Decks, Patios, Porches and Docks - Attaching balcony to house???

OK - I have added an upstairs bedroom with a five foot french door. I want a balcony outside the door. How and when do I attach (or build) the balcony to the house. The exterior of the house isn't finished. It will be brick halfway and vinyl siding the rest. I was wanting to complete everything except the exterior so I could go ahead and move into it (the home). Do I need to double band that floor joist (the one next to the exterior) with pressure treated lumber and maybe go ahead with anchor bolts before finishing the interior??? I do not want it to leak inside the house. By the way the balcony will be a deck style with 5/4 decking (you know - with the gaps in-between).

If you attach the deck to the house, do you plan on putting posts in to support the outside edge?

I doubt if some bolts into the banding will do it.

It is possible to cantilever the deck if you run the deck joists back into the house (this presents some severe sealing problems).

Dick

How is it called to be done in your plans? Do it that way. That's what the bldg. dept. approved. An inspector may or may not approve a variation from the plans.

One way is to simply sister on to the floor joists of the house and extend them to the beam of the deck. The biggest issue with that will be sealing the wall around each joist so that it CAN'T leak.

Another option would be to make the deck freestanding. That way, there are no holes in the siding of the house to seal -- there's nothing that might leak. That changes the construction of the deck slightly -- an extra row of posts at the house and different footings.

I am going to use 4x6 posts on the outside of the balcony. But I want to attach the part closest to the house to the wall (of the house) so as to avoid making the balcony freestanding. I am just not sure whether to brick that outside wall first and then attach the outer banding to the home (with anchor bolts through the brick). If I do that, shouldn't I go ahead and place the anchor bolts through that outer band on the house while the interior is still unfinished and brick around the anchor bolts?

There are no inspectors, plans, etc...

Id for sure put the bolts out from the beltboard of the home and lay the brick around them. This way the header board for the porch joist will be so any water can go down between the brick and it. Not into the home.

ED ;)

Just because you have no inspectors, plans... - That is not good. These things stop you from doing things wrong and going in the wrong direction.

Decks supported by both ledgers attached to the house and by posts at the outer edge are not good, but they are done that way. I have the same thing on the 20 year old townhouse I just bought. Fortunately, there was no differential settlement because the posts have deep concrete footings (5') and there was a problem with the siding and flashing. Someone else had to pay($$$) for the correction to make the ledger connection proper.

IF you feel you have to support with 4x6 posts, make sure they are connected to deep concrete piers with sonotube forms and a concrete "bubble" at the bottom. This will minimize the differential settlement/heaving problem.

Attach the ledger (bolt to the rim joist - anchor bolts are for concrete) with the appropriate barriers and flashing, so you can flash over the brick you plan to install later. You don't want water behind the brick or you will end up with mold and other moisture problems. Without knowing where the brick will change to the cheap stuff, you will have to get help on the details. I am sure someone will chime in to keep you going in the roght direction on the route you have chosen.

Good luck!!

Dick

You added an upstairs bedroom with no plans and no permit??

That was your first mistake!!

Now you want to penetrate the siding so you can attach the ledger board to the house. That would be your NEXT mistake, for all of the reasons that Concretemasonry pointed out. (Water leaks in, now you've got rot, water damage, mold, mildew, and who knows what else to deal with.)

Get a permit (and keep your fire insurance on the house valid, among other problems that you'll avoid) and make the deck freestanding.

Last Sunday, in the Greater Cincinnati area, a deck collapsed. It was approximately 12' feet above grade. It let go at the house, due to a load of 15-20 people and the fact that it was only lagged to the house at 5' intervals.
No permit had been issued so there was no inspection.
13 people went to the hospital and at least one is in critical condition.
When the law suits come, if the insurance company will not cover the suits because there was no permit or inspection, this homeowner may lose everything, including his home. Something to think about.
Here is the web site if you want to see what happened.

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051018/NEWS01/510180353

RE: What goldstar posted.

"...it was only lagged to the house at 5' intervals..."

