Small jobs can lead to bigger work. I have always paid attention to the smaller work and it has paid dividends on many occasions. Last week I received a phone call from a client looking to have me repair some rotting boards on their house. The customer was having their home repainted and needed some repair to trim done before the painter could start. Turns out after getting on the job they had hired an architect to redesign the rear portion of the home, including an expansion of the kitchen.
I am getting a little off the topic I wanted to discuss however. In the back of the house was a deck that was constructed less than ten years ago. The deck was never flashed at all. The ledger board was nailed directly to the skirt board on the back of the house. All the boards below the grade of the deck were mush. The area below the ledger has been in a constant state of wetness for probably the entire life of the deck. The water is wicking up the kick boards of the deck and behind the cedar clapboard. The damage is extensive. The sills need replacement and the box that the deck is fastened to it totally gone. I have never seen damage so extensive. It astounds me that the builder ( I know the deck was built by a builder and not a previous homeowner) could care so little about the ramification of his negligence. Twenty dollars worth of flashing and half on hour on a brake would have saved several thousand dollars worth of repair work.
A word of caution to all hiring a builder. First is you get what you pay for. If a builder has a much lower price than everyone else my advice is to avoid that contractor like the plague. Secondly always try to get a good referral from a trusted friend or acquaintance before seriously considering hiring someone to work on your home.
Edited 6/12/2004 6:30 am ET by ww_aficionado
Replies
Something pops up every year or so to gain attention of us all in thgis industry. Failing decks seems to be a perenial favorite though, doesn't it. I think there is a lot of attitude that, "It's only a deck" or that "carpenters" who can't make it on real jobs get hired to build decks - no negatives on all the fine professionals who do real deck work nothwithstanding, but the hacks seem to gravitate to decks and garages for some reason.
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Piffin... Around here too... a lot of out of work yahoo's and most of the area alcholics build decks! No permits. No plans. ...and damn cheap. Unfortunately, many if not most homeowners think decks are simple... and don't want to pay what a pro has to charge what with his overhead, insurance and all.
The big box stores also promote this... they are always advertising DYI deck kits. I see this stuff all the time too. It wasn't all that long ago we had a 2nd story deck collapse with about 30 people on it. Turns out the ledger was just nailed to the siding mostly... they did hit a few studs! It just came off the wall. It was a previous HO built deck. --- BRICK
"They say that there is a fine line between genius and insanity. I like to color outside the lines...and then eat the crayons." ~ Me
I can't tell you how many times I've seen that one. If you take the job expect to replace the rim joist on the house and probably the sill. There is always a big nest of carpenetr ants in there in my region. Hope you don't have termites.