Deck Inspections

Coastal Inspections does deck inspections. You routinely see them on national television. They collapse and fail on fairly new built buildings, party houses, apartments and condos as well as vacation homes. In fact, 224,000 people were injured nationally due to a deck or porch between 2003 and 2007. Of those injuries, 33,000 were a result of a structural failure or collapse, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, which offers one of the few studies on deck collapse.

The CPSC estimates there are more than 40-45 million existing decks in the U.S. and more than 20 million decks and porches are older than 15 years — well beyond their average lifespan. In addition, many of those decks were constructed prior to 2009, before true deck codes existed, Brown says.

The North American Decking and Railing Association (NADRA), a not-for-profit corporation estimates that of the 50 million decks in the U.S., fully half of them – 25 million decks – are past their useful life and candidates for replacement or repair.

You don’t have to look far for unsafe decks, due to aging or shoddy construction. 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 but not free of structural defects. 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.

A deck failure is any failure of a deck that could lead to injury, including rail failure, or total deck collapse.

Almost every new built deck is built wrong one way or another. Deck failures are always in the news. If you have personal, rental or vacation property it is your duty to provide a safe environment.

No grippable stairway handrails

Handrail and guardrails wobble

Incorrect spacing of balusters at stairs and rails

Incorrect or no structural support

Open risers on stairways

Deck not properly supported

Lack of through bolts

Rusted out nails and bolts

- much more

There is nothing correct about this deck and stairway.