rest of the framing—usually pressure-treated lumber.
How to hold ledger in place?
Hold the ledger in place with nails.
How thick is a ledger?
The decking is 1-inch thick, so the top of the ledger is 1 1/8 inch below the bottom of the sill. In the photo here, the door casing has been cut to the desired top of the deck, so the decking can just slip under the casing.
Can you attach a ledger board to a brick deck?
Do not attach a ledger board to brick or stone veneer exteriors. In these cases, you will want to build a free-standing deck frame. Mark below the door casing. 1. Carefully determine the height for the ledger—which will also be the height for all the joist framing. The top of the ledger board should be lower than the desired top ...
What is a deck frame?
A deck frame is essentially a wooden platform raised off the ground and supported by beams and posts. The posts stand on concrete footings called piers. The platform frame is made primarily from of 2-by lumber called joists. On a small deck, the beams are sometimes incorporated into the joist framing.
What happens if a deck is large?
If the deck is large, you’ll end up buying more joist hangers, more bolts and you’ll have to dig and pour more concrete footings.
How far apart should joists be on a deck?
The minimum joist size is a 2-by-6, which may span up to 11 feet 7 inches without additional support if they are spaced just 12 inches apart.
How high should a deck post be?
If the deck is below 6 feet, then we can use a 4-by-4 post, but if the deck is over 6 feet high, then a 6-by-6 post is required.
How tall is a post?
The load area is the distance between the beams and the distance between the posts. Height is less than 6 feet or 6 feet or higher.
Do deck beams support joists?
On a small deck, the beams are sometimes incorporated into the joist framing. On larger decks, the beams support the joists from underneath.
Is a deck a good addition to a house?
A deck is always a nice addition to have in your home, especially when you’ve got a nice garden view overlooking it. It’s an outdoor space that becomes an extension of your indoor living space.
What Is a Header Board (or "Ledger")?
To achieve this, a header board or "ledger" is bolted to the house. The header board is one end of the deck, and the deck at this end derives support from the house. This board will be the same width as the deck joists. The joists will be hung from the header board using joist hangers. A joist hanger is a metal framing connector, which, after being screwed into the header board, provides a slot for one end of a joist to rest in.
What is a girder on a deck?
What Is a Deck Girder? In deck construction, a girder (or a beam) is a board or a composite of more than one board that serves as a supporting structure for the deck joists, which meet it perpendicularly. Girders are like a frame for the joists. Likewise, a large deck may need extra support in the middle.
What is decking flooring?
"Decking" materials are what forms the flooring of a deck, often 2x6 or 2x8 boards. This term should not be confused with the word "deck," which designates the entire structure. The decking, or "deck flooring," is the uppermost element of the deck structure, save for the railings. Proceeding in order from the bottom to the top, the following elements support the decking: 1 Concrete footings (underground) 2 Concrete piers 3 Posts 4 Girder 5 Header board 6 Joists
What is a joist hanger?
A joist hanger is a metal framing connector, which , after being screwed into the header board, provides a slot for one end of a joist to rest in. Again, the joists meet the header board at a right angle, and the tops of the joists are at the same level as the top of the header board. It is important to establish this level properly early on in ...
When building a deck that will not be adjacent to a house, what is the girder?
When building a deck that will not be adjacent to a house (a so-called " floating deck "), there will be a deck girder at both ends of the deck for support. Indeed, even when the deck is to be adjacent to the house, an alternative construction method is to use a second post-and-girder system rather than tying the deck directly to ...
How are joists attached to a house?
When building a deck that will be adjacent to a house, joists are often attached at the house end using a header board (from which the joists are "hung" using joist hangers), keeping the tops of the joists at the same level as the header board. At the opposite end, support is provided by a deck girder. Rather than being hung from this deck girder, the joists commonly rest on top of this beam. The deck girder, in turn, rests on posts for support.
