“Designed for lightweight structures like decks. No heavy machinery or mess to install. And the price is right too.”

– By Deck Foot Anchor – Ledger Customer

DECK FOOT ANCHOR™ - LEDGER

FROST FOOTINGS FOR LEDGER CONNECTED DECKS AND MORE IN MINUTES.

The Deck Foot Anchor for ledger connected decks is a frost footing that installs easily into most soil types with a lightweight handheld impact wrench. A compression Load Fin gives the auger lateral resistance in the soil. The Post saddle can adjust laterally for precise alignment with a beam – unlike other helical piles.

The 3-¼” blade and 5″ blade have tested in clay for maximum compression loads of 1,391# and 5,500# respectively. See Load Data below and consult local building authorities to confirm suitability for your application.  

Please check and observe local building codes in your area before installing this product.

BUY HERE

The Ledger Deck Foot Anchor is our answer for light weight ledger connected residential decks or other structures that need to be frost resistant.  

It’s the next step in the development of the  Deck Foot Anchor which has been a great solution for floating decks since 2012.

The open ended Load Fin allows frozen soil to expand and move freely while distributing compression loads to the soil via the auger and helical blades.

The wide fin profile stabilizes the auger against lateral forces.  It is a durable and affordable alternative to traditional engineered piles that are designed for much heavier structures.

TECH SPECIFICATIONS

HOW IT WORKS

DRIVE

Using a lightweight handheld  ½” electric impact wrench and a 12mm six point socket, drive the auger deep into the soil.

INSERT

Drive the compression Load Fin over the auger and tighten the nut.

ADJUST

Adjust the post saddle in line with the beam.   Tighten the upper nut to attach the saddle to the auger and Load Fin.

deck-foot-ledger

Deck Foot Anchor Instructions

Grab a copy of our installation guide and use it to help plan your project.

DOWNLOAD

The Ledger Deck Foot Anchor uses an auger which drives into most soil types with the convenience of a hand held ½” impact wrench (18V or corded).  

The compression Load Fin slides over the auger shaft and is embedded in the upper  12″ of compacted soil using a sledge hammer or a modified 4×4 post.  The edges of the Load Fin provide a surface for the Post Saddle to rest and distribute compression load to the auger and the blades.

Helical piles are a time-tested solution for all kinds of structures like houses, commercial buildings, bridges and more. They support very heavy loads.  But they usually come with a heavy price tag too.

And if they are not installed precisely, it is difficult to adjust the post saddle to align with an overhead beam.  Sometimes it’s impossible and a site welded bracket has to be used.

But more importantly, in practical terms, you may be paying for way more than what common light weight residential structures need.  The Ledger Deck Foot Anchor is an attempt to solve that dilemma.

The Load Fin is more than 6″ at it’s widest point, giving the otherwise narrow auger tube massive lateral resistance in the soil akin to a much larger diameter helical pile.  

The auger can still be installed easily in most soil types with the convenience of a handheld ½” drive impact wrench (18v cordless or corded).

The Load Fin allows a 4×4 or 6×6 Post Saddle to adjust up to 2” to ensure multiple saddles are easily aligned under a common carrier beam –something that is not always easy – or possible – to do with heavier style piles.  

Adjustability of the Post Saddle is what really differentiates this solution from the heavy duty engineered helical piles.

WILL AN AUGER WORK IN MY SOIL?

Some soil is not well suited for augers.  The soil may be full of rocks, roots or other obstructions. 

The Deck Foot Anchor™ can be retracted easily enough and there is some latitude with where to choose to install each footing. 

However, if you are unsure about your soil use a 24″ Bit Extender (or longer) with a 1″ spade bit and a cordless drill.  Try driving the bit into the ground as deep as it will go.  This will tell you right away if an auger will work in your soil.

HOW MANY FOOTINGS DO I NEED?

The Rule of Thumb is 6′-0″ apart for each footing.  This corresponds to a design load of 50 psf and tributary areas over each footing of 36 sqft.  

So the total load imposed on the soil below each footing would be a maximum of 1800 psf as the footing is just slightly larger than 1 sqft.

