Deck before or after siding?

[cedarglen]

I'm finally getting dried in after two years of building the 20x32 universal 2 story. (2 years time, but only 45 days of laboring on the site, just me an my dad). I will be using hardi-plank siding.

1. I guess I want to put the ledger for the deck up before I put the siding on right?
2. What is the best window flashing for the sliding glass door so snow off the deck doesn't seep in around the frame?
3. Is redwood decking worth the extra cost (durability wise), what treatment should I put on it?


all input appreciated,
Chuck

[taveuni13]

Make sure you give yourself the 1" code max floor level change from the inside floor to the finished surface of the deck.  Good thing for a sliding glass door in that situation is a full, galvanized, soldered pan in the doorway that runs 4-6" up the sides of the framed opening.

Redwood decking isn't what it used to be, very open grain and soft.  You may want to look into Ipe or another tropical hardwood if you want to use wood.  Otherwise, there are some good synthetics out there.

Yes, ledger for the deck (pressure treated) before the siding, but make sure you flash that all properly too.

[Redoverfarm]

Agree with the step down to the deck.  Even a couple inches will help.  In regards to the flashing just remember that the pressure treatment will eat up aluminum and some galvanized.  The best to work is cooper but very pricey.  No adverse effect with the PT.  You could however use aluminum flashing if you put a layer of "ice guard" on the aluminum so that the aluminum would not make contact with the PT

[MountainDon]

Install the ledger, with proper flashing, etc. before doing the hardi plank. Space the ledger out using thick washers or something to allow the water an escape path. Something like this illustration. It's plugging a particular GP product but the idea is the same. Install the materials in a manner that will always bring the water forward to the exterior. Don't rely on caulk to keep water out of a poorly designed deck joint.



There are some special, stronger screws made just for this purpose. I believe there is a topic referencing them in the Referral Links section. I used 1/2" lag screws because I had some from previous work They are staggered with half nearer the upper edge and every other nearer to the lower edge. I used double hot dipped galvanized washers to space the ledger out. Drill pilot holes to install them; it's bad practice to start them with a hammer and then torque them in.

I'll be framing the deck support posts, beams and joists with 2x Pressure Treated Pine.

As for the decking material, as was mentioned, a lot of the available redwood today is not so great. I see a lot with way too much sapwood in it. We're going to use 5/4 Pressure Treated Southern Pine for the deck boards, secured with screws. Ipe and other very durable woods are also somewhat pricey and very difficult to come by in some areas. I don't particularly like the composites, but that's just me and my personal preferences, I suppose.

For flashing I used a product similar to Grace Vycor. HD and Lowe's sell them. Self stick stuff like John mentioned. Applied in the correct order it's good stuff. You can get installation drawing to dowmload from Grace's website.

[glenn kangiser]

I really hate the synthetics and saw a bunch that had weathered and split open on the ends - they warp badly unless you limit joist spacing to 16" or less and they just don't look like real wood...but some like it.

[MountainDon]

Joist spacing with the composite decking must be no greater than 16". If the decking is installed at an angle then 12" is suggested by the manufacturers I've looked at.

[glenn kangiser]

In the back of the lumber yard but to me it doesn't matter where it is - there or on a deck.

[Jochen]

Make sure that your Housewrap or felt overlaps the flashing to the outside of the ledger. If you are a member of John's PlanHelp.com, he has a good instruction there to download.

Jochen

[Redoverfarm]

Don I had also heard of using 3/4" thick plastic blocks as spacers. I believe I have seen this a Lowes in board lengths.  Just cut to width.

[taveuni13]

I agree that the soggy Trex type decking (like in the photos above) isn't really the way to go on synthetics, but quite a few much more rigid types have come out since the advent of Trex and aren't that bad looking and will last infinitely longer than anything but a tropical hardwood.  Local availability and cost can be key though, so see what you can get that's not too distant.

[MountainDon]

  For me the fact that the composites cost about 2.9 times as much as the good quality PT Southern Pine is also a factor. I don't see it as being 2.9 times as good.