Deck Inspection to Ensure a Safe Deck - Dream Home Consultants, LLC.

The Of Xpera Group Balcony Assurance - California Balcony / Deck

The image above portrays a pre-cast concrete pier. Posts can lift out of pre-cast concrete piers, and piers can move. Posts ought to be connected to their footings so that the posts don't lift or slip off. The image above portrays an appropriate post-to-footing connection. Posts must be linked to their footings so that the posts do not lift or slip off their footings.

Posts should be connected to their footings so that the posts don't lift or slip off their footings.  Full Article  depicts a lawn sprinkler keeping a deck post wet. Yard sprinkler systems that regularly keep the deck damp add to decay. The image above depicts a downspout adding to publish decay.

The image above illustrates the indentation left over from the footing hole, causing a puddle. Puddles contribute to publish decay. Wood can decay and degrade gradually with exposure to the aspects. Decay is an issue that intensifies with time. Members within the deck frame that have decomposed might no longer have the ability to perform the function for which they were installed.

Deck Inspections: Common Deck Defects - Tallahassee Real Estate Inspections

A Biased View of Why Every Deck Needs an Annual Inspection –

The image above illustrates a "choice test." The choice test uses an ice choice, awl or screwdriver to penetrate the wood surface. After penetrating the wood, the tool is leveraged to pry up a splinter, parallel to the grain, away from the surface area. The look and sound of the action is utilized to identify decay.

How to Inspect and Maintain Your Deck - Via

Decayed wood will break directly over the tool with extremely few splinters, and less or practically no audible sound compared to sound wood. The pick test can not detect decay far from the surface of the wood. The image above depicts a pick test on a deck post. Although deck examinations are visual-only assessments, inspectors might wish to dig around posts and carry out pick tests just below grade level to look for decay.

Tall 4"x 4" posts twist under load and 4"x 4" posts, even when treated, decay below grade too rapidly. In all but the most affordable of decks, deck posts ought to be at least 6"x 6", and be no higher than 12 feet; 14 feet is acceptable if cross-bracing is utilized. Often, the bottoms of the stringer boards for deck stairs have actually been discovered to rest on soil, cinder block or rock, instead of resting on posts set up listed below the frost line.