Home Inspection St. Cloud | Home Inspection 320-433-9489
Deck builders recommend an annual inspection or safety check for any deck more than 10 years old. Given the age of your deck and your past maintenance habits, you should get your deck inspected as soon as possible. Consequently, many decks weren’t built strong enough to handle use over time. Thousands of people are hurt on decks every year. The higher the deck, the more potential for serious injury. The International Association of Certified Home Inspectors estimates that only 40 percent of existing decks are completely safe.
When hiring our inspector to come out and inspect your deck we will look for the following issues:
- Split or rotting wood- The inspector will take a good look over the top and supports of the structure. They will look at the ledger board, this is connected to the house and can be the most common point of failure. The inspector will look for soft spots by using a sharp object and pushing it into the floorboard. If the sharp object is easily penetrating the wood, this would indicated decaying wood and lastly they will check all joists (to which the deck boards are attached), support posts, railings, and stairs for weakness.
- Loose flashing- Metal or plastic, flashing is often installed where the deck and house meet. The inspector will be sure that it’s intact, these may be need to be replaced if there is water pooling.
- Loose or corroded fasteners- The inspector will look for rusted or corroded fasteners, nails, screws and anchors. If they find indications of corrosion they will recommend that you replace them right away.
- General cleanup- The inspector will look for indications of mildew. Mildew is the enemy and can quicken the process of loosening fasteners and overall wood deterioration. If mildew is present, they will recommend you to clean it and refinish the deck.
Note that town or other municipal codes might be more stringent—or even more lax—than the above recommendations. NADRA recommends an annual inspection by a home inspector annually or before purchasing or selling a home.
Home Inspection St. Cloud | Home Inspection 320-433-9489