DARTMOUTH – A homeowner who lives across the street from a deck that collapsed in Dartmouth says the same thing happened to her deck four years ago.
On Sunday, at least 15 people were injured after a wooden deck collapsed at a home on Green Village Lane. The incident is raising serious concerns about the integrity of the structures in the subdivision.
“It literally just fell down in the front and then everything leaned towards the house. My grandmother was holding my daughter, so she just screamed,” Angela Khan said about the 2009 incident.
Fortunately, her deck was not as high as the one involved in Sunday’s incident, which fell approximately 3.5 metres to the ground.
When Khan heard about the collapse, one thought came to her mind.
“I immediately thought that the deck was probably attached by nails like ours was,” she said.
Photos of her deck in 2009 show bent nails protruding from the wooden structure, much like the remnants of the deck in this weekend’s incident.
Calls to the company that built the homes were not returned.
Decks in the neighbourhood were inspected by the Halifax Regional Municipality about a decade ago when the homes were built. All the structures passed according to the codes at the time.
However, those in the construction industry say a safely installed deck requires more than the minimum standards.
“You nail the deck plate to the house and then you lag bolt the deck to the house through the … rim joist to hold the deck from falling off the house,” explained Scott Smith, president of Rooftight Construction Ltd.
“Your car could sit on top of it and nothing would happen. If it was just nailed, I’d be a bit worried about that.”
In addition to ensuring decks are properly installed, they should also be checked regularly for deficiencies or decay.
Both the municipality and the Nova Scotia Home Builders Association advise people to keep regular maintenance of their decks and suggest hiring professional contractors to do any upgrades.
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