#DECKED BUILDER WINDOWS CRACK INSTALL#
#DECKED BUILDER WINDOWS CRACK SERIES#

In this article, I focus on walls sheathed with rigid foam, but the ledger-mounting systems I describe also work with nonstructural wall claddings, such as fully-adhered manufactured stone, EIFS, and stucco, that are best applied over an entire wall rather than being broken up by a deck ledger and flashing.

Generally speaking, the thicker the foam, the greater the challenge to mounting a ledger. As the thickness of the foam increases and the ledger gets farther from the rim itвЂ™s mounted to, the problem becomes more pronounced. If those fasteners are screws, theyвЂ™ll be prone to pulling out of the rim if theyвЂ™re bolts, the bolt holes could become elongated and allow the bolts to pull through the rim board or ledger as the force on the bolts shifts from a shear load to a tension load. If the foam is thick, the fasteners will start to bend downward. Rigid foam isnвЂ™t structural, and it compresses as loads are applied to a ledger that has been screwed or bolted through it to the underlying rim board.

#DECKED BUILDER WINDOWS CRACK SERIES#

A series of small holes poked in the U-cap protecting the cut edge of the foam allows for drainage should water ever collect there.Д«ut the rules change once the thickness of the foam or sheathing-and-foam sandwich exceeds 1 inch.

#DECKED BUILDER WINDOWS CRACK INSTALL#

When removing the exterior foam to install a deck ledger, provide adequate clearance between the siding and the decking to maintain airflow. You may encounter situations where the home builder installed 1/2-inch structural wall sheathing and covered it with 1/2-inch-thick rigid foam panels, or where the walls are covered with 1-inch-thick rigid foam (with no sheathing) in either case, you can install the ledger directly over the foam because the distance between the back of the ledger and the rim joist doesnвЂ™t exceed 1 inch.Д¬huck Lockhart Homes with exterior insulation also often have rainscreen siding. ThatвЂ™s because the IRC permits a maximum space of 1 inch between the face of the rim board and the back of the ledger (see 2015 IRC, Table R507.2 Fastener Spacing, footnote вЂњhвЂќ). If the foam is less than an inch thick, the wrinkle is minor.

While exterior foam insulation offers good thermal performance, it presents a wrinkle when it comes to mounting a deck ledger. And when an existing home is re-sided, itвЂ™s increasingly common to first retrofit it with a wrap of rigid foam panels. To meet energy codes, many homes in colder climates are now built with a layer of exterior foam insulation between the siding and sheathing.

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