Building your own deck? To prevent disaster, make sure you're doing it right
Summer is coming and it's the season of outdoor projects. In my world, that usually means screwed-up outdoor projects -- typically, decks.
If you watch any television, you're seeing the never-ending commercials inspiring you to Do it Yourself, create that outdoor family room and build the deck of your dreams. Let's hope it isn't a nightmare.
The deck is the most common DIY project. Everyone wants a serene retreat in the backyard and the deck is a part of that vision. But it's the most easily messed-up part of your landscaping. And it's also the one that can do damage to your home.
There are many things that can -- and do -- go wrong with decks. The footings, the lack of permits, the height, the type of wood used, the clearance from property lines. And that's just off the top of my head. But to my mind, the real challenge with a deck comes when it's attached to your home.
I don't just mean whether it's securely attached to your house, although that's a big question. I mean whether it's attached in a way that won't cause water infiltration and damage. This kind of water infiltration can lead to having to replace doors, windows, finished flooring, sub-flooring, sheathing, structure -- everything -- in the area where water has crept in.
When we talk about a deck being attached, we don't mean it's literally attached directly to your home's exterior wall. The deck needs to be connected to, and built off of, a ledger board, which is attached to the wall.
That ledger board, which runs the entire length of the deck, needs to be securely bolted to the house, and I mean bolted. Never nailed. A deck will have to support a lot of weight -- furniture, barbecue, people -- so this is not the job for nails, or even screws, which do not have the sheer strength for this job. Make sure those bolts run into solid structure, and not just into the exterior sheathing.
Then the deck joists are hung (ideally, with joist hangers) from the ledger board. And, of course, the deck is structured and built with proper footings and support. And it needs to be built with pressure-treated wood. You can clad it with whatever wood you prefer, such as cedar or composite. But the meat of the structure has to be as strong and rot-resistant as you can make it.
The area where most decks have problems is where the ledger board is attached to the house wall. Even if your contractor gets it right, generally speaking, there can still be a lot of damage caused when water can get in behind the ledger board and enter your home. You need to make sure each and every bolt is caulked and sealed. And that ledger board has to be properly flashed to prevent water penetration. Make sure your contractor uses vinyl spacer pins, which will allow the water to drain freely between the ledger and house.
Water will always flow downhill. And in the case of your home, downhill means into your basement. Many times, I've found the cause of a wet basement isn't a foundation problem; it's from water finding its way inside from the deck.
But it's also important to allow some breathing room between the house's exterior sheathing and the ledger board itself. Every time it rains, water will inevitably get in there. Every time snow piles up on you deck, moisture will gather there. Over time, that area of your deck will rot out.
And that can lead to disaster, if it gives way when there's weight on your deck. And let's face it: That weight is usually the weight of people, your family and friends, gathering together to enjoy themselves on your deck. You don't want that to happen to them. I don't know how many stories I've heard of deck disasters caused by rotted-out ledger boards or nails shearing off and allowing the deck to fall away from the house.
For my money, I'd consider building an attached deck right next to your house, on proper footings, but which is free-standing and not actually connected to your home. That way, you'll avoid any problems of water infiltration in your home.
Make sure your contractor has lots of experience building decks. That's the way you'll benefit most. He'll have seen the kind of damage that occurs when people do it wrong the first time, because he's spent years fixing those problems.
A lot of contractors start out in the business building decks and fences; make sure the guy you hire knows what he's doing. Check references and get lots of quotes. And get a permit. If your deck is attached to your home, you will need one.
Catch Mike in his new series, Holmes Inspection, airing Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on HGTV. For more information, visit www.hgtv.ca. For more information on home renovations, visit makeitright.ca
