When you build a deck, build it right. this is pretty dramatic photo of a deck collapse. Notably, it’s not the ledger board that fails on this deck, which is a common culprit, but appears to be the connection between the rim joist and ends of the floor joists that fails. What do you think caused the failure? Rotten joists? Maybe there were no metal deck hangers fastening the joist ends–instead, only toe-nails–which pulled out when all the people concentrated their weight along the edge of the deck. I’m curious as to what exactly happened here, but this footage is scary enough to make you think twice, or three times, about how you would support the walking surface.
–M. Weber
