I’m going to be inspecting this house this week and was wondering about this deck. I don’t like the look of it.There doesn’t seem to be enough support for this deck. Shouldn’t there be some lateral support to keep the deck from swaying? Sorry this is the only pic I have, got it from the listing. Any help would be appreciated.
Sorry forgot the pic.
Don’t walk on it! Unsafe in my view. Here’s some guidance.
http://www.aohomeinspection.com/pdf/IRC2006DeckGuideDCA6.pdf
I agree with Joe. I would have a SE look at it.
Thanks for your help. Joe, that is some good info you provided to me. One question of clarification, it states not to secure deck to veneer siding, are they speaking of all siding, vinyl, wood and in my case cedar shakes? Or are they speaking of brick only?
Except for brick, which they often drill right through, the exterior siding material should not be present at the area of attachment and flashing should be all that is between the ledger and the building.
If you can’t see the bolts on the inside of the structure, I’d advise you to disclaim it as uninspectable.
If you are referring to brick veneer, Joe, than you are incorrect…
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Holly cow! That’s scary.
Gezz guys Live on the wild side and add a hot Tub!
You fellows always safety safety safety lol
Post better pics after your inspection. It looks like the support beams could be cantilevered into the main structure but its hard to tell from here.
That’s a possibility. I’ll let you know.
Mark,
I had that thought also, but decided against it. Close as I can figure, the deck is around 8ft x 8ft. If it is a cantilever design, than the support beams/joists would need to penetrate the structure approx 18 ft. Somehow I doubt that is happening. Possible, but doubt it.
Jeff
Finally did the inspection. Here are more photos of the deck. It didn’t look any better closeup. Railings were loose and posts were toe nailed in. Very few lag bolts were used on the ledger board. I’ll recommended a SE look at it. Let me know what you think.
The last photo looks like the joists goes into the concrete. Could this deck be cantilevered? Also here is a look of the railing post.
Could this deck be cantilevered? The last photo looks like the joist goes into the concrete. Also, here is a photo of the railing post.
It doesn’t look like it by the picture above (last one in post #13) but, ahh…, you were there weren’t you? 
Now that I think about it that was a parge coating on the foundation. Could be the joist only sticks in around this.
Regardless, the other joists are not cantilevered so the design is pure kaka, the supports are working against the hangers and lag screws, pushing the deck out and away from the wall. Call for repair, and I would go a bit farther, “Install vertical support posts for safety…”