I'm building a deck attached to the back room of my house in upstate New York. The existing room used to be a screened in porch, but a previous owner put up some walls and insulation. There's an exposed beam below the room and I'd like to use this to attach the ledger board for my deck. The beam is set back a bit from the (creosote) siding and I need to know how best to fill up the space between the existing beam and the new ledger.My plan is to fill the space with a PT 2x6 and a strip of 1/4" plywood. I'll use 10" galvanized carriage bolts (20" o.c., arranged in a zig-zag pattern, 2" from the top and bottom of the existing beam). My concern, however, is that the ledger doesn't seem very well supported at the top. This wouldn't be a big deal, I think, if it weren't so far from the beam.Am I right to be concerned? Should I do something else? (I could, for example, also put some lag screws higher up on the ledger lined up with the studs.) Or does the current plan seem feasible?Here is a diagram of the existing structure and proposed plan:http://ift.tt/2ss7e37 is a photo of the existing structure:http://ift.tt/2rSZiuZ! via /r/DIY http://ift.tt/2ssaL1D
