I have seens johns pdf defails on how to attach a header for a deck to the rim joist of the cabin from planhelper.com.
My question is can the deck's header be attached at a later time after the siding is on and over top of it? Ideally we havent decided if we will do our deck now while we are building or afterwe have completed. We are planning to use 1x10 or 1x12 rough saw pine for the exterior which is T*G and lays flat. If we put that up now and later on build the deck do we need to rip that T&G pine off or can we just bolt through that?
Thanks,
Kyle
You will want to cut away the siding where the ledger will go and then anchor the ledger into the rim joist and any blocking behind it. Make sure the flashing can be installed under the siding and housewrap so that water is carried over the ledger and drains properly keeping water out of the wall and off any non-PT materials.
In a retrofit this will often involve ripping off a section of siding and prying up the siding above to get up behind the housewrap.
If you know there is going to be a deck later if not sooner I would install the ledger now. Properly flash it and properly secure it to the main structure. When installing the siding be careful to do it in such a manner that you don't need to rip anything off and redo it later. To my way of thinking it makes everything easier, less bother. Just my thoughts.