Hardwood Decking - advice needed

[newnhambolton]

I've got some hardwood decking - massaranduba 28x145 and planning to deck an area of 2.4m x 4m next to the house using a ledger of 50 x 150 x 4000 at ground level. Do I have to use joist hangers?

My question is what size wallbolt should I use to fix the ledger and how many? What sort of wallbolt should they be? Also, I've been told to use stainless steel bolts. Is this necessary?

Similarly, what size decking screws should I use? Should they also be stainless steel?

Is there anything else that I need to be aware of before embarking on this project?

 

[Thermo]

no you dont need joist hangers

no you dont need to use stainless steel bolts. an m8 or m10 rawlbolt at 800mm centres is fine for the ledger board.

hardwood decking splits easily so we always pilot drill it and countersink it. Stainless steel screws look a lot better. 50mm screws are fine. toolstation do them pretty cheap. Oil it after youve done it all

 

[newnhambolton]

If I don't use joist hanger, how do I attach the joists to the ledger?

 

[r896neo]

just skew nail or screw it.

 

[Thermo]

as neo says, we dont use them unless its a high level deck, absolutley no need for them.

 

[newnhambolton]

Is it better to nail the joist onto the ledger or screw them. Similarly, is it better to nail or screw the noggins?

 

[WabbitPoo]

I always screw joists, but I nail-gun noggins. The latter add lateral stability, the former add flexion (real word?!) stability and nails will pull out.

 

[newnhambolton]

What are the advantages of using "decking" screws as opposed to normal exterior stainless steel wood screws. I will be screwing into hardwood, if that makes any difference.

 

[Thermo]

none. stainless look much better on a hardwood deck

 

[Deluks]

No problem using normal stainless but square head decking screws really look the nuts.

 

[Thermo]

and are a complete bastrad to get back out again