DECKLOK, a newly patented, bolt-on product, prevents the most
common cause of deck collapse: failure of the connection of the deck to the house.
When a deck is built, standard industry practice is to attach the deck ledger board to the house band
board, using nails, lag bolts, or by through-bolting. Results of the latest independent testing show
these methods to be inadequate to resist designed loads.
Additionally, the band board was not designed as an anchor for another structure. A deck builder cannot
see and verify the quality of its installation or its stability. The reality is that he must assume that
it was properly installed. Typical installation practice leads to eventual band board pullout and deck collapse.
Band board pullout results from the gradual weakening of the nailed connections. Weathering, wood shrinkage, and
minute movement (due to high winds, live load, etc.) all promote this weakening. Around the country, this
weakening has resulted in band board pullout and catastrophic deck collapse.
Recent changes to the International Residential Code (IRC) 2003 address this flaw. The code now requires that
the connection be designed for both vertical and lateral loads.
DeckLok is the engineered solution that satisfies this new IRC requirement. It provides a bolt-through connection
of the deck directly to the house floor joist - a true structural component of the house.
DeckLok attaches with four bolts; two through the floor joist and two through the band board and deck ledger board. These
easy-to-install brackets eliminate deck pullout.
The DeckLok system works with both new construction and with retrofit applications. This system eliminates the added time
and expense of installing a second structural deck beam, columns, and footings.
