Where to find spacers for a deck ledger board?

[elh3lou]

Been watching a few videos on attaching deck supports to brick work. Lot mention using spacers between brick and ledger board to prevent rot and allow water drainage, I can’t find a similar product in Australia. Any suggestions?

[MitchellMc]

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @elh3lou. It's brilliant to have you join us, and many thanks for your question about spacing a ledger board.

According to the National Construction Code, fixing of a waling plate (ledger board) to a brick wall is not permitted as they are not designed to withstand the dead and live loads associated with a deck or balcony. 

There are Macsim 38 x 38 x 3mm M12 Galvanised Square Washers, but there is no stipulation in the NCC for their use. Flashing can be used to prevent moisture access to an approved wall type.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell

[Adam_W]

Hi @elh3lou & welcome!
You've hit the nail on the head with this part of your post... "... I can’t find a similar product in Australia..."
There are a lot of products overseas that we don't have here. There are a multitude of reasons for this and one is that our timber for any exterior situation must be treated to a minimum of H3. This protects the timber from rot and insect attack.
If you have a look at this post of mine & scroll down to the sub-heading of 'Hazard Rating' it explains this more.
In a really damp situation you could use spacers but honestly, I'd just go up to H4 timber. Much less messing around and more peace of mind.
It's always worth trying to find local videos from a reliable source when you can as they'll have correct materials, techniques, spacings & dimensions etc. for our Aussie regulations too.
If I did have a need for spacers I'd be looking at the big, galvanised square washers @MitchellMc mentioned.

Just remember though that if using them you'll need bolts at top and bottom of your beam/ledger board (sometimes called 'wailing plates' too just by-the-by) rather than a single line through the centre because otherwise the plate will tilt over time and bend the bolts or pull them from the wall thanks to the way the load will be transferred.

[MitchellMc]

Hi @elh3lou,

I just wanted to follow up on this discussion after reading @Adam_W's reply. He's touched on a great point that there doesn't appear to be any attachment method of a ledger board (waling plate) with spacers that complies with Australian regulations. The waling plate must be directly attached to the wall. See 3.10.6 Attachment of decks and balconies to external walls of buildings. Furthermore, the National Building Code does not permit fixing a waling plate to a brick wall, as they are not designed to withstand the dead and live loads associated with a deck or balcony. 

I must admit that I was of the understanding that setting the waling plate back from the wall was actually a requirement of the code, and I apologise for giving you the wrong idea. I'll edit my original reply, so no other readers are given the wrong information.

The other option which you might like to explore is setting your last row of stumps/supports back from the wall and counter-levering the joists to meet close to the brickwork. This would alleviate my concern about attaching to the wall above the dampcourse as you're not providing a direct pathway for moisture access into the upper part of the wall. It would also provide a gap to prevent the accumulation of organic debris and trapped moisture. I've created a rendering for you below to better illustrate. Please be advised that there are rules also governing allowed over-hang.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell

[CJack]

Hi Mitchell,

I'm planning to build a deck exactly like your diagram using the good times decking prefab kit. I'm trying to understand if I need a ledger board/ waling plate against my brick external wall?

It will be a free standing deck like your diagram, I'm just not sure if I need to attach it to the house to prevent a gap forming, and how to best go about it. 

Thanks for your help

[MitchellMc]

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @CJack. It's terrific to have you join us, and many thanks for your question about constructing a deck.

There's no rule I'm aware of that says a deck must be connected to the wall. You'd typically only go to this additional effort if you were using it to support the deck somehow. The Good Times deck system is designed to be entirely free-standing, so there is no need to attach it to the wall. However, you can position your frame in close proximity to the wall so no substantial gap is formed.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell