Deck Codes

Raised fire pits can be a great addition to a wood deck or composite lumber deck. Not only are fire pits an attractive centerpiece for your outdoor living area, they're a practical way to stay warm during chilly Spring and Fall evenings. Fire pits offer warmth, light, and ambiance while providing an inviting atmosphere.

Prior to installing a fire pit, research and understand your local codes. If deck fire pits are not permitted, a fine could be levied.

With any type of raised or built-in fire pit, you should exercise caution during and after installation. Fire pits should not be used directly over unprotected wood decking or a wood plastic composite deck surface due to the potential fire hazard. I recommend placing a fire pit on a non-flammable deck surface material that extends at least 24" from the edges of the fire pit. A safe choice would be Latitudes deck stones, which will help protect the surface from excessive heat.

Regardless of the protective material on which the raised fire pit is placed, be certain to exercise caution whenever a fire is burning.

• Never leave a burning fire unattended
• Always have a fire extinguisher or active garden hose handy
• Keep the deck area clear of flammable material
• If a hot ember lands on the wood or synthetic wood deck surface, make sure to remove it by dousing with water as it may blemish the deck surface or even worse, start the deck on fire

Keeping a spray bottle within arms reach is always a good idea.

Your deck is the perfect place to enjoy the warm weather with family and friends. And an unsafe deck could possibly collapse, causing serious injuries to you and your guests.

The number of deck failures and resulting injuries has been increasing at an alarming rate. Between 2000 and 2008, there were at least 30 deaths reported as a direct result of deck collapses, and more than 75 percent of people on a deck when it collapses are injured or killed. With 40 million decks in the United States that are more than 20 years old, it's important for homeowners to check their deck.

"The deck is the most dangerous part of the house," warns Dr. Don Bender, a deck safety researcher and director of the Wood Materials and Engineering Laboratory at Washington State University. "However through proper design, construction and maintenance, most deck failures are completely avoidable."

To evaluate the safety of their decks, deck owners should look for five warning signs that a deck is unsafe:

• loose connections like wobbly deck railing and railing balusters
• missing connections — the wood ledger board is not properly fastened to the house
• treated lumber is corroded
• rotted deck boards or deck railing
• cracks in either the deck boards or the supporting structure

The two critical areas in a deck collapse are typically the deck's connection to the house and the railings.

The North American Deck and Railing Association is dedicated to increasing public awareness of the necessity for regular inspection and maintenance of existing lumber decks and synthetic decks among others and proper installation of new decks.

A key element of enjoying your deck for years to come is making sure it is safe and code compliant. NADRA's "10-Point Consumer Safety Checklist" is an efficient way to take a good look at the different parts of your deck, with an eye to what might need maintenance, repair or replacement. Safety first, fun second -- make sure your deck is safe to enjoy.

You might also consider a professional inspection. "A professional inspection will examine every inch of your deck, provide information on your deck's capacity limits, identify any dangerous problem areas and give you a map of what to keep your eye on in the future. If your deck is older, this might include a regular deck inspection schedule," says Mike Beaudry, executive vice president for NADRA.

Older decks require closer scrutiny. Many of these decks were built before code requirements were in place to protect consumers. Some of these decks may have deck-to-house attachments using only nails. If your deck is older, it is even more important to have it inspected by either a home inspector (NADRA recommends ASHI-certified home inspectors) or a knowledgeable deck builder (see the listing at nadra.org). NADRA member deck builders are required to adhere to a code of ethics and comply with state licensing and insurance requirements.

If you find your deck is not safe to enjoy, NADRA advises taking immediate action to have it repaired or rebuilt as necessary.

For a comprehensive deck safety checklist visit NADRA (North American Deck and Railing Association) Web site.

Source: NADRA

Exposed decks take a beating from Mother Nature, and general wear and tear from moving outdoor furniture around, kids playing and occasionally the family pet. Whether your deck has constant sun beating down on its surface or you live in an area that typically gets a lot of rain or has harsh winters, your wood deck boards may wear faster than expected and become unsightly or even dangerous to walk on. Provided your deck structure (framework underneath decking boards) is solid and up to code, consider refacing / replanking the surface (deck boards)—It's more cost-effective and most DIYers can handle this type of project.

If the original deck builder installed the wood substructure correctly, like adding properly installed flashing to protect the frame and the ledger board (part of the frame that attaches to the house), you may be able to save your structure and simply reface the top with new pressure treated wood or composite deck boards—Regardless, make sure you check and replace damaged or rotting structural boards if needed. If you do find some structural issues, consider consulting with your local building inspector or hire a licensed builder.

