LedgerLOK: A Guide for Deck Ledger to Rim Board Connection Projects

Secur­ing a deck ledger to a rim board can be time-con­sum­ing. While nec­es­sary, the process requires mul­ti­ple steps, which can reduce pro­duc­tiv­i­ty and prof­its. With Ledger­LOK screws from Fas­ten­Mas­ter, the process for secur­ing a deck ledger to rim joist can now be com­plet­ed in less time.

The Ledger to Rim Connection: The Old Way

The ledger-to-rim con­nec­tion con­sists of a pres­sure-treat­ed board on the exte­ri­or fas­tened to an OSB, which is half-inch to three-quar­ters-inch thick and acts as a sheath­ing for the out­side. The ledger is fas­tened through the OSB to either a board or an engi­neered wood product.

In the past, ledger-to-rim con­nec­tions were made with a lag screw, usu­al­ly a half-inch gal­va­nized screw with a wash­er to hold the board in place and pre­vent the wood from pop­ping over the screw’s head. 

To com­plete the process, a hole need­ed to be drilled. Sim­ple enough, but the hole need­ed two widths. The first is for the nar­row­est part of the screw. A half-inch screw requires a 3/​8ths inch hole, which is drilled for the full length of the ledger screw. Once that is com­plete, the front of the hole needs to be bored out to cre­ate room for the shank and make it wider, to pre­vent out­ward pres­sure that could lead to splits. Once the hole is prop­er­ly drilled, the screw needs to be tight­ened into place with a wrench. 

LedgerLOK: Faster and More Convenient

Ledger­LOK screws were engi­neered specif­i­cal­ly for this appli­ca­tion. Thanks to a sim­ple, intu­itive, and effec­tive design, these screws, which can also be used as ledger locks for deck posts, require no pre-drilling and no place­ment of a wash­er; the head of the screw already has a wash­er in place.

The Ledger to Rim Connection: The Old Way

The ledger-to-rim con­nec­tion con­sists of a pres­sure-treat­ed board on the exte­ri­or fas­tened to an OSB, which is half-inch to three-quar­ters-inch thick and acts as a sheath­ing for the out­side. The ledger is fas­tened through the OSB to either a board or an engi­neered wood product.

In the past, ledger-to-rim con­nec­tions were made with a lag screw, usu­al­ly a half-inch gal­va­nized screw with a wash­er to hold the board in place and pre­vent the wood from pop­ping over the screw’s head.

To com­plete the process, a hole need­ed to be drilled. Sim­ple enough, but the hole need­ed two widths. The first is for the nar­row­est part of the screw. A half-inch screw requires a 3/​8ths inch hole, which is drilled for the full length of the ledger screw. Once that is com­plete, the front of the hole needs to be bored out to cre­ate room for the shank and make it wider, to pre­vent out­ward pres­sure that could lead to splits. Once the hole is prop­er­ly drilled, the screw needs to be tight­ened into place with a wrench.

LedgerLOK: Faster and More Convenient

Ledger­LOK screws were engi­neered specif­i­cal­ly for this appli­ca­tion. Thanks to a sim­ple, intu­itive, and effec­tive design, these screws, which can also be used as ledger locks for deck posts, require no pre-drilling and no place­ment of a wash­er; the head of the screw already has a wash­er in place.

Using a stan­dard drill, sim­ply align the screw into the prop­er loca­tion and dri­ve the Ledger­LOK fas­ten­er into place. Keep dri­ving until the wash­er comes firm against the ledger. That’s all it takes; no mul­ti­ple pre-drilling, no fix­ing a wash­er, no need to use a sock­et wrench to dri­ve the screw.

Place­ment of the Ledger­LOK screw is easy, but it’s crit­i­cal that users prop­er­ly place the screw in a spe­cif­ic pattern.

The ​“W” Pattern and Proper Spacing of LedgerLOK

The fas­ten­ing pat­tern for Ledger­LOK screws is very spe­cif­ic. Installers must place the screws in a spe­cif­ic ​“W” pat­tern to ensure a con­sis­tent, firm, long-last­ing hold that spans the entire ledger. There should be one high and one low across the ledger. How­ev­er, the dis­tance between the screws will vary.

The spe­cif­ic fas­ten­ing pat­tern can be found in the tech­ni­cal bul­letin which con­tains a vari­ety of infor­ma­tion that is crit­i­cal to code com­pli­ance. Most impor­tant is Table 1, which out­lines the exact dis­tance between Ledger­LOK screws.

The span between fas­ten­ers will vary by local code as well as the dis­tance between the ledger and sup­port­ing beams.

For exam­ple, if you have a 60 pounds-per-square-foot live-load require­ment in your area, and you have a nine-foot span between the ledger and the first sup­port­ing beam, you need spac­ing of five inch­es between fas­ten­ers. This is the hor­i­zon­tal dis­tance, or the ​“on-cen­ter spac­ing,” between the screws. For a visu­al descrip­tion, see ​“Spac­ing Require­ments” and ​“Fas­ten­ing Pat­tern” in the Tech­ni­cal Bul­letin.

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If you want to learn more about this prod­uct, or have ques­tions about how to attach a deck ledger mount­ing sys­tem, con­tact our experts today at Fas­ten­Mas­ter or give us a call at 800−518−3569.

For advanced fas­ten­ing sys­tems for inte­ri­or remod­el­ing, new con­struc­tion, or deck build­ing, vis­it our site and see where you can pick up these inno­v­a­tive prod­ucts in your area!