This fine looking deck was a beautiful design but poorly Constructed. When you look more closely you will see that the rim joist is cracking and basically not adding strength.
The owner of the home had me over to view the deck with the intention of adding a 3 season room with pergola on top of the deck. Needless to say he didn't like what I had to say. I let him know in no uncertain terms that I wouldn't erect a big box umbrella on the existing structure.
This is what is known as a Kerf Cut and it is often used in stair construction, however those are not exposed to the elements and they are usually filled with glue and then bonded to something. Anything you build outdoors needs to have the end grains sealed to prevent rot--and it should be built at least 2x as strong as you need to do the job to keep it safe long after it starts to rot.
When you drive nails through this into the end grains of the joists you are only securing about 3/8" of solid materials--which doesn't take long to rot. The nails will pull through and if stressed all the fasteners will release. Can you imagine what would happen to this deck during an earthquake?
When you drive nails through this into the end grains of the joists you are only securing about 3/8" of solid materials--which doesn't take long to rot. The nails will pull through and if stressed all the fasteners will release. Can you imagine what would happen to this deck during an earthquake?
The steel stringers would have worked... but they needed a plate of reinforcement aside the treads. They sprung badly under my 220 lb frame. It felt unsafe to me.
L
