May is Deck Safety Month

[Brian Hannigan]

The number of deck failures and resulting injuries has been increasing at an alarming rate. Between August 2004 and December 2005, the U.S. news media reported 225 injuries and one fatality from deck collapses caused by ledger connection failures. Many more deck failures -- with and without injuries -- went unreported in the media.

Decks and safety, decks and inspections, preventing decks from collapsing. Promoting deck safety to consumers and creating an awareness of the risks of using a structurally deficient residential deck.

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[Bruce Breedlove]

I didn't know May was Deck Safety Month. That's a good idea. Maybe it will prompt a few people to check their decks and hopefully save a few lives.

The article references a deck inspection manual. I bought this manual about 4 years ago and have found it to be an excellent reference. The manual was written by three Virginia Tech engineers and is very comprehensive.

The manual touches on codes and quickly moves on to how to inspect a deck, starting with what is a proper installation. It addresses connections, fastener inspection exposure and decay and insect damage. The deck analysis portion exceeds most inspector's SOP but is good information to know. It also includes a sample deck inspection report.

Priced at $44 I think this manual should be in every home inspector's reference library.

The article provides a link to purchasing this manual. For those that don't read the article or find the link dead I am including the link below. (Brian, feel free to delete this link if it violates your rule regarding unpaid advertising.)

Manual for the Inspection of Residential Wood Decks and Balconies

[Michael Thomas]

Also, some free resources:

http://buildingcodes.jocogov.org/doc...eck%20Book.pdf
http://www.co.gwinnett.ga.us/departm...ng_details.pdf
http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/dpwes/p...ks/details.pdf
Decks.com - builders, building designs, composite decking materials

If you work in Chicago:

City of Chicago

[Lon Henderson]

Resurrecting old thread....found this study today.

http://036d44a.netsolhost.com/images...pse-Report.pdf

Excerpt: there have been 179 reported deck collapses from January 2000 through December 2006, killing 33 and injuring 1,122.

And: Failure of the house to deck ledger connection accounted for over 90% of all reported deck collapse.

[ROBERT YOUNG]

Thanks Lon.