# deck ledger flashing installation



## Gary in WA (Mar 11, 2009)

http://www.lancova.com/deckinfo.pdf

http://www.awc.org/Publications/DCA/DCA6/Deckarticle.pdf

Gary


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## fungku (Jul 27, 2008)

You'll want a membrane under the flashing... like some kind of bitumus stuff like vycor.

I think I remember you saying that you had no building paper to tie it in with.

If that were the case I would attach the ledger with a gap from your sheathing with spacers so that the moisture that *does *get behind your cladding if it gets to the ledger will have an airspace to dry out.

I like to play carefully, so this is how I would do it if I had no existing house-wrap and wasn't installing any soon:









Sorry if it looks complicated... :laughing: i tried color-coding it

Spacers:

or


I didn't look at the links in the post above, but I trust GBR provides good info. I am just adding what I would do since you don't have house wrap to tie into.


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## amakarevic (Apr 12, 2007)

my ledger is installed on a concrete ledge that goes between the sliding door and the ground. so i don't have any spacing between, i simply affixed the 2x8 ledger to the concrete ledge using 3/8x5-1/2 bolts and anchoring epoxy. the ledger goes directly against the concrete.


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## amakarevic (Apr 12, 2007)

i mean, how bad is it not to have spacers and have the ledger go directly against the concrete?


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## amakarevic (Apr 12, 2007)

the document above does not call for any spacers underneath the ledger, section 10. because, i mean, you have the flashing to prevent water from going between the ledger and the wall so the spacing for drainage may be overkill.


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## dvatt (Mar 18, 2009)

Hd sells protect wrap for behind the ledger they don't however sell a flashing to put on top of the ledger that won't cooties when using pt word.


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## Tom Struble (Dec 29, 2008)

some inspectors won't let you use a spacer:no:


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## fungku (Jul 27, 2008)

tomstruble said:


> some inspectors won't let you use a spacer:no:


Depends on your local codes. For a deck under 24" there generally wouldn't be any problems, otherwise you would be required to have the connection engineered.

For concrete there's no worries. Unless you are worried about your concrete rotting. :whistling2:


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## amakarevic (Apr 12, 2007)

now, let me ask you this: the deck actually spans between the house and the shed, some 90". so, instead of a house ledger and a girder on the open side, it actually has two ledgers, one on the house and the other on the shed. since the shed is W.I.P. as well, i thought the shed ledger might be firmer if affixed straight to the shed studs before the sheathing is hung. see the photo attached.

do you think this is a good idea or not ? one downside i can see is that i will have to kind of trim the flashing's 2-side because the 2x8 is sticking out only 1.5" - 17/32 but that's not a big deal. any other problems you see with this solution?

thanks


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## amakarevic (Apr 12, 2007)

if you absolutely think the flashing should cover the entire 2 side of the ledger, it is not too late for me to rip the sheathing i hung above it (only one OSB pane hung so far, more to go). but if you think that only 1" of the 2 side sticking out is OK and to adjust the flashing for that, i don't mind doing it.


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## amakarevic (Apr 12, 2007)

also, it hasn't been answered what to use to fasten the flashing to the ledger (what kind of fasteners). thanks!


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## fungku (Jul 27, 2008)

@ the shed use a flashing membrane (peel n' stick) down the wall and over the top of ledger then nail metal flashing over that, then overlap the building paper on the shed over the flashing.

You don't fasten the flashing to the ledger, you fasten it to the wall.

IMO, it would have been better to sheath the whole wall and then attach the ledger, but in the end it's only a shed. generally, the sheathing is the lateral bracing of the wall (stops it from racking)


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## Daniel Holzman (Mar 10, 2009)

The idea of using spacers between the ledger and the house and/or shed is a very good one, I regret that I did not use spacers for my house. However, I did use Ice and Water Shield (Grace product) against the house fully extended above and below the ledger, which seemed to work well, especially since the ledger lock bolts seemed to self seal when penetrating the water shield.

As for the flashing, that should extend up at least six inches above the ledger, mine extends about 10 inches above, and is nailed into the house high up. I caulked each nail hole with silicone. The flashing is bent around the ledger, and does not actually touch it. I think this is important, since I used aluminum flashing (typical Home Depot product), and I have read that aluminum reacts poorly with the copper in treated lumber typically used for ledgers (ACQ treatment). Another option is to put some ice and water shield over the top of the ledger board, under the flashing. But as noted previously, you do not want to nail the flashing to the ledger, this can only lead to trouble.


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## amakarevic (Apr 12, 2007)

so are you saying that i don't need any flashing on the house side because the connect material there is concrete ? and also, what kind of nails should i use for the flashing on the shed side ?


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## fungku (Jul 27, 2008)

amakarevic said:


> so are you saying that i don't need any flashing on the house side because the connect material there is concrete ? and also, what kind of nails should i use for the flashing on the shed side ?


Roofing nails should probably do the trick for you :thumbsup:


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## amakarevic (Apr 12, 2007)

thanks. how about the flashing on the house ledger side (see question above)?


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## amakarevic (Apr 12, 2007)

Daniel Holzman said:


> As for the flashing, that should extend up at least six inches above the ledger, mine extends about 10 inches above, and is nailed into the house high up. I caulked each nail hole with silicone. The flashing is bent around the ledger, and does not actually touch it.


i don't get the "six inches above the ledger" part ...


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## fungku (Jul 27, 2008)

kinda like this pic I found on google. # 6 is the flashing, but I'd use the peel n' stick between them.




















you'd nail the flashing to the wall and not the ledger.


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## fungku (Jul 27, 2008)

as for the ledger attached to concrete, is this your foundation wall, below your framing and cladding?


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## amakarevic (Apr 12, 2007)

fungku said:


> as for the ledger attached to concrete, is this your foundation wall, below your framing and cladding?


there is no framing, the house addition is build with large brick elements (kind of like cinder blocs but clay, and then has cement over it). but the ledge below the double sliding door is all solid concrete, 82" wide, about 18" deep, 2.5' high, i poured it a few months ago and rebared the crap out of it. dude, it's rock solid, a mortar attack couldn't harm it. on the house side, the deck mostly rests on it and then two small ledgers on both side that go into the legacy addition wall (i broke holes on the hollow elements and filled them with mortar and then epoxied the bolts in, it is also rock solid).


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## fungku (Jul 27, 2008)

amakarevic said:


> there is no framing, the house addition is build with large brick elements (kind of like cinder blocs but clay, and then has cement over it). but the ledge below the double sliding door is all solid concrete, 82" wide, about 18" deep, 2.5' high, i poured it a few months ago and rebared the crap out of it. dude, it's rock solid, a mortar attack couldn't harm it. on the house side,* the deck mostly rests on it and then two small ledgers on both side that go into the legacy addition wall* (i broke holes on the hollow elements and filled them with mortar and then epoxied the bolts in, it is also rock solid).


I'm havin a tough time following you.

Got photos?


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## amakarevic (Apr 12, 2007)

fungku said:


> Got photos?


will post some later. but the bottom line is if a ledger is affixed on a concrete wall, it does not need flashing, true or false?


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## fungku (Jul 27, 2008)

amakarevic said:


> will post some later. but the bottom line is if a ledger is affixed on a concrete wall, it does not need flashing, true or false?


generally, true if there is nothing other than concrete behind the ledger


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