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Building a Deck? or repairing wobbly deck railings?
 
Jay Maranich, a knowledgeable home inspector from Bristow, Virginia, posted this article on the proper way to attach a guardrail to a deck.  As the warm weather is finally approaching, fence and deck building season is upon us.  If any of you are contemplating building and/or repairing a deck this summer, this article is worth the read...
 
Toe nailing is a valid carpentry technique.  But for the most part it is a temporary tacking of one thing to another by nailing two things together at an angle.  Then proper attachment can be made.  Toe nailing is seldom, if ever, intended for long-term attachment or support with heavy material.
Walking around this deck, only about 4' high, I noticed that every single guardrail post had been toe nailed to the decking!
Don't trim those toe nails!
You can see how substantially attached that post is to the deck (he sarcastically notes).  Many wobbled a lot!  Rock on dude...
Despite the VERY FINE paint job, this is a huge problem.
Sure, the deck is only 4' high.  Do you want to fall 4', land on top of a broken guardrail, and land at an angle you can't control?
Didn't think so...
... more

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