Deck construction question

[MushCreek]

I'm building an 8 X 28 deck off the back of our new house, and I have a question about how to construct the corners. In the sketch, the members labeled 'beam' are double 2X12's. The rim joist runs parallel to the house. The beams will also support joists running parallel to the house.

In sketch 'A', the rim joists are attached to the beam with an internal double joist hanger. In 'B', the inner rim joist is attached to the beam with an internal single joist hanger. I think 'B' looks better because it caps the end of the beam, but I'm not sure if it is strong enough, or would meet code. Actually, I'm not sure if either method meets code. The inner and outer rim joist will be bolted together nearby where there is a guard rail post, so they will act more or less as one.

If I did 'B', I would rather have a 2X8 for the inner rim joist, and a 2X12 outer rim joist to match the beams. The rest of my joists will be 2X8's. I'm not even sure if the rim joist has to be a double 2X, but I do have to bolt the guard rail posts to it. The actual load on the rim joist works out to only 300 lbs at 50 lbs/sq/ft, distributed evenly.

This deck is 10' off of the ground, so I want it strong! Thanks for any input!

[JRR]

Have you thought about adding a double joist hanger to "B"?  Don't take away the single hanger .. just add the double.  You will have metal-to-metal in a small area ... I don't think that would be all bad.  A bolt-though would seem strong.  But I'm just thinking aloud here ... not really suggesting/knowing.

[MushCreek]

Where would the second hanger go? The rim joist is hanging off the beam, so putting a hanger on the end of the beam wouldn't do much.

As I think about it, I think either one would be plenty strong. I worried about the outer rim joist pulling away over time as the wood moves and the nails pull out, but the bolts for the guard rail posts will only be 6" or so away, plus there will be diagonal braces bolted to the rim joist and the post. Personally, I'd love to make some giant angle brackets and bolt everything, but that's not in the prescriptive code, so it might cause the inspector to question it, even though it would far surpass those flimsy joist hangers.

I downloaded the 2012 deck construction code changes, but there isn't any detail about areas such as this.

[Don_P]

Sort of what I was thinking, fabricate an inside corner and bolt. It can go in after he leaves   

[ajohnson]

Checkout finehome buildings website.  On the main page they have a video tutorial on building a new deck from start to finish.  I watched the whole series the other day.  Very informative to me.

[MushCreek]

I went with Plan B. Now that it's assembled, with the diagonal bracing and the guard rail hardware, the corners are very strong indeed. I don't know if any of you have seen the latest deck requirements, but they are really something. The guard rail posts are bolted through the rim joist, but then have to have another piece of hardware attached to either a joist or beam. Simpson makes a special bracket for this. The bracket has to be rated for 1800 lbs.! The thinking is that the guard rail has to sustain a 200 lb. lateral force, times a 2.5 safety factor (500 lbs.) times the height of the rail in feet because of the leverage. I've seen testing done where the 4X4 snapped off before the hardware failed!

It's also interesting that the rail height is technically impossible; in one section, they say it has to be 36" minimum; in another, it says 36" maximum. Depending upon the tolerances, you can't achieve that, since there will always be some error.

All that being said, our area is many years away from adopting the 2012 deck codes, and my experience has been that they don't look anyway, but I like to keep up with current requirements. If my house weren't made of poured concrete, I would say the deck is the strongest part of it.