AboutEugene Clayton Expertise I would be happy to answer any question reguarding the construction of decks, composites verses natural materials, structure support systems,railing applications,stair design, how to figure stairs etc.. Pretty much anything that has to do with decks and or porches.
Experience I have been in the construction industry for over 26 years including new home construction, custom deck and screen porches. Most of my expertise is from framing custom homes for over 20 years. I now own and opperate a very successful custom deck and screen porch company in Atlanta Ga. Along with my Brother.
Expert: Eugene Clayton Date: 7/18/2008 Subject: Can a beam be attached directly to a house?
Question Hello Eugene. Hope you can help. I am planning a low (30" high) deck that will be bordered by two walls (i.e. an inside corner). It will be a simple rectangle 10' wide by 6' deep. The 10' ledger will attach to the house's rim joist with the 6' long joists attached to it. The other end of the joists will rest on a beam, also 10' long, but only 5' from the house resulting in a 1' cantilever. Typically (I believe), the beam would rest on 2 posts, one each about 1' from either end of the beam resulting in an 8’ span. However, since I have a wall on the left edge of the deck (perpendicular to the ledger) I was wondering if I could hang the beam directly to the house. If so, the beam would need to attach to the concrete foundation wall just below rim joist. Is this a safe move, or am I asking for water/structural trouble down the line? If the beam should not be attached to the house, then I presume I would need another footer to support the beam. However, my township requires a 4 foot minimum distance between the existing house foundation and any new footing. Thus, I would have the left post/footing one foot from the left edge of the beam, the right post/footing four feet from the right edge of the beam and five feet spanning the posts. I don't believe a four foot cantilever is acceptable, which would imply that I would HAVE to hang the beam from the house somehow. I plan on using treated 8x material for ledger(s), beams (double 8x) and joists.
I hope my question is clear, and I hope you can help. Looking forward to your response.
Thanks,
Kevin
Answer Hello Kevin,
The only answer I can come up with is creating a pocket in the wall for the beam to rest on, or perhaps pouring a small retainer wall on top of a footer right off the house, then rest the beam on it. They also might make a heavy duty hanger that could be bolted to the house with anchors, hope this helped a little.
