Which deck or balcony problems mean I should stop using it until it is fixed?
Short answer
Stop using a deck or balcony right away if the ledger has pulled away from the house even slightly, a railing post moves at its base, a beam or joist probes soft, a post has shifted off its footing, or the platform sags or tilts. Those are structural failures in progress, not maintenance items. Loose boards, popped screws and gray finish can wait for a repair visit. Structure cannot. Keep people and heavy objects off until it has been opened up and checked.
Two kinds of deck problems
Most things that go wrong with a deck are annoying rather than dangerous. A cupped board, a screw head that has backed out, a finish that has gone gray, a picket that rattles. Those belong on a repair list, and the deck can be used while you wait.
A smaller set of problems involve the structure that holds the platform up and the guard that keeps people on it. When one of those is failing, the deck can go from feeling fine to failing completely with no further warning, because wood structure often fails suddenly once a connection lets go. Those are the problems that mean stop using it now.
Stop-use conditions at the house connection
The ledger is the board bolted to the house that carries one end of every joist on an attached deck. Look at the gap between the ledger and the wall. Any visible separation, even a quarter inch, means the fasteners are no longer doing their job or the framing behind them has rotted. Look for the deck surface sloping away from the house when it used to be level. Look at the wall below the ledger for staining, bulging stucco or a line of peeling paint, which tell you water has been getting behind it for a long time.
A ledger that is moving is the single most serious thing you can find on a deck. Keep everyone off until it has been inspected from underneath.
Stop-use conditions in the frame and posts
Take a screwdriver or awl under the deck and press it into the beam ends, the joist ends and the bottom of every post. Sound wood stops it. Rot lets it sink in with little resistance. A beam or joist that probes soft at a bearing point has lost the part of itself that was carrying the load.
Look at the post bases. A post that is sitting in soil, standing in a puddle, or has slid off its concrete pier has no reliable support. A post that is split along its length, or that has visibly leaned, is in the same category. Then stand at the far corner and sight across the deck. A sag in the middle of a span or a corner that sits lower than it used to means a member below has given way.
- Beam, joist or post that probes soft at a bearing point
- Post off its footing, in soil, or visibly leaning
- Sag, dip or tilt you can see by eye
- Hangers with missing nails or rusted through
- Cracked or heaving footing
Stop-use conditions at the railing
Push hard on the top rail at each post. A railing that moves noticeably at the base of a post, or that flexes the rim joist behind it, will not stop a person who stumbles into it. On a second-story balcony that is a fall from height. Keep people, especially children, away from that side until the post connection has been rebuilt. Where the rim joist behind the post is soft, the fix is structural, not a few new screws.
A loose railing on a ground-level deck is less urgent, but it should still be the first thing repaired.
What can wait
Surface problems can wait for a scheduled visit. Boards that are cupped, checked or gray. Fastener heads standing proud. A picket that has split. A stair tread that is worn but solid. Finish that has failed. These are worth fixing before they become rot, but they are not reasons to tape off the deck.
When something is in between, treat it as structural until you know otherwise. Shoring a questionable beam with a temporary post from below is cheap insurance while you arrange an inspection. Levi can open up and scope a deck or balcony in North County and tell you plainly which category each problem falls into.
Related questions
The deck feels fine when I walk on it. Can it still be unsafe?
Yes. Decks usually feel normal right up until a connection fails, because the fasteners and the rotted wood around them are hidden. Feel is not a test. Probing and looking at the connections is.
Can I just avoid the bad spot and keep using the rest of the deck?
Not when the problem is the ledger, a beam or a post, because those carry the whole platform rather than one area. A soft board or a single bad joist under a small area is different, and a temporary barrier over that spot is reasonable.
How quickly should a stop-use problem be repaired?
As soon as it can be scoped and scheduled. Shoring from below is a sensible same-day measure. The repair itself depends on how far the damage goes, which is only known once the framing is exposed.