$1,000,000;00 deck

[Roy D. Cooke, Sr]

85% of decks I inspect need improvement NOW!!!!!
http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=412062&src=4
A Lombard-based homebuilder agreed Thursday to pay $1 million to a Cary woman whose backyard deck collapsed, causing her to fall two stories.
Marisa Costello sustained a compound ankle fracture and multiple abrasions in the May 4, 2009, mishap. Her 4-year-old daughter, who also was standing on the deck when it collapsed, was not injured.
Costello filed a lawsuit last year accusing Town and Country Homes of faulty construction that did not comply with village code requiring builders to use lag bolts on attached decks. Costello's attorney said her deck had been affixed with only nails.
"The work done on Costello's deck was very shoddy," attorney Francis Murphy said in a news release. "It was in violation of the builder's own architectural plans and the Cary building code."
Murphy said the deck tore away from the back of Costello's home on the 300 block of Oakmont Drive as she stepped onto it from her second-story kitchen. Although Costello fell 12 feet to the ground, he said, she was able to catch her daughter with one hand.
Murphy said Costello had one ankle surgery and will need another, leaving her with a "life sentence of pain and disability."
Andy Konovodoff, president of Town and Country Homes, said the homebuilder was "very happy the issue has been amicably resolved."
"We also checked all the decks on our homes in the Chicago area, and we're confident this was an isolated incident," he said.
Thursday's settlement was approved by McHenry County Judge Michael Caldwell.

[David Garton]

Costello filed a lawsuit last year accusing Town and Country Homes of faulty construction that did not comply with village code requiring builders to use lag bolts on attached decks. Costello's attorney said her deck had been affixed with only nails

What were they THINKING

[Nick Gromicko]

85% of decks I inspect need improvement NOW!!!!!

Yep: www.nachi.org/deck-inspections.htm