Ledger board versus joist size

by Toonerboy
(Saskatoon,Saskatchewan ,Canada)

My new house has an 8 inch ledger board and I am builiding a large wrap around deck with a plan that calls for 10 inch joists.

Is it possible to hang 10 inch joists on the 8 inch ledger or should I consider putting a 10 inch ledger all the way around the house on top of the 8 inch ledger?

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Jul 18, 2013
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starstarstarstarstar 		What I Did
by: Anonymous

I ended up bolting a 10 inch header over the existing 8 inch.

My deck design has 14 foot 10 inch joists at 16 inch off the house to a 2x10 beam...and out another 16 feet to a second 2x10 beam...poured 27 12 foot 10 inch piles.

Did the work myself and while may have been overkill...looks great. About 2000 sq ft of deck space..lots of outdoor living room and can move around house as sun-wind changes..
Jul 16, 2013
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starstarstar 		Anything is possible but why?
by: Editor-Rich Bergman

This is a great question. It is not very common to have joists that are larger than the ledger board. But there are joist hangers of practically every kind imagineable and so you can get specialty hangers that would allow you to connect a 10" joist onto a ledger.

I have seen much more elaborate joist connections used in home construction - approved by engineers of course. But I think the more relevant question here is why must your deck have 10" joists? Is it because you want to span a longer distance from the ledger to the first beam?

You can get more span distance from any size of joists by spacing them closer from say 16" to 12". This would then eliminate the need for a special joist hanger to accommodate an oversized joist against the ledger board.

I would avoid switching out the old 8" ledger board for a 10" one. This can get complicated and sometimes is not even possible given the proximity of the foundation. You are just walking into more challenges that must be thoughtfully and carefully addressed if you do that.

If there are more experienced builders out there who have confronted this kind of situation please add your comments.

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