Deck Construction

[member deleted]

Is it acceptable to notch the support beam in this fashion? This is a twelve foot high deck off a three story townhouse.

Thanks,

Kevin

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[Jim Katen]

Originally posted by Kevin A. Richardson

Is it acceptable to notch the support beam in this fashion? This is a twelve foot high deck off a three story townhouse.

Thanks,

Kevin

That's not a beam. It's a post.

Yes. It's fine to notch it.

I'd be more comfortable, though, if it were connected to the girder with bolts that went all the way through, not just lag screws.

- Jim Katen, Oregon

[Brian G]

Whew! Kevin my man, you gots ta reduce those big 'ole files when you want to post 'em. Some of the boys have dial-up.

I don't see anything in the IRC that I think is really on point, so I'm just going to give you my practical opinion. I think the notches themselves are okay. It gave the joists some pretty good direct bearing (always better than any hanger in my book) and a stabilizer on one side to fasten to.

The fastening doesn't look that good though. One photo shows just a couple of lags, one or two others show none. I'd have gone farther if I built a deck 12 feet up.

Which leads to what we can't see in the pics. At 12 feet high I hope there was some darn good bracing all over the place, like every vertical post, to keep that sucker stable. It's usually almost impossible to keep it rock stiff, but if you go light on the braces they can be pretty wiggly.

Then there's the critical "how was it secured to the house" questions.

I hope that's some help.

Brian G.

[Terence McCann]

Originally posted by Brian G.

snip

Then there's the critical "how was it secured to the house" questions.

I hope that's some help.

Brian G.

That's the key question! Any pics of that?

[member deleted]

All,

Thanks for the replies. I am sorry for the large pictures. I just bought this new 4MP camera and I am still messing around with all the features.

I didn't take any pictures of the how the deck was secured to the house. It appeared to me to be alright. It was bolted to the side of the house and properly flashed.

Thanks,

Kevin

[chrisprickett]

I'd recommend pre-drilling and thru-bolting with at least two carriage bolts, staggered, per post.