Watch a deck inspection by an InterNACHI® Certified Professional Inspector CPI®.
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@bgromicko1
What measuring app are you using?
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You have it on your iPhone in the utilities group if you use an iPhone
There are probably similar utilities on Android, as long as your Android phone has a Lidar sensor. Most do not.
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Great video, Ben. Intenachi Education is the best. This is great information.
Maybe I’m too picky, but there are a few things I routinely point out on decks, just to make sure my clients are aware.
- the stairs are toe-nailed to the beams. No stringer hangers or ledger boards were used to support the connection to the deck, so I call this out.
- ledger strips were used to support the joists, but this has been disallowed since 2018 IRC (2018 IRC R507.6.1). Even if it was allowed in the past I bring it up as an FYI so my clients know to keep an eye out for split wood or loosening of the ledger strip.
- Those stairs have no nosing. “The nosing on treads, believe it or not, has a code minimum and maximum of how far the nosing projects over the next stair. Nosings are required to overhang a minimum of ¾-in. to a maximum of 1-¼-in. Also the maximum nosing radius cannot exceed 9/16 of an inch.” Code Check: Stair Codes for Rise, Run, and Nosing | Family Handyman
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Agreed, but this is a two story non-prescriptive deck (at least here in GA). Though prescriptive deck practices should be considered, this deck would have been designed specifically for this home and approved by the AHJ. I only mention this because I think there is an important distinction.
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Thanks, @bhull1 I like “picky”. I think there’s a difference between standards for steps and standards for deck steps. It’s similar to the standards for a floor joist connection to a beam, and a deck floor joist connection to a beam. Nosing may be the same as the ledger strips. Ledger strips are not mentioned in the 2021 code for deck joists. And nosings under R311 is for egress, not exterior stairways. Right? Or maybe I’m missing something. If I am, please send the link or reference to the code. I love this stuff. Keep going. It only makes our courses better.
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“Measure” app on my iPhone, @ndegaris.
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That’s a good point I had not considered, Ben. I didn’t consider that stair geometry rules might be different for indoor vs outdoor so I’ll look for if there is a different code for outside. And if so I’ll send a email to decksgo.com since they are using the same rules that are used indoors. Some other inspectors on this forum might already know the answer if there is a different code for outdoor steps.
As a general comment, you could spend hours doing nothing but explaining what was allowed vs not anymore on lots of things in older houses. IMO, we inspect (or should inspect) homes in the context of the time period during which they were built. If it was conforming when done and is currently performing, then it is serviceable. Most of the time an explanation about what was and now what is, simply serves no useful purpose.
There are some changes in laws for some specific things that are exceptions to that generality, (such as, CO detector laws and combustion air enforcements for older houses) and of course, we report defects with those.
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That is darn good deck inspection. I like the app but I find it’s often quicker to take a photo with a tape measure.
Regarding the plastic under the deck. Likely, they were trying to prevent water from going into that crawlspace area and came up with a poor solution that has led to bigger trouble. In the report, we describe what we see and recommend evaluation and correction by a contractor experienced in deck construction.
In practice, we usually have our client asking, “What needs to be done?” We, as home inspectors, need to be careful in prescribing “fixes” and generally don’t ever spell out a fix. For things like this, we should stick with generalities and verbally might tell our client that “It looks like to me, if they wanted to keep water out of the crawlspace area, they should have done something that would drain the water away and never trap it. We need an experienced contractor to figure out the best way of doing that and replace the water damaged and rotted framing while they are at it.”
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