Free standing decks are superior structures that protect your home's foundation and last longer than traditional attached decks. Unlike decks bolted directly to your house, freestanding designs transfer weight to independent footings, preventing costly damage and structural failure. Whether you're in Montgomery County, MD or Fairfax County, VA, this separation is critical for deck longevity and safety.
Newly constructed single family homes typically no longer use solid 2×10 band boards, where the ledger is attached. Historically, it would be OK to bolt into the solid 2×10 beam that runs around the perimeter of house(if done correctly). Now, new home contractors are using engineered floor joists that deck ledgers cannot attach to and that will not stop a deck from pulling away from the house. A TGI floor joist is an engineered wood ‘I’ beam that has incredible vertical strength and resists warping and shrinking. However, engineered wood does not have much lateral strength and cannot take bolts very well.
In the mid-atlantic we are prone to severe weather that can result in a foot or two of snow per year. If a non-freestanding deck was not constructed correctly with the appropriate flashing and the correct attachment method to the house a heavy snow load can put the deck at risk of collapsing.
The sure fire way to avoid any problems in the future is to build a free standing deck. This simply means that the deck itself carries all the weight. To build a fee standing deck you need to add an additional beam within two feet of the house. There are ways to include the additional beam while not clogging up the under deck area. By using over sized beams we can minimize the amount of columns needed. Aloso, by using larger joists we can span larger spaces. If possible, we try to put the beam tight to the house in an attempt to maximize the under deck space for future use. For more information, or to see past free standing decks we have built, please visit www.DesignBuildersMD.com
*Band Board-outer most member of the flooring system.
The band board sits directly on the sill plate. Deck ledger attachment is made to this band board.
http://www.ilevel.com/floors/f_TJI_joists.aspx