Simpson Deck Builders Seminar
Tuesday October 27 2015
On Tuesday I attended a deck building seminar in King of Prussia put on by Simpson. Levi of Decks & More was able to attend with me. Mervin from M-Jay And his employee Daniel were also there. The instructor pointed them out as the only two contractors there among suppliers, home inspectors and Lots and Lots of Building Inspectors. It probably did not equate to us getting many new products but there was a lot of good information regarding fasteners and joist hangers.
- Titen HD anchors (Tapcons on steroids as some call them) even in galvanized finish are not to be used in exterior application. Never to be used to attach Ledger Boards.
- Carriage bolts are not approved for decks or other structural building uses. Only machine bolts with washers where the head contacts wood. You do not need a washer if the bolt is going through a bolted connection hanger with the proper size hole. There are applications that have slotted holes to allow flexibility that will need washers.
- You cannot put lags with washers that are only 1-1/2” long into a ledger board to try and fool an inspector. They actually had pictures where someone had used Tapcons to install a ledger and when the inspector said that was not sufficient. The homeowner or contractor did this.
- You cannot use powder actuated fasteners to hold ledger boards or joist hangers
- You must use SD Structural Connector Screws like Simpson’s or other brands. You cannot use drywall, deck screws or most other screws unless they are made for this application. Standard nails are acceptable in certain applications.
- Joist Hanger Nails
- .131 are typically only used for Hurricane Anchors or other clips, NOT Joist Hangers
- If you use .148 nails in Hurricane clips the loads are actually decreased due to metal stress
- Smooth Stainless Steel joist nails have 20% to 50% less pull out, use 316 stainless steel ring shank.
- Do not attach ledgers to brick veneer. Recommended to remove the veneer and attach ledger to base material. Even through bolts can be a problem because of the load transferred to the brick from the face of the wall to the face of the brick.
- DSV Deck Screws resist the shrinking and swelling of treated wood.
- We can get Contractors Joist Hangers Pocket Guides for the contractors. Simpson recommends contractors have them to know what fasteners they need for various hangers. I have requested some from Shawn.
- Most hangers need longer nails than the 1-1/2” than people are using. This guide will tell them what they need
- Several of our customers are happy we are carrying the DTT1 lateral load deck connectors
- I am going to order some stair stringer brackets , tread angles, bearing brackets, and some DTT2 brackets See below
- We also have free deck connection and fastening guides available. See Dennis at Gap Power.
DTT1Z 4 Required Per Deck A package is 4 brackets
DJT14Z
TA STAIRCASE ANGLE TA10ZKT includes screws and 10-1/4” wide bracket, TA9ZKT includes 8-1/4” brackets and screws
I will be stocking these
LSC ADJUSTABLE STAIR STRINGER ATTACHMENT
DTT2 BRACKETS CAN BE USED FOR LATERAL TIE IN TO HOUSE ( 2 REQUIRED PER DECK) AND FOR MEETING CODE WITH RAILINGS
DTT2
If you have any questions please see Dennis at Gap Power
dennisc@gappower.com (717)442-8970 ext. 313
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