Home & Garden Home Improvement

Does Your Home Have a "Killer" Deck?

Does your home have a killer deck? I'm not talking about some 5000 square foot, synthetic product, multi-tiered, light festooned structure in your yard.
I'm talking about a five plus year old deck hanging on the back of your house above the ground.
Every year, there are cases of a deck collasping causing serious injuries or even deaths.
One minute your enjoying a meal and the next minute your in a pile of broken lumber and debris.
Many deck collaspes give no warnings at all.
No sagging or cracked members showing to provide a clue.
Nothing at all to warn you that a collaspe is going to happen.
In an instant the entire structure falls to the ground.
Why? Becasue of problems you cannot see.
Recently I had a twelve foot by 60 foot deck collaspe during a teenagers party at night.
Fire, Police and Ambulance workers were all called to the scene.
Amazingly no one was killed and only a few minor scratches were suffered.
Firefighters had to jack up the deck as some kids were reported to have been sitting under the deck during the party.
By dumb luck, no one was under there at the second of the deck failure.
The owners ATV and row boat did not fare as well and were completely crushed.
Once the scene was cleared by the Fire Services, I began to look, along with my engineer, as to what could have caused the collaspe.
People at the party said they guessed there were 70-80 people on the deck at one time.
Pictures showed no less than 6 fully loaded ice chests on one corner of the deck.
The opposite corner showed a large approimately six foot by six foot, 3 tiered water fountain in place.
Bar-B-Que grilles, 2 picnic tables with benches were also evident.
Add 70-80 people dancing and we have the making of a deck collaspe.
Overloaded? If the person count was correct and using an average weight of 140 pounds (being kind here), that comes to 11,200 pounds.
Almost 6 tons! Now add the movement of dancing feet.
Enough to cause the collaspe? Not really on it's own.
A properly built deck that size should hold apporximately 17 tons of weight depending on the beams and girder sizes used.
We began looking further to see if there were other factors that might have caused such a rapid and total loss of the deck structure.
There was some minor deterioration of the wood at exposed stair parts and hand rails but again not cause for entire deck failure.
I noticed that the ledger board that was bolted to the house and was the point of connection for the deck to the house, had literally peeled from the house in one piece.
It was still attached to many of the framing members of deck.
Further investigation showed the galvanized lag bolts used to secure the ledger to the house were also intact and were still in place in the ledger board.
The bolts had pulled completely out of the rim joist they were bolted to during the original construction.
Our first thought was the bolts may not have been long enough to properly anchor the ledger to the rim joist.
A building inspector cannot see how long the bolts are.
He/she can only see that they are present and the number of bolts and spacing is as required.
A review showed this was the case and the lags were properly installed..
Working our way through the debris and towards the house, I noticed that a portion of the now exposed rim joist under the homes patio doors was pretty badly rotted.
Gaining access to this area with a ladder, I pulled back the remaining pieces of felt paper and found that the entire rim joist, for almost the entire 60 feet length of the deck was ridddled by carpenter ants or termites at one time.
There was virtually nothing lefl of the rim joist wood.
Riddled with passageways and subsequent further deterioration from water and age, the damaged rim joist was the reason for the deck collaspe.
Not the deck itself.
The lag bolts simply had nothing left to hold on to and pulled away from the house when enough weight and movement on the exterior edge was applied.
People stain or paint or powerwash their decks each year, repair handrails or fix a broken stair tread but it never occurs to them to look at the most critical part of the deck, the deck to house conneciton at the ledger board.
Why? Mainly because no one told them too.
OK.
Now your told.
It is not at all easy to do this chore either.
You may have to remove some deck flooring closest to the house to gain access to view the ledger/house comnnection.
Remember it is not the ledger your are checking (of course you should anyway) but the main concern here is the condition of the rim joist of the house.
Not many years ago, a metal or rubber flashing was not required between the house rim joist and the ledger to protect the house framing.
Today it has become common place to see a flashing installed.
Whether metal, rubber or plastic is used, it provides a waterstop and prevents water from soaking into these critical deck and house parts.
Felt paper does not work in the long term.
Over time it deteriorates from constant soakings and sun exposure and becomes brittle and loses it's water repellant properties.
If you gather anything from this article, learn to periodically inspect your deck for more than just cosmetic needs.
Inspect not only the house/ledger connections but look at all wood joints to assure nails or screws are not rusted, missing or pulled loose.
Look for exposed footings caused perhaps by erosion.
Look for warped or bowed structural members that may need to be replaced.
Inspect the support posts and their metal connectorrs if any.
Replace any that are in question.
Pressure treated lumber does have a life span and will not last forever.
With careful checking, you may have a killer deck because it's gorgeous not because it's dangerous.
Pete Your Friendly Building Inspector http://www.
Wagsys.
com
BICES-Building Inspeciton & Code Enforcement System Software

Related posts "Home & Garden : Home Improvement"

Important Do-It-Yourself Home Remodeling Advice

Home Improvement

Importance of Lethbridge sheds

Home Improvement

How to Handle Books With Water Damage

Home Improvement

Remodeling a Kitchen on a Budget?

Home Improvement

Various Types of Shelving and Their Particular Advantages

Home Improvement

Where Does Glass Come From?

Home Improvement

Exactly Why A Digital Door Lock Can Be A Clever Choice For Your Home

Home Improvement

Why Should I Buy a Patio Heater?

Home Improvement

How to Make a Handicap Accessible Bathroom

Home Improvement

Leave a Comment