Twenty years ago, my employee Lonnie Akers came up with the idea of using metal T-bracing to prevent a deck floor from racking. First, we snap a chalkline across the tops of the joists where we want the brace to be. Next, we cut a sawkerf in the tops of the joists equal in depth to the leg of the T-bracing. Then we hammer the bracing into the groove and nail it down. It works great, it’s cheap, and it’s barely visible after the deck flooring is installed.
Tom Taylor, Macomb, IL
Edited and Illustrated by Charles Miller
From Fine Homebuilding #216
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View Comments
Do you think that pipe strapping would or could do the same thing? If you fasten to each deck joist?
Why not just use the Simpson lateral tie brackets that are now currently needed to meet code anyway