Our company, which specializes in structural repairs, was recently called to an expensive residence outside of Chicago. A number of contractors had been to this house to bid on replacing a large wrap-around deck, but they had concerns; extensive rot of the ledger board signaled deeper structural problems that exceeded their expertise. Our inspection revealed numerous places where poor flashing had led to extensive water intrusion problems. The worst was at the base of large banks of windows on the A-frame-style wing that the deck wrapped around. Water running off the large expanses of glass had leaked for years through the base of the window walls, jeopardizing not just the deck ledger but the entire floor-system supports, which served to tie together the A-frame rafters. The house was on a hill and exposed, resulting in significant lateral wind loads on the steep roof, so a rotting floor system put this entire A-frame at risk of collapse.
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