Good day,

I'm building an attached carport at my friend's house. There are four posts and a beam for one side, and an attached ledger board as the other support. This is to be attached to the side of the house.

My question: Should the siding (which is about 1/2" thick plywood) be cut out for this ledger to be attached directly to the studs? Or can the ledger be nailed onto the siding (assuming we can find the studs, which i'm not sure how to do through plywood... maybe a "fancy" studfinder?)

PS - the ledger is 2x8

Thanks for the advice,

- james

You should remove the siding. Also use rafter hangers when attaching rafters to the ledger board.

Thanks!

I just thought of something related though.

The ledger extends in a 30" cantilever, past the end of the house. In the plans, the building department called for a support to be added to the ledger just at the end of the house... a 2x4 nailed vertically to provide extra support under it at that point.

Question: should the siding be removed for this also?

I'm thinking otherwise, it won't fully suppor the ledger.

Thanks!

Yep, remove the siding for the support too. It greatly increases the shear strenghth of your nails.

It really depends on the local rules that your building department uses. Here in California, We generally use 1/2 X 6" Lag bolts (w/washers) and attach the ledger over the existing wall (stucco, siding, etc.) provided the studs are located (should be 16" OC across the house) or the ledger is secured into a plate and headers above windows and doors.

I'd check with your building and safety folks, though. I'm sure a permit is necessary.

Yes, thanks, we do have the permit. The ledger support board mentioned above was drawn in as required by the permit review staff, which is why my question came up.

The plan review didn't mention whether the siding was to be removed. On the plans, I specified using nails instead of lag screws, so I think we'll go with that method.

Thanks again guys,

J

Jamlove, I think Kstar's suggestion of 1/2 x 6 lags is a better alternative to nails. I might be overbuild but that never hurts. I think he knows what he is doing too.