For the most part brick is installed with wall ties, that is its not structure inclined.

Fastening to a verener in other words is not a good idea for a lot of reasons. If this is an upstairs projcet defentley do not do that. J.

Thanks so much for your answer. One more question, the house is a brick rancher. The deck ht. would be 1 1/2 ft. from the ground. Will that make a difference as to attached or unattached?

That low to the ground good chance the footing is extended past the brick line. Fasten to that.

When doing a project like that I tap con to the brick just to get grade then use the footings for bearing if none is there I provide my own.

Anyway I dont count on the brick for structure. J.

Yeah, what John said. Make it free-standing. Ok to attach it to the brick, but don't use the brick for structure, like with a ledger board. That's against code. Ours is free-standing, and we left about a 1/2" gap away from the brick for drainage.

Thanks for your replies. It helps!

and if termites are a problem in your area you might consider doing some preventative measures

digging up the area around a foundation line can cause problems
we had them in our house and had Orkin do a whole house treatment--they always want to know if/when we are having work done along the foundation line--
even if it is digging out older plants and replacing them--