One of the worst decks I’ve inspected
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 11 ต.ค. 2023
- Whether you’re building a new home, addition, or deck, have the work, professionally inspected before you give them the last payment on the job. If you don’t, you may be stuck with shotty work. #bloodhoundhomeinspection #homeinspection #deck #unprofessional 
That 2x4 with the rip along side it was actually the best work!
I was thinking the same, that was actually a nice cut they did lol
lol yup
😂
No way it came out that perfect he had to measure it 📏
Why not just put a solid piece instead of adding a taper like that?
About 30 years ago i built a 12x24 deck behind my house. I'm an auto mechanic, not a carpenter. I researched deck building, asked a few friends questions and even went to the library and took out a few books on how to do it. I didn't get a permit to build it and someone must have said something, because a building inspector showed up when i wasn't home to inspect it. My wife said the guy went out on it, looked around, then jumped on it a few times. Then he said, " who built this, your husband?) My wife was nervous and said yes, why. He said, i can tell because its built with over kill. This deck is probanly sturdier that the house, he did one hell of a job. Just tell him to get the railings up as soon as possible. She asked if he was. Oming back to inspect the rail, he said nah, it will be ok. He signed off on it and that was that. Never built another one.
I am horribly unhandy, but how you went about preparing for the build is how I would do it, and also go in with overkill, to make sure no one got "killed" by my not-so-handiwork.
@@PlasmaCoolantLeakover-built is probably a better way to describe it
Overkill is better than the opposite problem, so that's good. 😂
Good job; proving it can be done especially if you have "overkill" in mind.
"its built with over kill"
I really did LOL at that.
I remember when my dad and I built my deck. When the building inspector came over he started laughing. He looked at my dad and said”Are you going to drive a bulldozer across this deck?” Everything my dad built was built to last. Miss you pops🤙
@coaltrain18000, What was your old man's name. Good on him for making sure you knew the right way to do it!
Stan the man🤙
@@coaltrain18000 That's awesome dude! have a great start to your day.
@@rfugythanks, you do the same!
Yeah, my amateur home repair work might turn out a little crooked, but I figure I make up for it by wasting some of the money I'm saving on higher-rated materials than any sane professional would use. Double the recommended rating for $150 instead of $100? That's a bargain!
It’s OK, the Hot Tub will cover the splice in the floor boards. 🤣🤣
that's funny! of course they're ain't no way that floor is gonna handle the live load of water that shit is HEAVY!
Lmao. That hot tub would drop like a hot potato
That'll work till they fill it.
Maybe the home owner can just stack some bricks somewhere in the middle for some extra support.
there you go problem with the splice has been resolved.
As bad as this is I think I'm more surprised that you walked up those stairs after showing us how poorly they were attached.
he was hoping somebody had good insurance
That's why he had the camera rolling lol
Oh please! Those stairs are fine and not going anywhere. The build crew did a fine job.
@@jamess3532 you built it, didn’t you😂😂
Okay I admit it, it was me and I stand by my work. If I stood on my work it would collapse.@@karmyleon3111
Thank you, to whomever built this deck, for making us all feel better about our "craftsmanship"
bahahah thats hilarious and spot on.
Never hire "I know a guy" guys to do work on your house...not even for painting, they'll screw that up, too.
If I ever built a deck to this spec. I'd expect to be run out of town strapped to the nose of a missile.
Gd I'm a god geez ohhh and my thumb hurts
I am now officially a carpenter 🤣
It escalated from “ok that’s fixable” to “burn it down” very quickly
Yea, I'm thinking "that's not that bad" then... well, it really went downhill fast! 😂
holy shit when he revealed the 2x6 is all hung on a piece of decking I lost it
As shoddy as it all is I bet it lasts ten years before collapsing. Except that stair connection. I give that maybe 2 years depending on usage.
@@jesseback353610 years? Maybe in absolutely ideal conditions, not out in the weather.
not if the fat next door neighbor stops by@@jesseback3536
had to be a diversity hire doing this
@@Convolutedtubules 10 years if it never has to bear a load and the wind never gets above 20mph lol
This could be used to train new inspectors because it has one of everything you could get wrong on this job.
I love that idea. There should be a whole home with a carefully enumerated list of issues, and the test is to find 95% of them.
Brother, this deck has problems that you couldn't find in any book.
Bruh 💀
@@vvhitevvabbit6479 There's an old saying - Make something idiot proof and they'll make a better idiot. Well... I think the guy that built this deck *is* the better idiot.
Oh it's gonna come down. Hopefully no one gets hurt.
I feel immensely better about the "shoddy" work on my own deck after seeing this work.
