Coon Rapids Deck Collapse – Why It Happened
July 13th, 2010 | 4 comments
If you watched the news this weekend, you probably heard about the deck collapse that happened in Coon Rapids on Friday. On WCCO news, they even had an expert speculate that the deck collapsed because it wasn’t properly secured to the house. When I hear news stories about a deck collapses, they usually say they’ll come back to the story once they learn what the problem was, but they never do…
so I decided to inspect this Coon Rapids deck myself. Here’s what I found:
Epic Fail
According to WCCO, there were only five people on this deck when it collapsed. The problem wasn’t that the deck was improperly attached to the house - this deck was completely missing a post.
I marked up two photos to show exactly what went wrong. Click on the photos to get a large version.
As you can see, one corner of the deck wasn’t help up by anything. The floor joist that was closest to house is what was actually holding up that entire corner of the deck. It’s a wonder this deck even supported it’s own weight.
While most advice about deck safety deals with proper bolts, nails, brackets, etc, it’s just as important to take a step back and look at the big picture. Proper nails and bolts aren’t a substitute for a proper load path back to the ground.
Reuben Saltzman, Structure Tech Home Inspections - Email - Minnesota Deck Inspections
American Home Inspector Directory
July 18, 2010, 9:09 pm
Great pictures Reuben,
I have been a home inspector for 11+ years and in construction for 25 + years. I have built and inspected everything you can think of. But I did not build that deck! Hope nobody was hurt.
Gary
May 29, 2012, 7:59 am
So how do we know that the house floor joist is not a doubled band/rim board? Requires a look inside, right? But even if it’s just a single joist at the house, it’s held up with a double plate stud wall beneath. So a properly attached, adjoining deck end-joist is unable to hold up the deck? Why? The lateral stress would pull that deck away from the house?
Reuben Saltzman
May 29, 2012, 7:19 pm
That end joist was just nailed to the house, and that joist isn’t designed to hold up that beam.
Gary
May 29, 2012, 8:03 pm
Just so. But IF that end joist of the deck was attached with PROPER fasteners, why would it fail? The parallel joist at the house does sit on a double plate that carries the weight to the ground thru the stud wall. Therefore, the assembly acts as a “post”, yes?