Homeowner had built this deck about 10 yrs. ago. Deck had no band joist, self supporting anchored to 2x10 floor joist. Support posts didn’t go to ground, as you can see in pictures the post were attached with bolts through to a double 2x10 that was cantilevered back 18". I usually see the deck support posts at the edge that go to the ground, not attached this way. I was concerned about weight distribution and the extra added weight from the roof, but its been standing for 10 yrs. Any thoughts
Taking a few more courses from Internachi can help clarify your understanding of basic deck construction, as well as bonding and grounding of elelctrical.
Was the porch a truss or a regular wood frame construction???
Thank you for your insight and good constructive criticism and the deck was of stick framing or should I say wood frame construction.
As long as the joists were installed with joist hangers at each end I would not have an issue with the construction. If it has been there for ten years do you feel it is going to fall down any time soon?
The joists do not appear to be overspanned
All pressure treated
Posts and rails look decent
From your pictures the support posts are sitting on poured pads
A little unconventional but seems to be working.
I think Sean was referring to the porch roof.
Agree. If the porch ‘cover’ is truss design, the deck design ‘may’ be okay. If stick built, the load path looks improper.
Not enough info given. Need more detailed photos and of other components and areas of the structure.
“Can’t see chit on a MB, so nobody knows except the inspector on-site”.
Photos, photos, photos!
If it’s truss, it should be fine. Even if the porch roof is stick-framed, the porch rafters/ceiling joists will be tied into the main roof framing. The question is; how well?
Poor rafters/ceiling joist connections will allow the porch roof framing to sag with time (maybe not visibly) and increase the load on the deck structure.
Many, many older decks have joists that are nailed and lack metal connectors. They come apart sooner than joists connected with metal connectors due to temperature and moisture cycling, but that doesn’t mean they are defective, it just means they’ll have a shorter lifespan.
While it’s sort of hard to tell from these photos, it looks OK to me.
How long it has been standing should have no bearing on what you are describing for your clients. The deck may have been there for 10 years and only used by their single child or only used for storage. Your clients may be party animals and have bbq’s each week with dozens of people moving all around the deck. Write hard and protect your clients.
If you want me to get technical…
Just looking at the photos, there would not even be enough room along the front porch edge to adequately have room for a girder support, therefore I would say trusses. Of course a quick glance in the attic would verify.
Trusses would not require substantial bracing, but could require some type of support in this instance. Only reviewing home plans would provide insight. Again, not enough room so prolly OK. The support for the trusses in this instance are the exterior framed wall several feet in from the truss ends.
Lastly if the porch were a load supporting structure, ample beams or girders would also need to distribute load from the porch down, along the front of the deck. What is there doesn’t begin to provide any adequate support.
To answer the question, no its probably OK, but how was the deck itself built??
East TN is full of unskilled tradesman that were never forced to change their ways or improve on their own basic knowledge. Many just plain sucked, (many still do suck also) and didn’t bother to open a book to check framing spans before they started cutting.
To separate yourself as a good inspector you need to be able to evaluate these issues and properly document them in regards to their problems. The understanding of basic framing and load distribution are essential. We see so many types of construction, it’s not possible to understand it all. You sometimes have to make a judgement call, especially with very old homes. They will never meet modern building standards.
Lastly, if its bowing, it’s probably not done right.
Good points, and also recommend that you don’t become one of those “it has stood the test of time” fanatics. All that means is “it hasn’t failed YET”! It may well fail catastrophically tomorrow. That’s Murphy’s decision. Do you really want *that *phone call? I didn’t think so.
Note: even a badly constructed deck will have a lifespan before failure. What is that lifespan? One year? Ten years?
Looks ok. 24" is allowed to cantilever but then again point loads should be engineered, at least using the lumber yards free load calc tables.
I do plan review about 40 hours a month and would not have approved that deck unless I could see the framing layout. Pictures help but don’t work well enough to make a call. I say looks ok, but then again…
I would bet that there is no construction permit issued and therefore no engineered drawings showing that some of the roof load is carried by the deck.
Found out today a permit was pulled and approved by the city inspector. Were good to go. Thanks
Experience says that that often means nothing at all as far as YOUR liability from performing the home inspection on a home that was signed off on by the local “AHJ”…:shock:
