A deck that has held up for years feels fastened to the house well enough. The American Wood Council’s DCA 6 deck guide, in its 2015 IRC version, sets a different test: where a ledger meets a house’s band joist, it permits only half-inch lag screws or bolts, and it requires corrosion-resistant flashing at any ledger on a wood-framed wall.
A second-story deck in Rensselaer County, New York, had neither, and held for years anyway. In No. 532055, decided June 10, 2021, the Appellate Division, Third Department, ruled that its owners could not get the injury claims against them dismissed before trial.
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In May 2016, during a party at the owners’ home, a portion of the second-story deck collapsed, and two guests on it were seriously injured. The owners had bought the house in 2006. The house’s original owner had built the deck…