If you have a large deck where three or more beams are going to be used, consider adding one additional footing along the interior beam.  This is because the tributary loads of any structure are always greatest in the middle.

WHAT IS TERRA-SHIFT™

Terra-Shift refers to our unique friction release system in the bracket that protects critical post to beam connections on your deck in the event of any seasonal soil movement.

If any uneven uplift forces are imposed on your footings, posts will slide up or down independently as needed to protect and preserve the post and beam joints from separating.

POST SADDLES SUPPORT UP TO 15,000 LBS.

Independent compression load testing has confirmed that each Deck Foot Anchor 4X4 saddle can support up to 15,000 lbs.

This is far more than your soil will ever support. So the Deck Foot Anchor is not the weakest link. Your soil bearing capacity is the limiting factor.

Terra Shift Technology

TERRA-SHIFT: A SHOCK ABSORBER THAT PROTECTS YOUR DECK

Watch this demonstration of how the patented Terra-Shift system works to relieve stresses that may build up during seasonal changes and threaten the integrity of your deck structure.

Regardless of the harshness of your climate, the post to beam connections supporting your structure will remain strong and sturdy.

AUGERS AVAILABLE IN VARIABLE LENGTHS

Use the 24″ for most applications.  Use the 36″ or 48″ auger when you want more wind uplift resistance or you are building on a slope.  The auger length will make no difference how the Deck Foot will perform in frost as the above animation shows.

The deck will always be resting on the surface and will rise or descend marginally with the soil expansion and contraction.  But it will always remain securely anchored to the ground.

UPLIFT​

Uplift forces are not as important on a ledger connected deck as they would be for a floating deck that might be more vulnerable to high winds.  

A ledger connected deck is secured to the house and provides an additional degree of security in this respect.

However, the uplift data in the table shows the force required to pull the auger from the soil in each soil type depending on the length of the auger.  Longer augers offer more uplift resistance because there is more soil above it.

Uplift data for a 36-inch auger and a 48-inch auger
Compression load data for 36 and 48-inch augers.

COMPRESSION LOAD DATA

Our Intertek engineering crew travelled to the foothills of Colorado to test the load performance of this auger style because of the close proximity of both sandy and clay soils (least and most compressive).  

The 36″ auger is rated to a maximum of 1391 lbs (Clay) and 6285 lbs (Sandy).   So make sure your structure never approaches the 1391 lbs limit per footing in clay – or the footing will depress into the soil.

If the maximum rated load in clay is 1391 lbs, design your structure so each footing will carry between 700-1000 lbs as a safety margin.  For a 50 psf design load on a structure, that translates to a loading zone over each footing of 3′-9″ square to 5′ square max. If you don’t understand this, do not use this unless you have shared the Report with a professional engineer who can explain this.  

Consider these numbers the best and worst case scenarios for the greatest range of soil types in North America.  So be sure to use enough footings to support your intended structure with extra capacity.

DIMENSIONS

Dimensions of a 4x4 Deck Foot Post Saddle
Dimensions for the Compression Load Fin.

HERE IS A REAL DECK JOB

MULTI-LEVEL HOT TUB DECK

This was a large multi-level deck that really shows off the usefulness of the Titan Deck Foot Anchor™. Three separate areas. All intricately designed to wrap around a hot tub spa and create intimate areas.

The first area was off the back patio door about 3-1/2′ high. The others were lower level platforms over a gradual grade sloping away from the house.

All 24 footings were installed before lunch hour.

Another building benefit is being able to use the Titan Deck Foot Anchor™ to easily drop beams within 2″ of the grade. Try doing this with a block…

LOW SET BEAMS

You can also hang joists from beam face to beam face if you really wanted to hide all the beams of a low-level deck. That is next to impossible to do with blocks.

First, if we used concrete blocks we would have had trouble figuring out how to get the deck joist framing as low to the ground because they sit higher.

Second, the deck would just loosely sit on them. Here, each footing and post to beam connection is secured to the ground.

Third, we didn’t want to see cement blocks when you walked by the highest level deck.