If you can move your deck by simply pushing it from side to side, you may be facing some structural issues. Make sure your deck substructure is sound before adding new planks. By starting with a sound substructure, your project should be easier and more affordable than building a new deck from the ground up. Keeping your deck safe

You have multiple options when it comes to refacing your deck. You could install new pressure-treated decking, switch to synthetic decking or even tropical hardwood decking. I’ll cover some of these options in a series of posts starting with composite decking.

We are seeing some real innovation with wood treatments these days; whether it’s wood for decking, siding, or part of the structural frame. At the root of this topic is the fact that, when left untreated or when unprotected, wood can rot. Even premium species like cedar and redwood—which are naturally decay- and rot-resistant—require treatment to extend their useful lives.

Today’s wood treatments range widely from chemical treatments to heat treatments (a.k.a. “thermally modified wood”). And if you are looking for the green angle here, the simple fact that wood treatments can dramatically extend the life of the wood is a very “green” attribute indeed—in a life cycle analysis, it lowers the environmental costs of re-harvesting (and re-treating, and re-shipping and re-installing) replacement wood products. However, each wood treatment method has its merits, and each one has features that can make it more or less green. Let’s take a closer look by first reviewing a brief history of wood treatment.

Chromated Copper Arsenate (CCA)
For a long time, Chromated Copper Arsenate, or “CCA” was the formula for treating lumber. For decades, it was common to see “green” CCA decks – the green was the color of the oxidized copper. And CCA-treated wood was also commonly used in most ground-contact situations. In the ‘90’s new alternatives to CCA were introduced. None took meaningful market share from CCA because none could match its performance and value. As the millennium approached, there was increased scrutiny regarding the perceived safety of CCA as reported by various “consumer advocate” reporters and environmental organizations. In 2003, treaters voluntarily stopped using CCA for residential applications and newer, more expensive formulations replaced CCA. One bright spot that emerged from the demise of CCA was that the pace of innovation in preservative development quickened.

Alkaline Copper (ACQ) & Copper Azole (CA-B)
The replacement wood preservative treatments were ACQ and CA-B. Let’s first look at ACQ.  ACQ is a treatment consisting of alkaline copper, a fungicide, and quaternary ammonia (sometimes called quat), which serves as an insecticide. On the other hand, CA-B is a treatment containing mostly copper and azole; the azole is a fungicide that appears in various chemical forms. If you step back and take notice, there are two consistent elements in these approaches to wood treatment. One, they all are aimed at stopping rot, decay, fungus, and insects from getting to the wood.  And two, they all overwhelmingly contain copper, a natural, harmless wood preservative. As wood treatments have evolved, some wood treaters (and the chemical companies that license their formulas to these wood treaters) have stayed with copper. But they have eliminated other chemicals in their wood preservative formulations.

Micronized Copper (MCQ)
Among the most positive result was the recent introduction of a new micronized copper wood preservative. Developed by Osmose, Inc., and marketed as ProWood Micro (MCQ Treated Wood), the new process bonds microscopic copper particles to the wood cells. Because of this there is no need for a solvent (which is still used in most other non-micronized formulations) . These attributes have earned the ProWood Micro formulation Environmentally Preferrable Product (EPP) status from Scientific Certification Systems, a leading third party certification firm. This is the first and only such preservative to earn this recognition. To earn EPP certification, a product must demonstrate reduced impact on human health and the environment when compared to other products that serve the same purpose as measured by guidelines published by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Non-metallic
There is another relatively new product out today that is offered by Arch Wood Protection. The treatment is Wolmanized L³ Outdoor wood. It contains no copper as part of the preservative and uses a proprietary non-metallic preservative.

Boric Acid
Yet another class of wood treatment is focused on boric acid, as well as its oxides and salts which are called borates. Boric acid is a very-effective wood preservative. Conveniently, it is toxic to insects, but it has low toxicity with humans. That said, the problem with boric acid has always been that it is water-soluble. That means it can be floated into wood with water-based pressure treatments or applied with surface applications. But the boric acid will eventually leach out of the wood. That leaching process is dramatically accelerated if the wood is exposed to the elements. All of this means that wood treated with borates isn’t generally good for ground contact, and in any application, it has to be re-treated repeatedly with borate applications to ensure that the wood is preserved. Now, because borates have gotten another look from consumers, due to the perceived toxicity of alternative wood treatments, borates have seen some innovative uses. One company floats borate deep into wood fiber by mixing it with glycol, a kind of alcohol. The glycol flashes off, leaving the borate behind, and until the borate leaches out, it is a good termiticide, insecticide, and wood preservative. But here too, the wood has to be re-treated regularly.

