DECK SAFETY-Is Your Ledger Board securely bolted?
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, BBQ, people–this is not the job for nails, or even screws, which do not have the shear strength for this job. Make sure those bolts run into solid structure—not just into the exterior sheathing.

Rotting ledger boards are one of the main reasons for deck failures. If there is any visible rot on the ledger board you can be sure that it’s been compromised at a higher level than what you might think.

When inspecting your ledger board, make sure you:

✔️Check for visible rot on the ledger board.

✔️Check for dry rot by taking a screwdriver and tapping it with a hammer around the area where the joists attach to the ledger board. You can tell if there is rot if the screwdriver sinks into the wood.

✔️Make sure there are enough fasteners holding the ledger board in place

✔️Check to ensure your ledger board is bolted to the house (instead of being secured by nails). Nails can easily come out and don’t have the same strength as specialty fasteners.

This bothers me. A LOT.