That's what I was thinking too 😅
Believe it or not. That's not the worst I've seen. But it ranks right up there with the worst I've seen category. I feel for the home owner and yes it should be taken down completely by the people who built it and the money returned in full. Then the person or people that built it should have to pay a real contractor to come back and build it correctly.
Yeah…I couldn’t care less if people like it, as long as it’s solid and straight and it lasts. Building a deck seems to be a big deal for a lot of the commentators. I used treated larch fence rails for mine, and put flashing above the frame members so it never gets wet, and only a tenner each for the lengths.
I feel like a lot of the shoddy work on this deck actually seemed more technically difficult than just building it the right way. Like that small board spanning two joists, or that board that seemed split in half. It just seems easier to replace a full board. You’re not saving much money patching it together, and you’re wasting a whole bunch of time and making a bad, ugly deck.
@phillipbarnes3452 @phillipbarnes3452 you would think, but don't underestimate how cheap people can be about materials and avoiding another trip to the hardware store.
A friend of mine and myself have both bought project houses. Our running joke when we do some demo work and uncover previous work is "Bob/Mark wasn't handy". (The previous owners). Both were dedicated DIYiers. Both seemed to go out of their way to do a terrible job.
This build has "I know a guy who can do it cheaper" written all over it 🤣
That deck is terrifying to look at. Can you imagine this family having a house party and 7 or 8 people on this at once?
Yeah. When that would collapse under all that weight, they'd have probably everybody there, filing lawsuits against 'em!
I hope they survive the two foot fall 🙏
@@afridgetoofar1818that's moore like a 4ft fall, when you're unprepared and have objects falling unpredictably with you, serious injuries can occur 🤷♂️
Don’t worry. I doubt that will happen twice. 😅
Dance lessons
In my 47 years as a carpenter, I've probably built North of 300 decks. In the late 80's they were all the rage and we were knocking out more than 30 a year for a while. I've seen and fixed some horrific things, even worse than this disaster. This is a complete tear off. There's nothing here to save except maybe some wood for other projects. And the worst part about this kind of stuff is that the homeowner or contractor that ruined this lumber pile this was undoubtedly proud, and probably even bragged about his carpentry "skills" to whoever would listen. Guys like this are part of the reason some inspectors are so hostile. They're sick and tired of the constant battle with idiots.
Amen, brother. I used to build em back in the 80s/90s in Florida. I worked for a co where we took pride in our work and guaranteed it.
bro..! the goofballs didn't even go end to end with width of the house for pete sakes, smh. them star are chin stitches waiting to happen carrying groceries,, LMFAO..!
Preach! 🫡
As a carpenter of 39 years I echo your thoughts and I will add one more to it.
When I was doing decks for my own customers and not for the builder, I learned very quickly to put my drafting skills to use and provide scaled drawings for the building inspector. I've never had any issues
Is it ignorance or apathy? Do people just not know how to build or they know and don't give a shit?
Its videos like this that get me in trouble... I see someone else do an awful job and think i can do it better... Next thing ya know the car doesnt run anymore
Yep 😂
I'm the same way. There is usually a moment of worry about halfway through when the unforeseen issues start popping up. I sawzalled the kitchen and bathroom floors out one and then accidentally shattered the toilet when it fell off the porch.
If ya manage to break your car while building a deck...I mean, I'm not even mad. That's impressive.
I know its not your normal content but I'd watch it lol
You really are an avid TH-cam watcher Dan, that or we have a similar algorithm, I come across you and Baker’s comments on random videos all the time. Cheers
I want to see a video of you telling the owners it needs to be removed and redone. That would make my day.
ABSOLUTELY tear it all down and start over.
It's incredible how it almost resembles a deck if you squint, but upon any inspection is an absolute nightmare how poorly it is assembled. the material is literally almost all there to make a decent (albeit slightly smaller, wrongly fastened) deck. amazing. thanks for sharing.
I was most shocked when he used the stairs...
If they can't get it torn down at the least it needs to be secured properly to the house with larger bolts, the stairs need to be secured properly to the deck, the front board needs replacing with something thicker, larger bolts to hold it to the posts (can get away without notching), and the short deck floorboards replaced. It'll still be built a bit rough but it'll be safe then. After a few years everything doesn't look great anyway, I've done stuff perfectly and in a few years the wood warps and moves anyway
There also weren't enough screws in the joist holders, I'd finish those off too with the correct type
Or just have a 'one at a time' rule. Only one person at a time on the deck, no furniture, no lingering. Just pass over it. One at a time. Don't paint it either, it probably can't take the weight of the stain/paint!
As a carpenter this just blows my mind.... did kids do this? Probably won't need to tear it down it will fall on its own.
I've seen better built tree forts. This abomination is an insult to kid carpenters,
And fast
Kids would have done a better job.
