How Do You Calculate Deck Joist Dimensions?
The joists on your deck are clearly one of the most crucial elements to the entire deck-building process. Since the joist is the key to holding up the flooring, without the proper dimensions on your deck joist, you could be in for a disaster. Trying to calculate deck joist dimensions isn’t nearly as intimidating as it may sound, especially since much of the information is readily available once you design your new deck. Check with your city’s building codes for decks before attempting to calculate the joist dimensions. It will likely have minimum joist dimensions for your new deck to meet building code requirements. Evaluate the kind of wood you will be using. Each species or class of wood behaves differently and can bear different levels of loads under specific circumstances and environments. Softer woods like cedar may splinter easily, so you’ll want to select cedar joists with slightly larger dimensions than a hardwood like ironwood. Determine how far your joists will need to span i