OT-Check your decks-PSA

jeffwit

I know the title sounds trite, but we have some good friends who were out on their second-story deck when the bolts attaching it to the house gave way and the deck collapsed. They’re going to be ok, broken bones and a lacerated liver, but it could have been much worse. 
I’m not usually a worse case scenario person, but this one hit close to home. Have a look occasionally to make sure everything is tight and not rotting. 
PSA over. Grill on. 

lkapigian

Wow , prayers for a speedy recovery 

SonVolt

Geez... wood decks more than 10' off the ground have always made me nervous. 

GregW

I don't know if it was the case here, but pressure treated lumber is extremely corrosive to fasteners,  even specially coated fasteners and galvanized. I know this, because I recently dismantled a pressure treated play set in my yard.

I had 1/4 galvanized lag bolts that has completely rusted in too and 1/2 bolts that for rusted half in too.

I hope everyone recovers quickly.

nolaegghead

Sorry to hear.  My deck is 3 feet off the ground so I'm not too concerned.

DoubleEgger

That’s nightmare material for sure. When we bought our house last year, our #1 priority was getting the shoddy deck replaced, kitchen and bath remodel was put on the back burner after a thorough deck inspection. 

Prayers for a speedy recovery to those injured. 

Gulfcoastguy

Thanks, I have a one story and my deck is only a foot off the ground, but I appreciate the warning. It was noted by FEMA after Katrina that in the case of most buildings that were torn off of raised foundations it was because the fasteners failed. Either due to corrosion or just in adequate strength. An entire block of condos were swept off of their foundation leaving a lattice work of concrete pilings and beams 12 feet off of the ground.

JohnInCarolina

nolaegghead said:

Sorry to hear.  My deck is 3 feet off the ground so I'm not too concerned.

Exactly.  You don’t need no elevation to break a couple of ribs...

stlcharcoal

As a part-time real estate agent for the last 10 yrs I will NEVER walk on a deck until I've been underneath it first.  I am not a home inspector, but it's really obvious if it was an amateur job.  I have literally seen a deck held up by 4x4's anchored by a cinder block (which at one point had dirt built up around it, but had since eroded.)  One push and the whole thing would have come down.  There was a really bad deck collapse in the city north of me a few years ago--bunch of teenagers having a party, one killed.  Cheap "builder-grade" deck.....band board was just nailed to the house rather than lag bolted.

Jeremiah

Yeah. Our deck is like 2 feet off the ground and rotted. Planning on a Trex deck remodel this fall. 

nolaegghead

JohnInCarolina said:

nolaegghead said:

Sorry to hear.  My deck is 3 feet off the ground so I'm not too concerned.

Exactly.  You don’t need no elevation to break a couple of ribs...

thanks, butt-munch

Theophan

Lacerated liver????  Holy Moly -- I'm amazed that one survived!

Thanks for the PSA!

DoubleEgger

The flashing is the main thing to check. Make sure it extends out from the house a good ways and isn’t cut or rusted out. Another thing to check is the deck board closest to the house. If it’s nailed or screwed in close to the house, then the flashing has holes in it and is compromised. That deck board should only have a nail or screw on the outside edge away from the house. 

NPHuskerFL

Crap! That's no bueno. Our deck had (section that's about 300sqft ish that's also our egging area) some soft spots on the railings and boards beginning to twist.  OBW this section of the decking was only 10 yrs old. Long story short the douchecannoe contractor slipped one past the inspectors...no wrap between deck and house structure.  Siding, deck, sections of floor joists etc had to be replaced.  Deck is at the lowest point 4ft off the ground and highest point 8ft.  Solid concrete pilings support the structure and these were the only things that were still okay.  Deck was replaced with all new skeleton and Trex decking, rails etc. 
Good PSA!!!

mEGG_My_Day

Wow - Wishing your friend a full and speedy recovery.  

fishlessman

my deck is 12 foot up over a stone wall embankment, not going out on it and hoping it survives to the fall.  stike condemned it a decade ago when the wind was lifting it and it was dropping the main posts that the damn french builder never attached to the deck or wall at all im still good with the deck part, the railings not so much.

ive had lots of folks crash off the deck at camp, its 6 inches tall and sits on the ground. one could blame it on too much crown. i built a ramp for it to help some get off the deck

stlcharcoal

We overbuilt the $hit out of ours...….tigerwood weighs a ton and so do BGEs.  I wanted a dry area below for my tractor & implements, so we draped geo-liner below the decking which runs the water over to a gutter right where the cantilever starts (which connects to the French drain behind the retaining wall and ejects over the hill into the river.)  Only problem, it faces west, so between noon & sunset that deck is miserable to sit on......getting ready to rip the railings off and built a 4-seasons room on top with a covered platform for the BGEs.

piney

DoubleEgger said:

That’s nightmare material for sure. When we bought our house last year, our #1 priority was getting the shoddy deck replaced, kitchen and bath remodel was put on the back burner after a thorough deck inspection. 

Prayers for a speedy recovery to those injured. 

And a beautiful house with a wonderful lot it is! Sandy and I loved it!

Killit_and_Grillit

Man that’s terrible. Hope for a speedy recovery. 

My wife and I went and looked at an older house that needed some repair a few weeks ago. Had a second story mini deck over the driveway. 

My wife said, “come look at this view”. 

Daaaaaamn that. Hard pass. 2nd story decks stress me. 

GATraveller

We just rebuilt the deck on the lake house last summer and found the old one barely attached to the house.  Lucky we caught it before someone got hurt.  Folks really need to be cognizant of the danger.  Good PSA!

poster

Is 2x6 over a 36" span too much? I could hardly bring myself to go across

stlcharcoal

poster said:

Is 2x6 over a 36" span too much? I could hardly bring myself to go across

I would have my legs as wide as possible, with each foot spanning two boards, and a death grip on both ropes. 

***not afraid of heights, just afraid of falling.

evie1370

Just replaced our deck floor and rails last month. the footers etc were fine, so that saved us some $$ though what we did was costly enough. 

I knew it was in bad shape, but the final straw was when the back steps collapsed on the husband when he was trying to walk out. Yea, no bueno. I am not hitting the singles scene again at my age!

Good PSA, many times we do not notice things until it is too late. Thanks for sharing.

GATraveller

The falling part doesn't scare me as much as the landing.

SonVolt

I'm more scared of losing that plate of ribs on the way down. 

slovelad

GATraveller said:

The falling part doesn't scare me as much as the landing.

A very wise man with an evil knievel spirit indeed 

poster

stlcharcoal said:

poster said:

Is 2x6 over a 36" span too much? I could hardly bring myself to go across

I would have my legs as wide as possible, with each foot spanning two boards, and a death grip on both ropes. 

***not afraid of heights, just afraid of falling.

You mean you wouldn't walk your dog or push a stroller across? I did your technique and made sure I had 2 boards under each foot at all times as close to the supports as possible. The daughter took a 1/2 mile zipline back, I walked through the bush

alaskanassasin

A similar thing happened in Columbus I think last summer on some townhouses , the contractor I toe nailed it or at least did not use any lags.