Talk about a real “Mickey mouse “ job 😂
Not all decks need to be to code. By not attaching it to the house... bye bye code
Sad part of this is some unsuspecting homeowner payed someone good money for that deck
Did it her self
Probably not. They probably got 3 bids and couldnt believe it would cost 5,000 in labor to hire a carpenter so they hired some drug addict. And theyll complain about contractors the rest of their lives.
@@boonehoustonexactly. Tired of homeowners complaining about a terrible end product when they didn’t do their research when they chose a contractor. Guy probably wasn’t even licensed and insured. Clearly he had no idea what the hell he was doing. It’s just as much their fault as his. They probably didn’t bother to ask to see his other work.
@@boonehouston nah
I could easily build that properly in 2 days, probably less. Built at home with a more sensible choice of material, for less than 500 euro. Anyone who can’t be bothered to learn a bit of basic diy is going to be ripped off. As someone said, this might have been built by a poor carpenter with a cannabis habit.
I grew up with parents that always worked on our homes, long before the house-flip fad. Not for profit, but for personal investment in a home. My father was obsessive about doing it right. I don't know if I'll ever get to own a home in todays world, but I still like watching these to learn the most important details: What NOT to do!
I was like "oh well some ppl tried to do a project but did a bad job" until i saw the screws "holding" the stairs up XD
The builder had never heard the term "On Center". Well, for that matter, he had never heard of plumb, level, secure, solid, standard, accountability, integrity, workmanship, minimum requirements, allowable span, anchored, quality and my personal favorite: Building Code
😂😂😂😂
What prides-manship that unfortunately very few people have anymore. I was taught at an very early age how would you feel when someone comes behind you years later and says Oh my god who did this?
Reminds me of a co-worker long ago who said to me “I hate Mike Holmes. He gives people like me a bad name”. A charlatan.
@@prmayner... I thought the same thing when I found out the floor in my kitchen was simply built ON TOP OF the old floor! 😡
The dummy just thought it'd be faster to slap another floor on the old one rather than tear it all up... now my dishwasher can't be removed and is permanently stuck under the kitchen counter. 🤦
Builder? That has homeowner written all over it.
I'm not a carpenter or a builder by any means, but even I can see that won't hold up for very long. The most astounding part, to me, is the lack of support for the stairs.
I wouldn’t feel comfortable using those stairs.
the deck board rim joist was horrendous as well....
I think the lack of support along the wall is even more egregious. You just know that's gonna rip out and that side will fall down against the house. The stairs will probably have a max of two people on them ever, but you could have a lot more people's weight in total on the deck itself.
I've seen stairs immensely worse and done by contractors, but yea, these are garbage.
@ryans413 Same, as soon as he started climbing them I was like bold move.
I've built,rebuilt,repaired alot of docks and decks in Florida. And have never seen such shotty work. Unbelievable!! I would absolutely be ashamed of myself if I ever left my work like that. Careful going up and down those steps. Great Job calling that out ty
Hey Amigo, How much to build me a deck (or dock) ?? People may like the Amigo price at first, but things get REAL expensive when they have to be done two or three times!! Only in Florida...
When I was building my deck, I went to Lowes and asked some of the "construction" people how to go about building it, and they basically told me to do it the way you see it here. Since then, I've learned otherwise, but the deck I built in 2011 is still standing and is in good shape, as well as being pretty solid. I did not connect it to the house, but used concrete pillars instead. I'm still learning which is why I like channels like yours. It teaches me how to do things correctly.
As my late father used to say: "Just cause you own a hammer don't make you a carpenter."
Idk man, i build all the time and this guy is coming at this shit talking shit about spacing of shit etc, fuck off buddy. Tell him to pay for the fixes or talk to a shutgun. Looks good from my house
My dad used to say “they can sell these tools to just anybody…”
Yup, somebody buys a pickup truck and a skill saw and they're a professional builder!
@@buyamerican3191 thats why there are soo many idiots larping as carpenters, landscapers etc. the barrier of entry is definitely the lowest cost out of any work only one that might beat it as cheaper is cleaning, maybe. even then floor waxers arent cheap.
"when all you got is a hammer, all your problems look like nails"
They spent way more time trying to make scraps work, then if they had done it right in the first place 😂
Was thinking the same thing! They were so into salvaging what was a horrible plan, they didn't realize starting over would have probably saved more time! lol
using scraps? or f-ing up? im thinking the latter
Word!
Wow what an eye opener. Thanks for posting this.
that home owner hates his wife and this deck is the perfect crime 😂
Maybe their marriage is as stable as the deck.
This is unbelievable. The way the stairs were connected to the deck. Wow.
I'm curious as to how the homeowners let it get so far when you clearly see the post leaning
Oh but the screws go “all the way through”🤣😂🤣
I'm guessing they added structural integrity though given the lack of a beam situated over top of those posts.