I won't even ask if there were one or two bolts at every lag connection, or what size they were. And, were they lagged into anything?? But the homeowner/DIY'er was being smart -- he saved himself the $200 or $300 permit fee!!!

OK OK OK I will make it freestanding - One point that I don't think I can make clear enough is THERE ARE NO INSPECTORS, PERMITS, ETC... IN THIS PART OF THE COUNTRY.

Private single family homes in the county (very rural area) do not require permits or inspections. As far as the plans... that is what I am working on and getting advice for. Even if I wanted an inspection, it would take 26 months (yes 2 years and 2 months) and then it would be based on a single family home in which the guidelines are very relaxed.

Just run BOLTS in the header board for the porch through the brick and into the belt board of the home.

ED :wall:

We could debate 'til the cows come home about to make a deck freestanding or attach it with a ledger, and nobody will get their mind changed. As far as structural strength, it makes no difference, AS LONG AS IT'S DONE PROPERLY!!

Freestanding means a few extra posts and footings and one extra beam. I weigh that against the possibility (or, in my case as a contractor, the LIABILITY of creating a water leak in the wall.) The holes and extra wood win virtually every time!

tweeter21, I really feel for you about not having a building dept. and inspectors. Guess that's just part of the price you have to pay for choosing to live in what you consider to be 'paradise'. Personally, I sleep better at night KNOWING that I had an independent 3rd party look at my work and confirming that it was done to current code. Where is it that you live? I CERTAINLY don't want to buy a house there!!

[QUOTE=lefty]We could debate 'til the cows come home about to make a deck freestanding or attach it with a ledger, and nobody will get their mind changed. As far as structural strength, it makes no difference, AS LONG AS IT'S DONE PROPERLY!!

Freestanding means a few extra posts and footings and one extra beam. I weigh that against the possibility (or, in my case as a contractor, the LIABILITY of creating a water leak in the wall.) The holes and extra wood win virtually every time![QUOTE]



Probably the biggest omission here has to do with explaining how on a free-standing deck---
"...IT'S DONE PROPERLY".

In order to assure that there is NO SETTLEMENT of the deck structure against the house, one must dig these holes to "virgin soil". (Which sometimes means to the bottom of the footer.) For most southern/westcoast houses this is not a problem as frostlines are almost nonexistant and footings are less than 12" below the grade.

There are circumstances where Free-standing is not practical. In my northeastern US climate, house foundations are built mostly with concrete block/full basements. The frostline is anywhere from 36" to 48+" These homes usually have "French-Drains" at the base of the footings on the outside foundation---(This method uses a perforated pipe laid in a stone base and backfilled with stone around the pipe then covered with Propex fabric laid on top of the stone to prevent dirt from clogging... Some builders (myself incuded) bring the stone up to a foot or so below finished grade.)

Deciding to "Free-Stand" your deck against a house like this could be very costly--- If the french-drain stone is up near "finish grade" and you're trying to dig holes 5' deep---It's like digging in sand! This method could cause irrepairable damage to the french drain by mixing in dirt/tearing the fabric/crushing the pipe etc. Worse, if you end up hiring the digging job out... the machine operator could tear the foundation waterproofing membrane with one careless move and cause ground water to get into the basement later...

I'm not at all against building a "Free-Standing" deck against a house--- but forum readers should be made aware of proper installation methods--- (IE Its not ALWAYS just a matter of digging extra holes/lumber... (If possible, discuss this issue with their building inspector for the best decision.)

Thanks for the info guys - I will look into the issue further.

By the way, I live in the Dominican Republic.

Down in the BVI and St Thomas we would bolt it through the wall and to the belt board. Got to think hurricane not frost line.

ED :thinker:

Thanks ED - U R Great :thumbup:

Check out www.deck-lok.com (http://www.deck-lok.com) We have been using these in our area for the last year or so, and they work absolutely great.
I do agree with everyone else though in regards to the lack of plans or permits...that's not so good.