If the safety of your fence starts at the hole, your deck safety starts at the ledger board. Don’t get us wrong – it’s also important to have a deep, secure footing for your deck. However, in our experience providing top-notch custom fencing and decking across Oregon and Washington, we’ve seen that the most common cedar decking construction problem is a poor connection between the home and the cedar deck. This area is called the ledger board. A well-constructed ledger board is a crucial ingredient for any long-lasting cedar decking.

Salem residents may recall the tragic deck collapse that occurred in Lyons, Ore., in 1999. The wood deck in Lyons (located about 25 miles southeast of Salem) was packed with wedding guests at the time of the collapse. The wedding party had gathered for a commemorative photograph when the wood deck gave way, killing one woman. The daughter of the bride remembered the scene this way: “By the time I turned around, the deck was gone. I saw some legs flying, but the rest of the people were already down.” Twenty-three others were injured. At the time of the collapse, the deck was just five years old and had just passed a safety inspection. Although we haven’t seen a complete report on why this deck collapsed, we’re guessing it was due to a faulty ledger connection, as with most major deck collapses.

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