And then he climbed up them and walked around 😅
When I was a newly married kid about 32 years ago, I built a cedar deck off the back of our house. It was a good size, 12' x 26' if I recall. I went to home depot and bought one of those "How" To books, as well as hit our local video store and picked up every VHS tape I could find on deck building. I never pulled a permit, but built that thing to withstand anything our planet could throw at it. The under structure was all pressure treated wood, with the decking and railings all cedar. It's still standing today.
What about your marriage though?
@@JohnDoe-ld8nr - Still hanging in there after 37 years John!
good job. wanna build me a deck? lol
@@justadbeer heard this joke the other day If you were my wife, I'd
put poison in your coffee , If you were my husband I'd drink it 🤔🤣🤣🤣🤣 congrats on being married 37 years 👍👍 blessings to ya both
Ex got the house and still lives there today thanks to your craftsmanship. Lol
Thanks for showing us enough to claim what you are saying. You are just another honest gentleman!
I had my dilapidated deck rebuilt and converted to Trex. I happened to be home on the day of the construction and checked in from time to time. The contractor was frustrated with the shoddy connectors used to hold up the joists and had to fix it. I'm glad I got a competent builder who cared, because it's pretty easy to put up something crappy that superficially doesn't look too bad.
Contractor for over 40 years…eating my lunch and stumbled on this…it’s a start over for me…the revisions would take as long as rebuild..and once your name is attached to such a project..the stink gets on you regardless of how little you were involved…so tear down and rebuild or walk away!
If it was just the decking, or even the rim joist, I think it could be salvages. The ledger board I think is what makes it a do-over. I am not even sure what it is fastened to and it needs flashing.
Nah
Antoinette balistari job
On the positive side it wouldn't take but a few hours work to take it all apart,..
I agree ive been a contractor for 35 years and have built easily over 100 decks, in my opinion a smart contractor is not going to try to "fix" this mess because once you touch it you own it. Rip it out salvage materials, if you can, and rebuild it.
Im surprised you survived walking on it , much braver than I would have been
Camera man never dies
That deck is a blessing. If you’re looking for a house and see a deck like that, it’s telling you to keep looking. If this is how the homeowner builds a deck, a showcase feature where their work is right there for everyone to see, you sure as heck know any plumbing or electrical work they’ve got hiding in the walls is the stuff of nightmares.
WOW! 😮 That made my head hurt. You’re right. Demo it, salvage the materials, and start over.
do not salvage the materials , its a total loss ............good fire wood though
@@Ebbrush3 You don't know anything. Don't speak about things you don't know. You don't burn treated lumber.,
@@Dan_Lynch Maybe he meant have a fire outside?
Safe to say if they built it so cheaply and shoddy to begin with they would prob not be able to afford tearing it down and redoing it anyway. Best to tear it down just for safety's sake.
The builder was just trying to match the quality of the house foundation. 10/10
Bought a house with a flagstone foundation and hewn-log floor joists. The subfloor had an eight-inch sag in the middle.
"Make the deck look original to the house."
Are those “Jesus Bolts”holding the deck to the foundation? Operate solely on faith?
Consistent with that crap house
The beam being a deck board is my favorite part
I built a ground level deck this past weekend..it came out good too but I know I cheated a bit maybe a 1/2" on spacing joists..nothing structurally. This video made me feel better
Boy, that is some old world craftsmanship right there.
The 5/4 x 6 deck board as the main joist support is quite scary.
Yeah... I didn't see the issue with that until he showed that it wasn't a 2x6... 😬
That's one of those really bad issues that'd be hard to notice if you weren't paying close attention and actually looked under the board.
@jasono2139 2x6's are for joists. When a rim joist serves the purpose of a beam as that one was doing, 6" don't cut it.
Ky code called for 2 2x8's for each of the beams in my deck, I went with 3 each for durability. With tighter post spacing you can cut down to 2x6's, but code likely requires you to double up for beams, and notch them to the posts, never just bolt them.
@@Flamingtac0 ehhh... you're probably right about "code" engineering wise though. A 2x6 would likely be fine for 90% of people's uses, but the building codes assume the deck needs to last 50+ years and have a 3 ton truck parked on top of it.
When you actually do the engineering calculations, you'll find that even x3 bolts and that trim board would hold a whole party of buffet goers at least once.
@@jasono2139 2x6 would be not much better at all. That should be minimum 2-2x10's nailed together, notched into (minimum) 4x6 posts.
@@TimTimTomTom it's a deck... not the main floor to a 3 story house. 🙄
Do you even have any clue how much weight a SINGLE 10' long 4x10 could hold in the middle of the span?? I'd guess that it's between 3 to 5 TONS. There's zero reason to build a deck like that to hold PEOPLE... especially once you add the floor boards on top that help distribute the load.
