On the Today Show this morning, there was an excellent report showing what happens when a deck collapses. As we’ve written before, not building your deck the right way and/or not doing a brief yearly inspection is not a risk worth taking. Watch this report to see how dangerous it is to ignore making sure your deck is as safe and sound as possible for you and your family.
If you’re wondering where to find a good local inspector, check with your local building department. They can guide you in the right direction. If you end up needing to remodel your deck and want a free decking quote, give AdvantageLumber.com a call. We’ll be happy to help answer all your questions and get you the right amount of decking material. Call 1-877-232-3915, or shop for decking online.
That video is not too scary- if only because the problems seem to be from mistakes that any decent inspector would catch before passing inspection. The thing that has me concerned is failure of deck screws. I used the proer screws for treated lumber on my Ipe deck when we built it about 6 years ago. I wanted to change the way a trim board was attached and unscrewed it. To my amazement, the screws were rusted where they penetrated the treated lumber! Many of the screws were rusted enough to snap rather than unscrew. And yes, EVERY screw hole was pre-drilled in the Ipe. The screws in question were manufactured by one of the major suppliers to the big box stores and probably every local hardware store in the country. There was no corrosion evident on the section of screw in Ipe. My guess is that the Ipe was hard enough to damage the anti-corrosion coating on the screws when the screws were driven.