[Shop-talk] Lag screws vs. through bolting

[Brian Kemp]

Drew - I am also getting ready to install a cable rail system on my 
balcony.  I am doing fascia mount posts with 3/8" lag bolts because I 
have a waterproof surface.  The railing supplier should have technical 
drawings that specify the attachment requirements to meet the code 
required loading.  If you have a city building department, they should 
also be able to tell you the requirements.

In my case, using lags requires me to have a backing 2x8 behind my 
fascia board so I am screwing into a double thickness of boards.  If I 
used nuts and bolts, I could get by with just the fascia board by 
itself.  I am in a high fire danger area, so the city requires that the 
underside of decks and balconies be covered, preventing future access to 
nuts if I ever needed to change or tighten the railing posts.

Brian

On 7/31/2012 12:32 PM, Drew Rogge wrote:
> I'm installing some cable railing on a new deck, unlike the wood 
> railing on my shop deck,
> and have been through bolting some 1/4" stainless steel plates to the 
> facia to hold the
> posts. Hasn't been too bad. I'm bolting through 3/4" ipa and 1 1/4 PT 
> using 3/8" SS bolts.
> Bolts are coming in at about $1.00 apiece. I've just encountered a 
> section of the deck
> where I would need to bolt through either 4 1/4" or 6 3/4 inches. I 
> expect the cost of
> the bolts to be pretty high and was wondering if there would be much 
> difference in strength
> if I used say, 4" lag screws instead. Anybody have any experience with 
> doing this?
>
> Drew
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