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Deck Hardware:
Steel framing connectors speed your work and strengthen your deck. |
| By Tim Snyder
 Deck hardware is the heavy-duty branch of a large family of metal fittings known as framing connectors. In this group, you'll find steel brackets, angles, straps and ties—specially designed to strengthen structural connections and speed up the job. Metal connectors are particularly useful where framing members butt together, stresses or loads are concentrated, or your ability to end-nail is limited. Deck hardware connectors go the extra distance when the structure you're building is outside. They're strong and they're made with a galvanized coating to stand up to the elements and resist rust.
Tips for Using Deck Hardware
Check with your building inspector. Specific framing connectors (such as hold-downs and shear bracing) are required in some areas to counteract unstable soils, hurricane or high wind risk, and other local conditions. Your inspector can tell you what hardware is required, and where it needs to be installed.
Use the right nails and screws. The nails designed for use with deck hardware are stubby, strong, and corrosion resistant—just right for the job they're supposed to do. Don't use common nails or drywall screws with deck hardware—they're too thin and they'll rust, defeating your best efforts. (Number 8 stainless steel panhead screws can substitute for connector nails in some situations, though—when you're attaching stair treads to steel stair angles, for example.) Besides being made of the right stuff, your bolts, nails, and screws need to fit the hardware properly. If you're using connectors that come with larger-than-normal holes, you may need lag screws or machine bolts.
Save time by installing joist hangers and other hardware "on the flat." If you're going to be installing a ledger with joist hangers, for example, mark joist locations along the ledge. Then nail the joist hangers directly to the ledger while it's flat on the ground—before you nail the ledger to the house. You'll be able to work faster and more accurately if you do. This trick can work for other framing connectors, like stair angles, too.
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| Commonly Used Deck Hardware
Joist Hangers
Use these U-shaped channels wherever 2-by joists meet ledgers and beams. Joist hangers simplify and strengthen joist installation by eliminating the need to end-nail or toenail these structural members. Nail-in prongs on some hangers simplify positioning.
Beam Hangers
Beams are typically 4-by lumber, or 2-bys laminated together. To accommodate those sizes, beam hangers have large openings, but they work just like joist hangers. When you buy beam hangers, make sure that the hanger opening matches the actual measurement of your beam. A rough-cut 4-by-10, for example, is almost an inch wider than two dressed 2-by-10s nailed together. |
Post Anchors
Post anchors are an integral part of any post-on-pier foundation. A "wet," or cast-in-place, anchor has feet that need to be embedded in the top of a poured concrete pier while the concrete is still wet. With the other type, you embed an anchor bolt in the concrete before it sets. The post anchor is then attached to that bolt. With either type, if you're erecting a row of posts, it's important that you align the anchors or anchor bolts. To do this, stretch a string tightly over the tops of your piers as soon as the concrete is poured, and align your anchors or bolts to this line. |
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Post anchor |
Cast-in-place post anchor |
Aluminum Post Base
This piece of hardware is a base, not an anchor. It protects a post from water damage, but doesn't secure it to a concrete pier or pad. This means that the post base is suitable only for low-level decks, where posts extend no more than three feet to deck level. |
 Post Beam Caps
A pair of post beam caps fastened to the top of a post will ensure solid support for a beam. This type of connector is available in several sizes to fit different beam dimensions. |
 Rafter Ties
Although its name makes it sound as if these connectors belong in the attic, they can be very useful in deck construction. Where a joist crosses over a beam at a 90-degree angle, a pair of rafter ties can anchor these pieces solidly together. If you don't like toenailing, try rafter ties instead. |
 Stair Angles
Use these right-angled supports to make stairway construction as easy as it can be. You'll need two angles for each stair tread. Lay out and mark tread lines along the stair stringers, nail the angles to the stringers, then cut and install your treads. You can also use these connectors to reinforce right-angled corners. |
 Mending Plates
Available in different sizes, mending plates help to tie separate parts together. They are particularly helpful where pairs of joists meet over a beam or a carrying timber.
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 Post Straps and Ties
Like post beam caps, this hardware is helpful in securing beams to posts. Straps come in straight, T- and L-shapes. Larger connectors of this type will have holes sized for lag screws or machine bolts. |
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Joist Angles and Angle Clips
Use these connectors to reinforce different right-angled connections. |
| Angle clip |
Joist angle |
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 Deck Brackets
When you can't bolt a 4-by-4 post to a joist or beam, you can anchor the post to the deck surface with one of these brackets. For a stronger connection, use screws instead of nails. Make sure they're made for outdoor use.
Tim Snyder, writer, photographer and carpenter, was a senior editor at Fine Homebuilding magazine and executive editor of American Woodworker magazine. With TV personality Norm Abram, Snyder coauthored two books in the best-selling New Yankee Workshop series. He's also written books on deck design and furniture making.
Materials
- Joist hangers
- Beam hangers
- Post anchors
- Aluminum post bases
- Post beam caps
- Rafter ties
- Stair angles
- Mending plates
- Post straps
- Post ties
- Joist angles
- Angle clips
- Deck brackets
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