I recently saw a news story where a man in Massachusetts died when his backyard deck collapsed, pinning him underneath the rubble.
This unsettling news story immediately brought to mind the dangers of improperly built decks. I'm not going to say that this deck collapse was a result of improper construction; only that it brought to mind similar tragedies where the decks were built using improper fasteners. Michael Leavitt's DeckFailure.com does a good job of tracking the unfortunate number of deck failures due to improper fasteners every year.
The "improper fastener" problem stems from the fact that today's pressure treated lumber incorporates a chemical compound that is highly corrosive, and when traditional (untreated) screws and nails are used in this ACQ lumber, the level of corrosion can be so high as to weaken the fasteners to the point of failure in as little as a couple of years.
Learn the proper kinds of fasteners and how to safely build with pressure-treated ACQ lumber in Is the New Pressure Treated Lumber Safe?.
(c) 2012 Chris Baylor, licensed to About.com Inc.
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