The scabbed together deck board was by far the best carpentry on that cob job. 😂😂
Wow😮 I’ve got some deck jobs lined up so I’ll definitely be showing this to the customers if they think my work is too costly
Agreed.
The home owners should never pay for the builders mistakes.
These kind of faults are why I like watching these kinds of videos. I wouldn't have seen hardly any of these mistakes unless someone pointed them out. Thanks much.
Yeah, I think the only one I would have noticed had i been there in person would have been the crooked, wobbly railing.
please keep watching them then, people who build things this badly need to be prevented from building anything else in the future, this is the sort of thing that gets people hurt. that "deck" was built about as well as 8 year kids scrap wood tree fort.
I wouldn't build your own then. Just some friendly advice.
One of those things you don't pay attention too until you faceplant the deck boards because you happened to be the last one to use the steps before they gave up the ghost.
Exactly it’s fine. What gone happen fall from 2 feet…
Built my first deck alone a few decades ago. A neighbor across the street was a structural engineer and county inspector. After I finished the deck, I decided to invite him over to take a look. He said, oh it's not going anywhere and are you driving tanks onto it? I was the opposite of this video as I knotched 8x8s every 8ft for 16' x 20' and achcored them with 3ft deep footings, used 2x12 joists and along with 4x6 railing posts on footings. It's all still there exactly how it was the day i finished except for new deck boards. I still overbuild most everything as it never seems to change the costs more than 15% and I'm just happier and more comfortable with the outcome. Built some bunk beds last year...just use your imagination.
I've said this before: "I'm not an engineer; I'm an overengineer!"
@@TomPVideo So you're a German engineer?
I mean that's pretty fair I think. If you aren't an expert who built a hundred already then overdoing it seems the safer approach.
When in doubt, build it stout. Or, if two screws work, fifty will work better.
"Stepbrothers" bunk beds 😂
It’s the stair stringers hanging onto decking boards for me. Imagine bouncing down those stairs one morning carrying your kid or something. 😮
Luckily it's not very high, but still....
My in-laws in Atlanta had a deck that was sagging in the middle. It was far too long to not have center support. I advised them since they were going to replace it the new deck needed center support. I wasn't around for the new deck construction. When I saw the new deck had no center support I couldn't believe it. Now three years later the sag is again happening. The contractor was licensed too. Just because code didn't specify a center support doesn't mean it is not needed.
You know the scary thing about this is that I've seen many decks that are a lot worse than this. I used to work for an inspection company in the Astoria, OR area, so the amount of not only shoddy work (typical here), but also just super old and decrepit made the whole situation worse. It got to the point that I wouldn't walk on most decks (no matter how good they looked inititially) without inspecting under it first.
Hard to believe worse than that seeing it doesn't even have a beam carrying the joists. That would fail if one big guy stood midspan by the rail.
Ah, and the sea air. Take everything in account, and then speed up the decay rate.
When he was pointing out the ledger board not being attached well to the house I was legitimately scared for him being under there.
When I saw just that small amount of friction affixed this abomination's ledger board to the foundation; I freaked-out, too.
I would have RED TAGGED several immediate causes for FAILING inspection.
Actually, ... I would have decorated that deck with RED TAGS ... Staple gunned ... atop each other ... with LOTS of staples.
A quarter of a mile of YELLOW CAUTION tape.
Some more Staples.
Oh, geeze. I gotta run-back to the office for a minute.
I'm outta staples!!!
Maybe it was done so flimsy so anyone can lift it up ...
Yeah, those looked like construction screws to me. Even if they put a ton of those in they shear really easily. Yet it looked like they used maybe four or five to hold the entire deck up? I wouldn't go under there.
Wow. I know nothing, but since you pointed out the many flaws, i am shocked at the shoddy workmanship. Wow.
Its good to see Stevie Wonder has hobbies outside of music, but really he should be supervised if people are going to use it.
I am not a carpenter but have built 5 decks in my time and without doubt whomever built this one doesn’t have a clue, it is a bundle of dangerous mistakes. He had no idea of structural integrity needed- imagine a dozen people partying on this deck!
It is crap, but who cares? It would collapse under the weight and everyone would fall a few feet. Oooh, scary.
Yup, nothing holding it up except the concrete and those will soon rot off
@@ohsweetmystery You rode the short bus to school didn't you??? Tool
Someone could get hurt walking up those steps if they fall, particularly small children or elderly.
Im inviting the whole biden clan to bring their decency and come party on this deck
I wish we had an inspector like you when we bought our house. The deck on the house was secured not to the house but the trim. It collapsed when I was walking on it, and I was injured. There was nothing we could do.
