A 9 year old child is lucky to be alive and only suffered some relatively minor injuries when the railing on a deck he was playing on gave way and he fell from the second story deck to the ground.

Our screen grabs from a TV news channel shows just how bad a shape the railing that still remains on the deck is in.

I’ve seen similar railings like this in the past where a carpenter uses a nail in the top of the railing and one on the bottom to attach the stile. This method is not a very good method to achieve a 200 pound resistance to someone leaning against it, and especially for small children who are probably leaning on the stile’s themselves. These cheap wood stiles will often rot out in a few years from being exposed to water.

On one inspection I did at a property for sale, I kicked the wood stiles with a bit of minor force and the stiles failed. The seller was furious that I “damaged” his property, but I pointed out that if his grandchild leaned on that railing he likely would have fallen 15 feet to a concrete sidewalk below. My answer was I probably saved someone’s life, so fix it properly.

A better method of protecting occupants is to use pre built railings that are made of metal welded together in the factory.

Falls through railings are unfortunately a common occurrence, and many result in death or severe injuries. Years ago a Board member of a condo I managed fell through a dry-rotted railing while on vacation, after a few days he passed away from grievous injuries.

This is another example of why we inspect folks.

When it comes to life safety, don’t fool around folks, the reason we inspect is to prevent accidents.

If you are buying a property with decks and railings, have it inspected by an expert like ourselves before closing.

If you are an HOA get your decks inspected by the experts at William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC. We guarantee that we have no conflicts of interest and that we only work for the associations best interests.