Deck Ledger Attachment to Residential Wood Truss Floor Systems

The 2009, 2012, and 2015 IRC include prescriptive provisions for attaching a 2" nominal lumber deck ledger to a 2" nominal lumber band joist bearing directly on a sill plate or wall plate using ½"-diameter bolts or lag screws. The American Wood Council, in cooperation with the International Code Council, has also developed Design for Code Acceptance No. 6 (DCA6) – Prescriptive Residential Deck Construction Guide, available at awc.org.

The prescriptive provisions for the deck ledger connection to the band joist in the IRC and DCA6 are based on the results from a series of ultimate load tests conducted at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Department of Wood Science and Forest Products, and Washington State University Wood Materials and Engineering Laboratory. This testing evaluated the capacity 2" nominal pressure-preservative-treated Hem-Fir  and Southern Pine ledgers attached to either 2" nominal Spruce-Pine-Fir or 1" net Douglas-Fir laminated veneer lumber band joists, through ¹⁵/₃₂"-thick oriented strand board sheathing, with ½"-diameter hot-dipped galvanized bolts or lag screws, meeting the requirements of ANSI/ASME Standard B18.2.1.

Attachment of Residential Deck Ledger to End of Wood Truss Floor Systems
Installation Guide | Installation Checklist

Attachment of Residential Deck Ledger to Side of Wood Truss Floor Ladder
Installation Guide | Installation Checklist