Is it normal for a deck ledger to show a small gap after the frame is done?

That eighth-inch gap is a serious warning sign that your ledger board isn't properly tensioned against the house's rim joist. If you didn't cut away the siding to mount the ledger directly to the house framing, the siding is likely compressing under the weight, or the bolts are starting to bend. You need to verify right now if those bolts are hitting the solid rim joist of the house or just the sheathing. If they are only into sheathing, the whole structure is a safety hazard. The soft ground and wet gravel situation suggests your footings might be settling, especally if you buried the posts in the dirt instead of using concrete footers with a **stand-off base**. When the footings sink, the deck pulls away from the wall, shifting the weight outward and putting massive shear force on those ledger bolts. You really shouldn't see any daylight between that board and the house. If the footings are sinking, adding more bolts to the ledger won't fix the movement; it will just put more stress on the house's structure.

Take a look at your stair connection while you're at it. Most people just toe-nail the stringers to the frame, but you need **stringer hangers** to keep them from pulling away over time. Since the yard is a mess of weeds and soft soil, those stairs need a solid landing like a concrete pad or at least some heavy pavers. Without a landing, the bottom of those stringers will rot or sink into the mud quickly. Check your guard posts too. If you have more than six feet between them, the railing is going to feel flimsy. Get under there with a wrench and see if those ledger bolts can be tightened. But if they just spin or don't pull the board flush, you probably missed the rim joist entirely or the wood is already stripped out. You have to get that ledger tight and flashed properly or the house rim is going to rot out from the water trapped in that gap.

Have you ruled out the lumber just drying out and shrinking? If that ledger was soaking wet when you bolted it up, it’s pretty common for PT to pull away or cup as it seasons. An eighth of an inch might just be the board losing moisture rather than a structural shift. Did you check for a bow in the board before you mounted it? Sometimes those gaps are there from the start and you only catch them when you're over-analyzing the finish.

Sounds like your fasteners aren't doing the heavy lifting they shold. I always use FastenMaster LedgerLOKs because they have way more staying power than standard lags and they’re designed to pull the ledger board bone-dry against the house. If you’ve got a gap, those structural screws will usually cinch it right back up. I wouldn't trust standard bolts if your ground is shifting that much. Get a few of those driven in and you'll see that gap disappear instantly.

Man, that gap's a nightmare for water. If you can see daylight, rain’s gonna get behind that board and rot your buddy's house frame in a few seasons. Did you use any Z-flashing or joist tape? Even if the bolts hold, you can't leave a path for water. If the ground's that soft, I'd be more worried about the house's foundation getting soaked too. Better fix it now before the mold starts.

Seen this a hundred times. Before we had these fancy structural screws everyone's talking about, we used 1/2 inch carriage bolts and went all the way through the rim joist with a big washer and nut on the inside. If you can get into the crawlspace, through-bolting is the only way to really suck that board back to the house for good.

While you're down there, check if you actually hit the frost line. If the ground is that soft, you might have just poured some "floating" footings. I once spent a whole weekend jackhammering out shallow piers becasue the owner thought "close enough" worked for depth. It doesn't.