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Make Sure Your Home Inspector Provides a Quality Deck Inspection For Your Safety.

By Brandon Clark

Home Inspector with UTAH INFRARED Home and Building Inspections

August 19, 2010 08:21 AM

Make Sure Your Home Inspector Provides a Quality Deck Inspection For Your Safety.

According to The International Association of Certified Home Inspectors, more than 2 million decks are built and replaced each year in North America.

InterNACHI estimates that of the 45 million existing decks, ONLY 40% are completely safe.

One of the most common defects I see during Utah deck inspections is wood-to-ground contact(shown below) causing rot and deterioration.

Utah Home and Deck Inspections

Another deck defect that appears to be common with Utah home inspections is improper attachment or anchoring to the home(shown below). This deck is simply nailed to the home when it should be anchored by bolts.

Deck Defect Home Inspection

Because decks appear to be simple to build, many people do not realize that decks are, in fact, structures that need to be designed to adequately resist certain stresses.

Middle to large size decks can also become really expensive to repair if they go neglected for several years.

Like any other house or building, a deck must be designed to support the weight of people, snow loads, and objects. A deck must be able to resist lateral and uplift loads that can act on the deck as a result of wind or seismic activity. Deck stairs must be safe and handrails graspable. And, finally, deck rails should be safe for children by having proper infill spacing.

If your buying a Utah home than it's important to know your new home, deck, detached garage, patio, etc.. is safe. Hiring a professional home inspector is your first step to ensuring your new home is safe and in move in condition.

A deck failure is any failure of a deck that could lead to injury, including rail failure, or total deck collapse. Rail failure occurs much more frequently than total deck collapses; however, because rail failures are less dramatic than total collapses and normally don't result in death, injuries from rail failures are rarely reported.

Here are some interesting facts about deck failures provided by InterNachi:

More decks collapse in the summer than during the rest of the year combined.
Almost every deck collapse occurred while the decks were occupied or under a heavy snow load.
There is no correlation between deck failure and whether the deck was built with or without a building permit.
There is no correlation between deck failure and whether the deck was built by a homeowner or a professional contractor.
There is a slight correlation between deck failure and the age of the deck.
About 90% of deck collapses occurred as a result of the separation of the house and the deck ledger board, allowing the deck to swing away from the house. It is very rare for deck floor joists to break mid-span.
Many more injuries are the result of rail failure, rather than complete deck collapse.
Deck stairs are notorious for lacking graspable handrails.
Many do-it-yourself homeowners, and even contractors, don't believe that rail infill spacing codes apply to decks.

A proper deck inspection relies heavily on the professional judgments of the inspector. We at Power Check Infrared Home Inspections always provide quality deck assessments as part of our comprehensive infrared home inspection.

Brandon Clark Utah Certified Deck Inspector