WARNING: Your experience with the Deck Foot Anchor is entirely dependent on your soil type.  Rocks or roots or a weak impact wrench can prevent the auger from driving fully into the soil and an improperly sized socket can strip the driver head.  Continuous torque for an extended period of time on the auger, once it has been stopped by a rock or immobile obstruction, can destroy the auger. The footing does not provide any significant lateral load resistance and should be used for compression load applications only.

WARMING: Allow wet posts to dry and acclimate to local humidity before cutting 2×4 rails to length.  Larger (6×6) wet posts, in particular, can shrink up to ¼” and this can cause the connectors and/or the 2x4s to pull apart.  

WARRANTY

Download a full-size copy of the  Warranty.

WHAT ARE PEOPLE SAYING ABOUT US?

5/5

Sturdy and Reliable

I used four deck foot anchors to anchor my wood pergola. It is most definitely not going anywhere! I was impressed with the quality of the parts. We did encounter some challenges with tree roots while putting in the anchors. That took a bit of tweaking and troubleshooting, but we were able to figure it out. Very happy with the product!

Victoria S.

5/5

Amazing Product and Amazing Customer Service

Received the product at the vendor and inside of an hour and a half I had 7 footing installed. They are very secure and look great. Also called the company here in Canada and had a real person answer the phone within 2 rings. Questions were handled amazingly and would highly recommend this product and this company.

Jeff C.

5/5

Works as advertised!

Great time saver, just right for the job. Please be mindful that a six point socket is best to drive in the anchor. Made my neighbors jealous with the ease of install. My application was mainly to keep a canopy from lifting up. I have no concerns at all! These parts were on backorder for a long time during the early part of Covid but they were worth waiting for!! 

Gene P.

5/5

Ms.

These are amazing. I used them for an 8 x 14 foot pergola. Digging post holes wasn’t an option due to the giant old maple tree with it’s extensive root system I built the pergola under. Well… maybe was an option but I really didn’t want to dig those holes! I also have tons of rocks. Whole structure is incredibly stable. These augers are super easy to install and very forgiving if you need to pull up and move over a few inches for a hidden root. They are also very narrow so 4 of 6 went in perfect the first time. The other 2 were very simple to pull out and move a few inches over. The sliding post bracket is nice as well, allows for adjustment once the auger is set. These are very easy to install independently and save an enormous amount of time. As an added bonus I had one spare.. I’m currently using it as a tool. A bit off label but that spare anchor has seen a ton of use… I found that if I drilled it into the soil about 10 times in a 2 foot area I could loosen the soil enough to plant a tree in under an hour… despite the rocks. Very easy to hand bomb with a shovel once the soil has been loosened up!! I’m planning to add a deck behind my house next summer with these!

Erin

5/5

Simple AND Flexible!

I had bought these for a floating deck which I originally measured as an 8′ x 8′ deck. I bought the Titan Ground Anchor system for my footings and squared out the perimeter beams. It took me less than 2 hours to set 9 Titan anchors and square up the perimeter beams. However, once we decided to go with a 12′ x 12′ gazebo, I had to adjust the base – NO PROBLEM! I just removed 8 Titan anchors and re-installed them in their new positions! That’s how FLEXIBLE these anchors are – I would never have been able to do that with traditional footings! The Titan anchor saved my project and took minimal time to set it and forget it! This is a revolutionary product and makes your DIY deck projects so simple! I had bought them from a local deck materials supplier in Markham, Ontario CA. Tip: spend the money and buy the EXACT fitting impact-rated socket – it will save your augers and give you a much easier installation experience. 

Jazzy G.

5/5

Titan v. Concrete On (and in) the Ground

I’m also using concrete pilings, so have direct comparison and this footings definitely provide a robust alternative for a lot less work. I was impressed with thickness of the base plate – I was anticipating something a bit of flex that would gain stiffness from its contact w/the ground. However, it’s actually a very rigid plate on its own, then also shaped convex-downwards to have even more stiffness. Customer service has been great – from tracking orders to answering technical questions, responses have been fast and very helpful.

Matt B.

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