Thermally-Modified Wood (TMW)
Another kind of wood treatment that you see gaining wider acceptance is heat treatment. Wood that is treated with heat is generally referred to as thermally-modified wood or TMW. This treatment process contains no chemicals or additives at all.  Like its name says, the thermally-modified process uses high heat and steam to change the very nature of the wood. In fact, the thermal process removes the aspects of the wood that serve as food. With no insects, fungus, or mold attacking the wood, the thermally-modified process can prevent for rot and decay. Specifically, the process removes or de-natures the sugars in the wood, leaving behind aspects of the wood that cannot be digested by insects or eaten by fungus and mold. After the wood is thermally treated, it can be stained, sealed, joined, and glued like regular wood.

No matter what type of treated wood you seek, you should be aware of its code acceptance. Some treatments are not code compliant, even though they have been around for a number of years. To get code approval, preservative companies can either work with the American Wood Protection Association (AWPA) to have their treated wood listed in the AWPA Standards. Or the preservative company will work with the International Code Council (ICC) Evaluation Service to earn an Evaluation Service Report (ESR). Without the support of either an AWPA listing or an ESR, there is no guarantee that a local code will allow a product on the job where treated wood is required. So, check the fact sheet from the wood provider or the wood treater to see if the wood is approved for use.

This alternative to pressure treated wood is surprisingly sustainable. The decking market offers dealers and contractors a clear opportunity that is growing in a number of ways. First is market size: The Cleveland-based Freedonia Group says that decking is expected to grow by about 20 percent annually to become a 3.6-billion-lineal-foot industry by 2011. Secondly, the decking market is growing in sophistication. Decking contractors are no longer banging galvy 10d nails in CCA #2 southern yellow pine, as we did in the 1980s. Today decks are part of so-called outdoor living space, and that has even developed into a designer specialty.

For dealers and contractors alike, decks and deck building material offer good-margin, low-maintenance products to customers, who are increasingly willing to pay premiums for products that they will proudly display in high-profile areas of their homes. Today, although decking is still a product that most general-contractors offer, you are seeing an increased number of specialty deck-only operations, and there is a great opportunity for dealers to cater to them.

Decking in the broadest sense of the word now includes four category of products: All-plastic decking, Wood, Composites, and—increasingly uncommon—Aluminum.

The all-plastic decking products are different from “composite decking,” which contains plastic and fiber (more on that below), and plastic decking breaks down into sub-categories by differentiating themselves from one another by the source and type of plastic, and sometimes by the plastic’s recyclability. The most popular choices of deck plastics break out into five categories:

1. Common HDPE  (#2, milk jugs);
2. Recycled high-density polyethylene plastic (ReHDPE);
3. Polypropylene (think Tupperware);
4. Solid polyvinyl chloride a.k.a. PVC;
5. Cellular PVC (polyvinyl chloride with a foaming agent).

 (It important to know the difference between the types of plastic, because they are also used in composite decking material.)

With so many kinds of plastic, manufactures of all-plastic decks will point out differences in the plastics they use, especially where the plastics come from. Marketers of decking will take great pride in features like “virgin plastic,” or a high percentage of “post consumer resins” (PCR), and even “100% recyclable.” Also, since plastic decking can be manufactured through extrusion (that is, product that is pushed through a mould), even the speed of extrusion can be a selling factor, because a product that is extruded too quickly is considered poorer quality.

Whether you are dealing with all-plastic decking or composites, HDPE is the most commonly used product. It performs very well in most situations, and expands only along its length, like vinyl siding. Plus, it does not swell, as many lumber products will. Manufactures argue that it retains color well. Plus, the all-plastic product is entirely recyclable.

Another product, all-plastic PVC decking generally has resistance to scratching, staining, and fading that is superior to composite decking. But PVC decking has been getting slammed for the toxicity of the manufacturing process, which can release mercury and dioxin. That said, there is a green case to be made for PVC’s performance and durability, and it goes like this: If you use PVC (in all-plastic or composite products), you are less likely to harvest, manufacture, and ship replacement products, which therefore makes PVC a viable alternative to wood. What’s greener: a 30-year plastic or PVC deck…or a wood deck that has to harvested, shipped, installed and shoveled into the landfill three times in those three decades?