Did you recover from the collapsed deck incident? Hope you're OK.
I was looking at a house to buy. I liked it and I was thinking of putting in an offer. Was talking with my real estate agent about it while standing on the back deck when the deck board gave way and I fell through. I didn't put in an offer on that one after all! Who knows what the maintenance on the rest of the house was like?
Did that deck have a permit? If yes, and it passed town inspection, you might have a claim against them.
@@juzoli Good luck with that.. I had a house in NY that "passed inspection" and the deck was held in with 3 nails. I tore it down and rebuilt it, went to sell the house and the town made me spend 2500 to get an engineering firm to sign off on the structure I put up and pay for permit fees.. Permits are just money grabs as many contractors grease the locals to let them build like shit...
@@FJB2020 Did you even try to start a lawsuit?
We built our deck slightly stronger than local code allows which is 12x20 with 12' long 2x8 joists on 16" centers. The outside is supported by a TRIPLE 2x10 beam sitting directly on top 6x6 posts on 10' centers The beam is strapped to the posts on both sides with 1/4" galvanized steel brackets. The Ledger is a 2x10 with 1/2" through bolts with nuts and washers on the inside of the house double band board. We used knee braces from posts to beams to eliminate any sway (racking). This thing could support a bulldozer.
I’ve made mistakes on projects but this one looks like it was built by a stage set builder where nothing is to code but looks fine from a distance. I was worried for you when you walked up the stairs! It’s good to see the problems from an inspectors view. Thanks!
I work with stage set builders. They do WAY better work than this.
@@chazp3496 Haha, yeah this deck doesn’t even look like it’s safe to stand on. What kills me is they must have spent a small fortune on the cedar boards, but whoever did it didn’t even bother to watch a few TH-cams on deck building or buy a how-to book. There’s so much good info out there, but I guess some people just want to slap things together.
@@thedeergarden3964it would have been a real crime if they wasted cedar, still pressure treated ain’t that cheap anymore
If my dad handed me a few basic tools and a pile of scrap lumber this looks like what i would have built. When i was twelve
I'm guessing whoever built this deck must have peaked at 12...
A great training video for what not to do. So many examples.
Glad you liked it!
I've framed homes for over 30 years, and I have to say that's some of the worst carpentry I've ever seen. I thought it was a joke. YIKES!!
As a joke we'd send the new guy to go get the board stretcher. I think these guys or gals actually found it. Truly impressive
Yes, that's like sending the new car tech helper for a can of compression!
LOL now that's funny, as a mechanic by trade who ran a one man show for 30 years we used to tell the noobs change out that muffler bearing.
Every time I cut a board too short a guy I worked with would always say "Piss on it, it will swell up" then it was said about anything that was wrong with something. "The wind blew over our trusses last night" Mike: PISS ON IT!
He'd always manage to sneak that into a serious situation that would make everybody laugh.
After cutting a 1x6 too short, my shop teacher had me go next door to the other shop class and ask the instructor for that class if I could have the "board widener". I did as instructed and the teacher of the other class pointed out a 200lbs anvil on the floor. He had a couple of guys from the class help me put it on a dolly. All of them had a smirk on their faces as I wheeled this thing next door. We had a storage area that was above the shop's "office" and drafting room.... My teacher told me to lay the board on the floor and take the anvil up the stairs and drop it on the board to "widen" it.
I was 13 years old, in the 8th grade.
Along with some laughter and the stupid look on my face, he then explained the "measure as many times as necessary and cut only once" rule.
That was a lesson I had to learn only one time. I made some errors over the years doing some woodwork...but that is one I never made again...
The problem with this deck is an overall lack of respect for the trades, tradesmen and the fact that carpentry/woodwork is a craft and skill and even when done only on the weekends or as a hobby, one should exercise respect for it as well as other trades. Trade Schools are a necessary part of any society... One of the dumbest things ever was removing funding for trade and shop classes in public schools. They are an invaluable part of a boy's upbringing (yeah...and any girls who are interested too). It's a damned shame.
sidenote: the anvil remained in our class until the following semester when another "new-to-wood-shop" student made a similar error. The two wood shop instructors used that anvil as a "teaching tool" for many years.
@@monicadaniels784 or the muffler shop need to order a new Fallopian tube.
Built by a cousin of a friend who is a carpenter of sorts.
I particularly like the way the sonotube can collect water and rot the 4x4 at the base.
Don't go in the house and examine the electric upgrades. They were probably done by another friend of a cousin.
That was spot on !! Lol!!
Those are two different cousins, and they are not relations.
If the electrition had the same trade skills as the deck builder it wouldn't be a problem as the house would have done burnt down.
As an amateur builder and future inspector, it's just as valuable to me to see what wrong looks like.
