Any way to stop the deck from going through the exterior wall and attaching itself to the home's framing?

[DK7000]

When using the railing tools or deck edge tools, it likes to automatically attach the deck through the exterior wall (which is brick) right into the framing structure of the house.

Manually moving the railing or deck edge/beams away from the homes framing and lining it up to the edge of the exterior brick wall is simply ignored and automatically snaps back into the homes framing structure.

 

Is there a way to disable this?

Or to tell it its being attached externally to the brick wall and not the framing of home?

 

I dont even understand why this is even a automatic function. Decks are always stand alone objects that added to the exterior of the home, and not to the framing.

[SHCanada2]

decks here are attached to the rim board via a ledger board.

 

..I havent tried it but did you try running a deck railing along the house, parallel to the house wall? CA does not like walls really close together, so not sure how close you could get it

[PitMan71]

5 hours ago, DK7000 said:

Manually moving the railing or deck edge/beams away from the homes framing and lining it up to the edge of the exterior brick wall is simply ignored and automatically snaps back into the homes framing structure.

Can you post your plan or a picture of what you are referring to? I pulled up chief to try and recreate what you are talking about.... I do see where the wall connects through the brick, but its a transparent connection and doesn't seem to affect the way the connection appears.

 

The reason the deck railing is connecting in that way is because it's connecting its main layer to the brick wall main layer which is the framing. In order to get the deck railing to connect to the brick itself is to make a copy of your brick wall type and in the new wall type moving the brick materials from the exterior layers to the main layer in the wall type.  Might end up looking like the attached pic. 

 

Caution: This may work as you intend, but it could cause unintended issues. Either way, I think it's worth giving a whirl.

[robdyck]

On 5/2/2025 at 2:56 PM, DK7000 said:

Is there a way to disable this?

Or to tell it its being attached externally to the brick wall and not the framing of home?

 

I dont even understand why this is even a automatic function.

No, there's really no way to do this automatically. Auto-deck framing is always a bit non-sensical. Think of it as a good head start only. And to be honest, if you're good at manual deck framing, it's faster to frame it all manually than ot edit what Chief builds. The deck ledger will always need to be moved away from the wall main layer to allow for sheathing / paper, or other regional preferences. Let's not even get started on the framing method of 'chasing' deck rim joists!

[Doug_N]

On 5/2/2025 at 4:56 PM, DK7000 said:

When using the railing tools or deck edge tools, it likes to automatically attach the deck through the exterior wall (which is brick) right into the framing structure of the house.

Manually moving the railing or deck edge/beams away from the homes framing and lining it up to the edge of the exterior brick wall is simply ignored and automatically snaps back into the homes framing structure.

 

Is there a way to disable this?

Or to tell it its being attached externally to the brick wall and not the framing of home?

 

I dont even understand why this is even a automatic function. Decks are always stand alone objects that added to the exterior of the home, and not to the framing.

When doing the edges of the deck, also do an edge parallel to the exterior wall, but offset so that there is a space between the edge and the exterior wall.  (That edge can be an invisible wall.)  Make click on the edge and open the DBX for that wall, make it a furred wall.  Now move that up to the exterior wall and presto.  You have a deck that is adjacent to the exterior wall but not cutting into it.  Hope that helps.

[SHCanada2]

On 5/2/2025 at 2:56 PM, DK7000 said:

Manually moving the railing or deck edge/beams away from the homes framing and lining it up to the edge of the exterior brick wall is simply ignored and automatically snaps back into the homes framing structure

 

I think it you detach perpendicular deck walls from the house and run a parallel deck wall to the house about a foot away, and then move it to be next to the brick and then make it invisible, it seems to work:

 

 

 

[Doug_N]

11 hours ago, SHCanada2 said:

 

I think it you detach perpendicular deck walls from the house and run a parallel deck wall to the house about a foot away, and then move it to be next to the brick and then make it invisible, it seems to work:

 

 

If you're not careful with this method, the deck wall can suddenly replace the external wall.  That is why I put in the changing the wall spec to furring.

[DennisR]

Chief will automatically do it correctly if you open the Deck Room dialog box and at the bottom of the Structure Tab change the Framing Group from 1 to 2.  It will frame the house first and then add the deck framing instead of doing it all at once.

 

Finally found this after 20+ years of using the program.

 

 

[Doug_N]

Doing the invisible furred wall may cause problems with doors to the deck and windows as well.

[M-Reed]

Try Landing tool. It can be framed, sized, etc. while eliminating some of the auto features of a deck. Worth a shot.

 

Maxie Reed

Edited 19 hours ago by M-Reed

[robdyck]

As close as deck framing gets, it's still not a great setup. In my region we mostly use floor trusses which means no rim joist. But then Chief won't frame the deck correctly because it omits rim joists. And let's be honest...who is classifying rim joists versus regular joists for deck framing? So you need to toggle the rim joist setting on and off while you frame various portions of the floors and deck separately.

So much control and yet so little control all at the same time. Yet another powerful tool that is designed to set you up for failure and/or frustration, or come up with your own methods.

[CharlesVolz]

FWIW,

I never design or build a deck attached to a cladded structure. I always build a deck adjacent to a structure to be free-standing and not connected to the structure. I allow 1 ½" or 3 ½" between the cladding and the adjacent deck supports, depending if the deck planking is running perpendicular or parallel to the exterior wall of the structure. Then I cantilever the deck planking to ½" from cladding to allow for some expansion and movement. For a slight increase in cost (in most cases), this has the following benefits:
1.    Avoids future deck failure due to:
    a.    Ledger board anchors being improperly installed, usually due to:
        i.    incorrect anchors being used,
        ii.    anchors not being properly fastened into the exterior walls structural framing members,
        iii.    incorrect flashing and/or flashing installation.
    b.    Undetected moisture damage and wood rot around the anchors.
            (Note: The above are the causes of most of the serious residential deck failures in the U.S.)
2.    Avoids penetrations that can lead to moisture damage and the intrusion of termites and other pests.   
3.    Avoids blocking the access to the wall and its cladding, hindering future replacement, repairs, painting, sealing, etc.
4.    Allows more flexibility in designing the deck and its location, shape, deck floor elevation, etc.
5.    Easier to replace the deck, which has a short life span compared to most residential structures.