Now, on to composite decking. It’s called composite or synthetic decking because it has more than one component, and this class of decking has some characteristics of wood and some of plastic. Most composite wood decking is created when wood is added to plastic resin (usually polyethylene). Since the properties of composite decking vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, marketers will differentiate their products using various metrics or features, most notably:

• The source of their plastics (“post-consumer” is considered greener),
• The percent of recycled plastic (for those who want to use recycled products),
• The percent of virgin plastic (for those who don’t want to use recycled plastics because of perceived quality issues),
• The source of the non-plastic components used (recovered wood is the greenest alternative),
• The quality of the post-consumer resin used in the plastic (you don’t want chopped-up milk and vitamin labels in the deck boards),
• The color-fast properties of the decking (fading is so common among some it’s sometimes called a “mellowing process”),
• The surface feel and slip-resistance,
• The structural performance of the product (look for 16 o-c span-ability),
• The UV-protection the decking (anything to frustrate the sun’s punishing rays), and
• The deck board’s weight per board food (for transportation, easy handling during installation, and span loading).

 For a good composite example, let’s look at a popular product and see how it presents itself in these categories. Latitudes composite wood decking is made with both recycled and virgin polyethylene, and 100% of the wood additive is reclaimed product. Indeed, Latitudes is made from approximately 70% recycled materials. It’s “barefoot friendly,” slip-resistant, and reversible with a brushed finish on one side, and a wood grain look on the other, so you can choose look-and-feel. Latitudes comes in six colors—gray, cedar, redwood and walnut, and the specialty colors of Koa and Adobe in the tropical wood-look Latitudes Capricorn composite decking.

No matter what composite deck boards you're looking for, be sure they can span 16-o.c. joists, and that they comply with the all the crucial codes and standards. Look for a warranty of at least 10 years, and it should cover splintering, corrosion, as well as rot, warp, cupping, checks, or damage caused by termites or fungal decay. And finally, urge your customers to purchase premium products, for their own sake. If they always use low cost as the ultimate metric of value, they risk their reputations, as well as the prospect for annoying callbacks that are hard to solve without painful and costly tear-outs.

Whether your installing a composite railing, treated wood railing or a metal deck railing, it's important to keep your deck, porch and balcony safe by installing a structural deck railing when required. Properly installed, a structural railing reduces the risk of injury and gives you peace of mind. Whether you’re installing a deck railing system or a licensed builder is constructing/installing one for you, make sure you know when and why a structural railing is needed.

Structural Deck Railing Requirements
Structural railings used in residential applications must meet specific requirements as outlined in the International Residential Code (IRC). Decks attached to single family detached homes are regulated under the rules of the IRC.

The IRC requires a minimum 36-inch-high railing, from the bottom surface to the top of the rail, for all decks, balconies, or screened enclosures more than 30" off the ground. For child safety, the balusters (vertical infills) or other decorative infill must be spaced less than 4" apart
(a 4-inch-diameter ball should not pass between the balusters).

1. Railing must be at least 36" in height.
2. Bottom of the rail possess a gap less than 4".
3. A stair railing allows up to a 6" diameter gap through the triangle opening formed by the stair riser, stair tread, and bottom rail.
4. All deck railing must be able to withstand a 200 lb force anywhere and in any direction along the top of the rail.
5. Deck railing balusters are required to resist 50 lbs in a 1' square foot area
6. Rail posts should be spaced no greater than 6' apart.

If you're planning on selling your home, the deck, porch or balcony will need a structural railing installed where required to pass a home inspection.

Most municipalities will require a building permit for the construction of any deck, especially if it's to be attached to the house or it's more than 30 inches above ground. Check your local building codes prior to installing a structural deck railing system.

Maintaining the proper baluster spacing on your deck railing system is important for both aesthetics and safety. Most building codes require a maximum space less than 4" between baluster edges. To be safe, I recommend spacing  wood, composite, glass and metal balusters 3.75" apart (edge-to-edge).

For aesthetics, keep the on-center baluster spacing approximately the same around the perimeter of the deck.

When marking for baluster placement, start in the middle of the railing section and allow small space fluctuations to fall near the pressure treated wood or composite lumber posts. Note: drill pilot holes before driving screws into rails to help eliminate splitting.

Check out this tool for a quick and simple way to determine how many balusters your deck railing will need.

Also important to note, there needs to be a gap less than 4" between the lowest point of the bottom rail and the composite lumber or treated wood deck surface, although I would recommend a smaller 3" gap, as it looks better.

Check local building codes in your area for specific details.