My neighbor saw my deck ledger board and told me I was one storm away from disaster

I was about 80% done building a new deck off my kitchen, feeling pretty good about it. I had the posts set, the joists up, and was starting on the decking. My neighbor Frank, who used to be a contractor, came over for a beer. He took one look at where the ledger board was bolted to the house and just said, 'You're not using washers?' I wasn't. I figured the lag bolts into the rim joist were enough. He pointed out that without big washers, the bolt heads could just pull right through the wood over time, especially with people jumping around on it. He said in a bad windstorm, the whole thing could rack and tear away. I stopped everything right then, went back, and drilled out every single hole to put a 1-inch fender washer under each bolt head. It added an extra afternoon of work but man, I sleep way better now. Has anyone else had a simple tip from someone that made you redo a big chunk of a project?

3 comments

3 Comments

gavincampbell1d ago

My uncle always said a good washer is cheap insurance.

the_julia21d ago

Yeah, that reminds me of when I built a shed and skipped the flashing. My buddy pointed out how water would just rot the wood in a year. I had to pull off the siding to fix it, but it saved me a huge headache later.

jones.alice21d ago

Pulling off the siding sounds like a huge fix. I've seen sheds go without flashing for years and be fine. It really depends on your local weather and how much overhang you have. If the roof sheds water away from the walls well, the risk is a lot lower. Sometimes the extra step isn't worth the time and cost. Your buddy might have been overly careful.