How are people like this allowed to retain their business licenses? These fly by nights have way too many protections. Try suing one, it’s a nightmare.
My only top anymore never attach a deck to a house, best thing to do is a free standing deck it will save you headaches later down road.. and a level is your best friend.
Where I live (Australia) decks that aren't connected to the house don't have to have a building permit or inspection.
I found that out when the deck started sinking on a house that was only 3 years old that I'd bought.
It was sinking because the builders had put a 4kL rainwater tank on the top of the deck instead of next to it.
My first job was to get the tank off the deck.
Second job was to jack up the deck again.
I haven't attach a deck to a building in 30 years and I don't build them up tight to a door threshold anymore. I tore out a deck that was 10 years old, attached to the house, and rotted out the rim joist and sheeting on the house the worse part was it had flashing but was poorly done.
Code in my state dictates that a deck with any more than two steps has to be attached.
Another big problem, though, is that getting quality decking lumber is becoming very difficult. I have bought treated lumber that had incomplete treatment and developed rot far ahead of the norm. Knotted lumber is no longer culled much, and it really is a pain to work around.
Agreed. Even roof trusses and engineered floor trusses are garbage compared to only 5 years ago. At least in my area the building inspectors are powerless as long as these trusses carry the stamp. In one case I had to go back after the inspection and reinforce the floor joists. It is getting ridiculous.
Plus most cedar nowadays is heart wood, which doesn't have much rot resistance
Agree. Buy 20 deck boards, and probably about 5 of them are absolute crap - severely warped with holes where the knots have fallen out.
yep, i had to replace the ramp on our deck, and it took a visit to multiple yards to get decent lumber for that small project. nearly every decking board was warped, knotted or cracked. we went through hundreds at my local lumber store before finding the the 16 i needed for my build. crazy
@@charliewatts6895you definitely have to buy about 1/4 or 1/3 extra if buying for delivery.
When I go to a big box for lumber I swear I spend 1.5 hours tearing through the boards trying to find the usable ones for something that should take 15 minutes.
Looks better than mine! 👍 Great job!
I was interested by your comment about the screws and joist hangers. Looked into it. Looks like myself and my dad have been doing it wrong for years, using normal woodscrews. We've done everything from loft hatches and roof windows, to garage roofs and full outbuildings like this. No mention of special screws or nails needed from my local hardware store.
A lot of the hardware stores don’t have the people trained to know what they’re selling. They don’t build or work in the trade
Good grief, that's a teardown. I'm always curious about what I'm going to find when I get hired for deck inspections specifically. I just inspected one about a month ago that was almost as bad as this one. I'm almost never seeing flashing over the top side of the ledger around here, even on decks that are otherwise good builds. Good content - keep up the good work!
If I paid good money I'd get them to tear it down and start again, if someone did it to help me out cheap or whatever I'd just fix it and make it safe.
What sucks is a lot of these people will advertise themselves/ tell you to your face that they can build a deck, or shingle your roof, etc, and they don't have anywhere near the skill, experience, or familiarity with any of the building codes to do the job right, but will charge you as if they are a professional. Criminal, really.
Some workmen can do the same job every day and it's always for the first time.
This video makes me feel good about my self made deck with zero experience. Couldn’t imagine that being a contractors work
It was and these people were charged $3K
The original owner of my current home had put down cedar decking. I have no idea how, but he managed to get the boards tight against one another. Bad idea. There were no or almost no gaps so the rain just sat on it. By the time I bought it, it had been painted a few times but the cedar was well rotted. I could press my foot down near a joint and the board moved. The last owner had tried to cover the problem by replacing a couple of the worst boards and adding another layer of paint. The underside structure was all pressure treated and in good shape. I ended up tearing off the decking, railing and stairs and replacing them.
I’ve seen that thick textured paint many times trying to cover up garbage
Absolutely blows my mind that you climbed up on that deck.
Holy moly. That is a piece of work. I hate that someone ripped a customer off with that quality of work. I wouldn't even walk on that deck.
Could have been homeowner DIY also "honey, I'll put up a new deck and we'll get more $$ for the house"
last year i added stairs to my existing deck. i am a beginner DIYer and followed all the guidelines and construction code and still thought i didn't do a good job.
but seeing this... makes me look like a pro.. lol
That can not be brought up to code. It must be torn down and rebuilt from scratch as you said. Looks like it was built by middle school children.
I just tore down an Entryway deck and stairs leading up to it. The only thing holding the Stringers up was a 7/16” piece of OSB! When I started walking up the stairs I could feel them flex each step I took. That's when I looked over the edge and noticed the OSB. I told the homeowner that it all needed to be removed right now. Of course he wanted to beat me up on price since he already “paid once” for this to be done. I explained that taking the lowest bid to save a dollar could be why he got what he did in the first place. I have been in behind too many “contractors” fixing shoddy work, to even count.
