Since hurricane Irene blew up the east coast, the effects of the storm are still being felt by many, many people, in particular water and flooding. As a home inspector in Connecticut I regularly see the detrimental consequences of water on a home. Wood decay and water damage being the most dominant problems. The thing of it is, many times the problems were bound to happen due to bad construction.
On two recent and consecutive inspections I found the same issues with the decks on both homes. The first and most obvious problem, at least to my eyes, was the location of the deck in relation to the door. In both instances the deck had been built at the same level as the door. Convenient for egress…of water.
Almost without exception when I find a deck on the same plane as the door, water damage is evident, both these decks were no exception.
The other big error was a lack of flashing. Wood on wood doesn’t repel water all that well. In fact it often helps the decay process Both of these decks lacked flashing at the ledger board and door frames.
The water damage and decay was quite severe in one house and moderate in the other. Both will require extensive repairs that could have been avoided by better planning and installing the required flashings.
James Quarello
Connecticut Home Inspector
2010 - 2011 SNEC-ASHI President
NRSB #8SS0022
JRV Home Inspection Services, LLC
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