I spoke with a nearby neighbor who experienced the nightmare of deck failure just 6 years ago. He went with his older son to a friend's brand new house that was only 3 weeks old. The friend said "You have got to come out and see the best scenic mountain view in the whole city." The owner walked out onto the second story brand new 10' x 12' wood deck, followed by the son and then my neighbor.
Two steps out onto the deck and the ledger board broke away from the home. He said that time slowed down and it took what seemed like 5 minutes until he hit the ground. The other two fell on top of him. The deck was about to topple back on top of them, but stopped. My neighbor crushed 2 of his vertibrae, lost 1 1/2" in his stature, and still suffers the pains of the accident to this day. His experienced mirrored those that I have already shared with you in the info above.
The difference in this story is that the deck was secured to the home with Grab-it type 2" long drywall screws. Some of the screws pulled out, while others sheared off. The screws only penetrated the home's sheathing a 1/2". Screws obviously are no better than nails, yet many builders are using them.
In thinking about my neighbor's accident, I'm trying to figure the weight load that caused the deck to fail. 3 men 200 pounds each plus the weight of the lumber. That really isn't very much when I consider the numerous BBQ's that I have attended with a dozen or more people on a deck. I'm not a structural engineer, but I have sheared off my share of drywall screws with vice grips because they were too long. They don't bend, they shear off.
My neighbor's experience clearly confirmed the "No Warning" condition of the Grab-it screw fastener's failure. The builder of the home is one of the largest in Northern Utah. I would have thought that the builder would have: 1) Done their own recall and returned to all of their previous wood decks to install lag bolts, and 2) Started installing lag bolts on their new construction. This construction failure was unethical at best, no major lawsuit was ever filed, so the builder never changed his ways. I have inspected a couple dozen of their home's and to this day they still use grabbers or nails.
Consider the experiences presented in today's Monday Morning Marketer carefully as you evaluate your next home with a wood deck.
