Is my deck safe?

The question most parents are worried about when allowing their child out into the world for the first time is will they be safe? Same goes when buying a car – most of us think about the safety ratings of the vehicle. What about your deck? It may have been inspected when you bought your home but have you thought about the safety of it since?

So why would my deck have been safe when I purchased my home but may not be safe now? There are a couple of reasons that come immediately to mind. First – especially if you have a wood deck and have not done proper yearly maintenance then rot or decay may have made your deck unsafe since you moved in. The second biggest reason is over the years the way we now build decks is dramatically different from how they were built even 5 years ago. As decks fail (meaning they collapse or people fall off them) changes are made to the way they need to be built to make them safer. Meaning your deck will not collapse if you have 15 of your best friends out dancing on it or your uncle Bob has a wee bit too much to drink and stumbles heavily into the deck railing he won’t fall off the deck.

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