It’s starting to feel like summer in Utah and many of us in Park City and Heber City are spending more and more time on our decks and patios. If you’re shopping for a home getting a Full Home Inspection from HomeTech Pro
perty Inspections will include an detailed inspection of the deck’s condition at the home you’re considering purchasing. A housewarming party on the deck of your new house could go wrong very quickly if your unaware of the issues hiding in your deck’s structure. More decks collapse in the summer than during the rest of the year combined.
Did you know that 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.
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. Like any other house or building, a deck must be designed to support the weight of people, snow loads, and objects. A deck must be able to resist lateral and uplift loads that can act on the deck as a result of wind or seismic activity. Deck stairs must be safe and handrails graspable. And, finally, deck rails should be safe for children by having proper infill spacing.
A deck failure is any failure of a deck that could lead to injury, including rail failure, or total deck collapse. There is no international system that tracks deck failures, and each is treated as an isolated event, rather than a systemic problem.
Here’s an example of a sample Home Inspection Report from HomeTech that includes information specific to a deck inspection as part of a Home Inspection in Park City, Utah.
