# Forum Home Renovation Sub Flooring  Bearer spacing

## hlc

Hi there, 
I am currently in the process of building a ground level deck. I have had to rethink and move a few bearers around due to concrete structures in the ground/ pipes etc. :Frown:  
I now have 3 bearers instead of 5 across a width of 2.8m and was forced to leave a  686mm space between the wall of the house and the first bearer...is it safe to place joists across this space without another bearer closer to the house? Do I need a bearer on the house?  :Confused:  
Would appreciate any feedback, thanks in advance!
hlc

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## westcoast

Not sure if I understand your dielema, but can you just dyabolt/coach screw a ledger to the house?  Obviously it should be parallel and at the same height as your bearers.  your joists can then just span the accross the bearers and rest on the ledger at the house end.

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## hlc

> Not sure if I understand your dielema, but can you just dyabolt/coach screw a ledger to the house?  Obviously it should be parallel and at the same height as your bearers.  your joists can then just span the accross the bearers and rest on the ledger at the house end.

  
Thanks for your response :2thumbsup: 
Just wanted to know whether I *had* to put the ledger on the house or could I do without one (I didnt really want to attach anything to the house if at all poss)

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## Bloss

> Thanks for your response
> Just wanted to know whether I *had* to put the ledger on the house or could I do without one (I didnt really want to attach anything to the house if at all poss)

  686mm is a long way to try to cantilever unless you used much deeper joists - hence the easier suggestion is to put a ledger on the wall. But if the deck is at ground level why not simply use an H4 TP bearer - supporting only the joist ends it would only need to be 90x45 - sitting directly on the ground or on suitable concrete pads adjacent to the house to support the ends?

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## hlc

> 686mm is a long way to try to cantilever unless you used much deeper joists - hence the easier suggestion is to put a ledger on the wall. But if the deck is at ground level why not simply use an H4 TP bearer - supporting only the joist ends it would only need to be 90x45 - sitting directly on the ground or on suitable concrete pads adjacent to the house to support the ends?

  Thanks for the response  :2thumbsup: 
i'm guessing this would work only if joists and not bearers were parallel to the house? Unfortunately, due to direction I wanted the boards to run the bearers are parallel to the house...so it looks like it'll have to be a ledger!  
Anything I need to know about ledgers? I read somewhere that it is important to fix the ledger to the wooden frame of either the wall or floor *through the brick* as the brick alone will not be able to withstand the pressure...is this accurate?

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## PlasterPro

U shaped joist hangers dyno bolted into the brick work?

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## pawnhead

:What he said:

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## Bloss

> Thanks for the response 
> i'm guessing this would work only if joists and not bearers were parallel to the house? Unfortunately, due to direction I wanted the boards to run the bearers are parallel to the house...so it looks like it'll have to be a ledger!  
> Anything I need to know about ledgers? I read somewhere that it is important to fix the ledger to the wooden frame of either the wall or floor *through the brick* as the brick alone will not be able to withstand the pressure...is this accurate?

  Ahh no - the bearer can sit on the ground parallel  to other bearer and joists run perpendicular to it and the houses wall to and support the ends of the joists. You do not have to a fix a ledger to the house - you can simply have an additional bearer adjacent to the wall - maybe with the joist overhanging it by 100mm or so. You say the deck is not far off the ground so you can use H4 or H5 directly on the ground or on pads or blocks or bricks. But maybe I am missing something.  :Confused:

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## hlc

> Ahh no - the bearer can sit on the ground parallel  to other bearer and joists run perpendicular to it and the houses wall to and support the ends of the joists. You do not have to a fix a ledger to the house - you can simply have an additional bearer adjacent to the wall - maybe with the joist overhanging it by 100mm or so. You say the deck is not far off the ground so you can use H4 or H5 directly on the ground or on pads or blocks or bricks. But maybe I am missing something.

  
thanks for that...that was the original plan but had to rethink due to drain/pipes near the house...
cheers!

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