Attaching Porch Ledger to House
rodrob15
| Posted in Building Code Questions on
I’m currently in the design phase of a modern cabin. I will have a porch roof that extends about 12 feet out and covers a deck. The problem is I don’t have a rim/band joist to attach to (the porch ledger will be located about 11 feet up on a 14 foot wall). So I’m wondering what the best practice is in this situation. It seems like attaching to studs won’t do the job. Can I just install 2×10 interior blocking between my studs to attach to?
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Replies
It depends a little on your insulation installation. I sheathed wall, then added a continuous 2x over that and attached rafters with adjustable Simpson hangers to the 2x.
With a number of high profile deck failures, the codes and enforcement have changed. Lots of decks today are built as self supporting structures, rather than jumping thru the hoops necessary to attach to the house in a code compliant way.
I am not sure how you can meet today’s lateral load requirements to a balloon framed wall. Make sure your code people approve before you build anything. If your local codes have not changes yet then you could let in a ribbon ledger see photo.
Walta
Rodrob,
Roof ledgers almost never fall in the same plane as the house floor ledger. They can be fastened through the sheathing into the studs. No need for blocking - ands don't bring the framing into the stud space, it makes air-sealing a lot more difficult, and interrupts the structural continuity of the sheathing. Depending on the loading you may have to use structural screws, but typically just framing nails are sufficient. You will need joist hangers for the rafter to ledger connection.
Roof ledgers aren't subject to the lateral-load requirements decks are. On a side note, I'm pretty sure the IRC still requires self-supporting decks to still be attached to the house structure for lateral-load stability. See figure # 21 in the link below:
http://www.awc.org/pdf/codes-standards/publications/dca/AWC-DCA62012-DeckGuide-1405.pdf