The deck collapse injury lawyers at Denena & Points note that early Sunday morning, an outdoor 2nd-floor deck on a home in south Wichita, KS collapsed suddenly with 6 people on it. The people were gathered on the deck celebrating a birthday. One young man received serious head injuries in the 2nd-floor deck collapse. Another man dislocated his shoulder; one woman broke her ankle in the fall; and another three guests received minor injuries. (Source: KAKE TV news, 9/17/12)
Deck safety, especially during summer months when decks frequently see large gatherings of guests, is a very real issue throughout the United States. Building codes governing deck and porch construction vary somewhat from state to state. But overall deck safety construction requirements were upgraded in 2003 after the worst porch collapse occurred.
In that horrific collapse of an outdoor structure, the 3rd-floor porch on a Chicago home collapsed, taking out the 2nd-floor porch below it and collapsing into the 1st-floor porch area. Our deck collapse injury lawyers are saddened to report that around 50 people were on the three porches at the time of the deadly porch collapse, and 13 of them were killed.
Up until that horrific collapse, building codes generally allowed you to attach a deck or porch to a house using nails. But since that deadly porch collapse in Chicago, use of an attachment surface called a ledger board is required. In addition, the use of bolts or screws to attach the deck to a solid part of the main structure is the norm for deck safety.
Older decks collapse on a regular basis and provide the source of greatest safety hazards. Numerous injuries and fatalities result from sudden collapses of older decks and porches. Even as building codes are upgraded, older structures that have already been built usually are not. Lack of regular inspections, proper maintenance, weathering, and initial poor building practices could all result in a sudden deck collapse.
Be sure that you inspect your deck or porch regularly for signs of wear, stress, or loosening from the main structure of the home. And read our deck collapse injury lawyers’ free report on the safety essentials for decks, balconies, and outdoor structures. It provides useful information on how to spot structural weaknesses in your own deck and how you could help prevent a sudden structural collapse on your property. Download the report for free with a click on this web page.