Unsafe balconies and decks are a hazard and can place your family,friends, employees and visitors at risk of suffering serious injury or death.<\/p>\n
There are many things that can affect the safety of a balcony or deck over its lifetime.<\/p>\n
Insects<\/strong><\/p>\n Timber strength and condition can be affected by insect attack, such as termites and European House Borer (EHB)<\/p>\n Wet rot<\/strong><\/p>\n Timber is affected by water. Wet rot can occur when timber is in constant contact with the ground or another timber member in the presence of moisture.<\/p>\n Seaside and corrosive effects<\/strong><\/p>\n Corrosive environments, particularly in areas near coastlines, can affect unprotected steel structures, reinforcing steel and fixings such as bolts and fixing plates.<\/p>\n Loadings<\/strong><\/p>\n Large pots, water features, furniture and the like provide additional loads for a balcony to support, for which the balcony may not have been designed.<\/p>\n What can I do to ensure my structure is safe?<\/strong><\/p>\n Check if your balcony or deck has been designed and built correctly.Request a copy of the building approvals and plans from your local Government and compare them to the actual structure. You could also have it inspected by Houspect Building Inspections<\/p>\n Materials can deteriorate when exposed to the elements. Fixings such as bolts and screws, can loosen or corrode over time. A visual inspection on a yearly basis should identify any potential problems.<\/p>\n What if there is a problem?<\/strong><\/p>\n If there appears to be anything suspicious about the stability of a balcony or deck, you should avoid the area.<\/p>\n It is recommended that you contact a structural engineer or other suitably qualified building practitioner such as a Houspect Building Inspecor to inspect the structure and determine the full scale of the problem.<\/p>\n Call Houspect on 08 9240 8855<\/p>\n Buy, Build and Invest with Confidence<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Unsafe balconies and decks are a hazard and can place your family,friends, employees and visitors at risk of suffering serious injury or death. There are many things that can affect the safety of a balcony or deck over its lifetime. Insects Timber strength and condition can be affected by insect attack, such as termites and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":657,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-656","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-default","category-18","description-off"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n