Loading…
3
TIL my neighbor's deck collapse in Portland changed how I build anything.
I saw it happen last summer, the whole thing just dropped about 6 inches on one side. He used those cheap plastic composite deck boards and didn't space them right for drainage. The trapped moisture rotted the joists underneath in less than 3 years. Now I overbuild every outdoor structure, use pressure-treated wood for the frame no matter what, and leave a bigger gap between boards than the instructions say. Has anyone else had a project fail because of a small detail you thought didn't matter?
3 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In3 Comments
valw365mo ago
Honestly, that's wild it only took three years to rot out! I always thought those composite boards were supposed to be low-maintenance. Makes you realize how one tiny spacing mistake can wreck the whole thing.
2
ben2065mo ago
Yeah but come on, three years? That seems crazy fast even with bad spacing. I've seen decks with way worse gaps that lasted way longer. Maybe it was a bad batch of boards or the ground was always wet under there. People online always jump to the worst case.
4
king.stella5mo ago
Used to think composite was invincible, but this definitely changed my mind.
4