Chose a 4-inch lag bolt over a 3-inch for a tricky deck ledger and it held through the storm last night.

Uma Singh · 2026-03-25T03:30:06.949506+00:00

I was worried about the extra torque on the old rim joist, but the longer bite into the house framing made all the difference, so what's your go-to for securing a ledger on questionable wood?

robert_jones6mo ago

I always went shorter, but your post convinced me to size up for old wood.

8

harperjackson6mo ago

Nice! @robert_jones, same. Overbuilding beats underbuilding every time.

1

faith124mo ago

Dude, my buddy Tom went with 3-inch on his deck and the whole thing pulled away during a windstorm last year. Now he's all about the 4-inch. Never skimp on bite.

0