Preventing Early Deck Framing Failures 2

[FrankWoeste]

Ideas given for extending the service life of deck and balcony framing. Comments are welcome.
JLC/PDB 2024 Sept-Oct

 

[DTS419]

I just rebuilt my deck this year and can personally attest to the validity of that article. It was 11 years old and looked exactly like the pictures shown. The problem is that modern PT wood is a joke. I have seen untreated wood last longer in exterior applications than PT wood. I took every step I could think of to try to protect against moisture, including taping the tops of joists, covering the tops of posts, cutting at angles, etc. I silicone caulked every place where two pieces of wood were in contact to prevent moisture from being trapped between them. Time will tell how many years these measures will extend the service life. This project cost me over $10,000 USD and that was doing most of the work myself. To only get a decade out of that investment is painful.

One area that article didn't touch on much is connections. Anywhere screws penetrate the wood, that is a path for moisture. On the deck I replaced, there was premature rot at the hurricane ties that were used to connect joists to dropped beams. I attempted to caulk these connections when I rebuilt my deck, but that still seems like a concern. I think a lot more R&D needs to be done by outfits like Simpson Strong-Tie to develop more weatherproof connections.

Really, we should be going back to the PT chemicals of old. Making chemicals more environmentally friendly that are designed to resist rot & decay is an oxymoron.