Thanks for sharing. Goes to show you that some folks have not a clue. Back a couple of months ago, I was contacted a contractor to discuss build a sun room addition onto my house. I told him I would be hiring an architect who would look after the plans and applying for the building permit. The contractor said; " I would not get a building permit if I were you."
With that statement, I said, I would never hire any contractor to do work without a permit.
Thank goodness for building permits, and city inspectors.
The stairs frighten me the most!!! Two people coming down and it will likely collapse at some point.
This was the same as a deck I replaced. This was on my landlady house. Contractor did it. I was replacing her fence - then we turned to the deck. Whole city was kind of like that.
compared to a few ive built in the past this ones a masterpiece
This is a great video. I liked seeing some of the mistakes from a learning standpoint.
It is a tear down.
OMG looks like somebody's drunk Uncle was working for beer money 🥴 . . . The words BLUE Prints or Permits never even entered the chat but i bet Pabst BLUE Ribbon did 😁
That is a magnificent structure by any measure. Our builders are currently installing 5 decks at home and we could have saved at least a BMW in costs with this crew!
Having been a project manager in both commercial and residential construction, I have NEVER seen anything this bad, and I have seen some bad work. I am glad people like you are making videos like this to educate people on what proper and safe construction methods are. Most people don't know and some contractors take full advantage of that. So as a homeowner this give people the tools and knowledge to weed out the bad contractors.
I would doubt it is a contractor unless he got screwed over in not getting paid or partially.
Thanks for showing this garbage. I am a contractor and I see this crap all the time, but the problem is the homeowner as well that hires the fool that gives them the cheapest bid. Advise to ALL, hire someone that you have been referred to by a satisfied customer. Ive been in business for 25 years and never advertised once, my work is all referrals. GREAT video keep it up!!!!!
Best advertising is word of mouth
Thanks for sharing.
Most likely the homeowner built that deck for better selling price....and now the place is for sale....thus the inspection.
That deck has "Do It Yourself" written all over it.
More like "Done by a Meth Head"
Good idea, tear it down and start over. They should be able to reuse a lot of the material. That railing is scary and is the reason I don’t go near railings.
The labor to tear it, and labor to do the new one will cost at least 2k. This is after keeping a lot of the old wood. Most cheap homeowners will just keep it and use it, since its not too high up. If its on the second floor, then its dangerous so its better to tear it and start over.
Watching this video, right around the part where he showed the stair stringer support, reminded me of the feeling I had when I was a kid and my parents would fight. The world felt upside-down and chaotic with no order or sense of security. I wonder if that carpenter's parents fought too.
After watching this till about the very end. My thoughts were tear it down and start again. To hear you say that reinforced I wasn't over thinking it. Talk about some shoddy work. I imagine they were strapped for money. Plus their skill and knowledge is lacking. Hopefully they learned from this.
As someone who got pretty hurt falling through a deck of similarly shoddy construction, this thing is going to bring back nightmares for me.
@@paddyb456 Sure, I did.
@@paddyb456 your mother serviced my johnson pretty terribly, but I still paid her $5
Imagine this at a college fraternity house. Actually an ideal way to test the structure.
Wow. This guy would cry about anything.
From 50ft that deck is perfect and looks brand new.
😁
I don't even have words for this!
Actually, you had 7. 😊
As a homeowner I built an addition onto my house and rebuilt a room into a master bath. I was general contractor on site via a signed waiver as homeowner, did a lot of the work myself, had to attain permits for all the work I did, and everything was subject to inspection. I learned that the inspector is not your enemy but rather just has a job to do, and that there are really good reasons for many of the codes you must comply with. Today there is no excuse for shoddy work, many books are readily available that outline good construction techniques, and even full plans are available. I built a 12' by 12' shed using plans I got on line for free.
I rebuilt the deck at the family home twice in 50 years following my fathers design. It was only 18 inches off the ground. Had 4x6 stringers spaced 4 feet apart with 2x4s on edge spaced 3/16 inch apart for the top surface. The 2x4s were spiked together with 3 inch nails. It used a lot of wood with the 2x4s on edge, but it was as solid as concrete and looked great.
Joist hangers on the stairs!!! 🤣🤣🤣
That was my thought exactly,’ he’s not going up those steps’!!
I think what might have happened is this: Someone was in Lowes and saw in the restroom where somebody had written on the wall “for a good time call __________”. They called the number and was asked, “Hey, how would you like to help build a deck?” In the end everyone was disappointed. They ended up working all day on someone else’s deck and had to buy their own pizza at the end of the day, and the deck wasn’t done anywhere near right.