My deck railing gave out during a family cookout

Last month, I was hosting a small gathering on my back deck in Spokane when a section of the railing just pulled away from the post. I had used 3-inch exterior screws, but the wood had rotted from the inside where I couldn't see. I had to quickly block it off with some scrap lumber and chairs. Has anyone found a reliable way to check for this kind of hidden rot before it fails?

3 comments

3 Comments

west.anna1mo ago

Trust my deck to wait for a party to fall apart.

mila_perry131mo ago

Honestly, the real cost is the TIME. You're not just waiting for the party, you're blocking out whole weekends for months, hoping the weather holds. That's a huge mental load people don't talk about.

ryan_ellis20d ago

Tbh, I feel you on the "trust my deck to wait for a party to fall apart" thing. That's exactly how mine went too. What worked for me was doing a simple probe test once a year with a flathead screwdriver. You just poke it into the wood around the posts and railings, especially near the ground. If the screwdriver sinks in more than a quarter inch without much effort, you've got rot. Also, I started pulling a single screw out from the hardest-to-see spots and checking the shavings for dampness or discoloration. That caught some hidden rot on my back corner post before it became a real problem. Honestly, it's annoying to do but way cheaper than replacing a whole section after it fails.