Deck Safety and Common Defects in Newark Ohio
With summer rapidly approaching, it’s time to think of graduation parties and family barbecues. It’s also a good time to inspect your deck for safety. A Home Inspection is always a good idea. Lately there have been some well publicized, catastrophic deck and balcony collapses. This article’s focus will be on decks that have been built without a building permit. This is especially important in our area, because a large portion of our decks were built without a building permit. As a contractor and home inspector, I can spot these driving through any neighborhood in the Licking County area. Un-permitted, unsafe decks share some common characteristics. He are the top eight things most homeowners can look for and determine the quality of their deck. In future blogs, we will break these issues down one by one.
1.Ledger to home connection
Is it flashed? Is it attached with ½” corrosion resistant lag-bolts? If it is only attached to the home with nails you are susceptible to the #1 cause of deck failure, which is the separation of the ledger board to the home.
- Joist hangars
Are the floor joists attached to the ledger with joist hangars? If so great, but the correct nails here are critical. One type of screw is allowed; however, they are uncommon. I would advise you to be suspect of any joist hangar utilizing screws.
- Open stair risers
This dead giveaway can be spotted by the casual observer.
- A stair handrail that is not ‘graspable’
If the top of the handrail is a 2X4 laid flat, rest assured you have an outlaw deck.
- Railing balusters spaced too far apart
The standard space on horizontal railings is 4”. Stair balusters at 4 3/8”.
- Undersized posts
On any deck above ground level, 4X6 to 6X6 posts are typically used and 4X4’s are rarely used except in instances of very little weight, such as a stair landing.
- Poor post to header connection
At a minimum, headers should be attached to the posts with ½” lag bolts. Better methods include notching of the 6X6 post to accept the header, or the header sitting on top of the post and fastened with a steel bracket made for the purpose.
- Poor post to footing connection
The Newark Ohio’s Building Department’s standard recommendation is to pour a 12” thick concrete footing below the frost line @ 32”, set the post on the footing, and backfill with dirt. If you see a post encased in concrete, or poorly fastened to concrete, it’s unlikely that it is an approved design.
- Under sized floor joists
If you were to jump up and down on a sound deck, any bounce should be almost imperceptible.
A deck permit is $65! This fee includes a plan review, verification of proper footings, framing, and the inspection of the most common point of deck failure which is the ledger to house connection. Any contractor unwilling to build a deck legitimately with a permit has done his customer a great disservice.