Lucky this time! A gas grill flared up and ignited the deck. Always clean your grills gas venturi tubing. Spiders etc can block the flow causing an explosion.

6 died and 7 seriously injured when the Berkeley balcony collapsed. Inspections may have caught the problem before the tragedy occurred.

This is why grills are banned from decks in many states and communities.

Only took a smoldering cigarette to catch the deck on fire and take the whole house too!

Why Inspect? Lack of flashing allowed water intrusion into the wall where the deck supports rotted away.

Get your deck inspected before an accident occurs! Broken bones, even death occurs when a deck collapses.

Get your deck inspected before an accident occurs! Broken bones, even death occurs when a deck collapses.

Worst idea ever! Wood decks are organized kindling. Never use a fire pit on a deck.

The thought that someone thinks this was ok is horrifying.

Handmade railings and poorly secured non safety glass present acute safety issues on this deck.

We don’t want to be Debbie Downers, but when it comes to deck safety, we are Debbie Downer…

You might be too if you get the amount of Google Alerts I do on deck fires and deck collapses.

Everyday, somewhere a deck collapses or catches fire from a grill, smoking materials or a fire pit…or a heat lamp for the dog house, sparks from welding, you get the picture. So a few safety tips from me, to help you not be the next statistic;

• No smoking on a deck.
• No grilling on a deck.
• NO FIRE PITS ON A DECK!
• Smoke, grill or have a fire pit a minimum of ten feet away from the building. Make sure everything is out by dousing grills/pits in water. Yes your neighbors might be pissed because of the smell, but they will be even more pissed if that fire pit catches their house on fire!
• Have your deck inspected. So many accidents could be avoided if inspections were done by competent people.
• Any wobbling railings, stairs or deck is a bad sign. Get it inspected and fixed ASAP.

Consumers/homeowners, click below to use NADRA’s handy self inspection checklist to see if further professional inspection should be done.

NADRA Consumer Checklist