Whether you’re building a brand new deck or retrofitting an existing one, concerns about the strength and safety of your deck can be a significant source of tension. Other than the quality of the wood itself, how the wood members of a deck are connected to each other and to the adjacent structure is the most important part of the deck. Connections that don’t meet code requirements or that have become loose, corroded or decayed over time, compromise a deck’s strength and safety.
For decks that are partially supported by an adjacent structure, such as a house, the connection between the deck and that structure is vital. While a bolted or screwed ledger-to-rimboard connection is suitable for supporting gravity loads, in some cases building codes require a connection that is able to resist side-to-side, or lateral, loads. In these situations, tension ties are typically called out to tie the joists of the deck directly to the structure.
The DTT1Z deck tension tie from Simpson Strong-Tie is an easy, cost-effective solution for attaching a deck to a home and reinforcing lateral movement. This deck tie has been specifically designed to comply with the 2015 IRC provision for lateral load connections to a supporting structure, and allows for deck joist connections to be made to top plates, studs or headers on a home’s structural framing. This means that the DTT1Z can be installed from the exterior, eliminating the difficulty, time and additional repair work involved with having to gain access to floor joists by going into or through finished interiors.
Also, because steel connectors exposed to the elements are generally more prone to corrosion, the DTT1Z has a ZMAX® coating to keep it protected from environmental moisture, as well as chemicals used in some preservative-treated woods that have been found to increase the corrosion of connectors and fasteners.
The DTT1Z installs easily by fastening to the narrow or wide face of a single 2x with Strong-Drive® SD Connector screws or nails, and accommodates most installation conditions regardless of the siding type or ledger thickness. This deck tie’s versatility removes the guesswork out of installation and making proper connections, and makes retrofitting a simple, quick job. The code-listed DTT1Z also has the ability to be installed and load-rated as a holdown for light-duty shearwalls, and may satisfy the 800 lb. holdown requirement for some braced wall-panel applications. The part is available individually or in a deck installation kit that includes all of the necessary fasteners.
With the DTT1Z tension tie, your deck’s connections to the home will be code-rated and corrosion resistant. In other words — while tension keeps your deck up, you’ll be resting easy.
