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Hello, I'm currently redoing my balcony and while I was pulling up the old decking I've found that the joist brackets are fairly warped and have loose nails. The balcony itself is front supported and the joists still seem to be sitting quite squarely in against the wall. Wondering if just bashing in the loose ones will be fine or if this could indicate bigger problems down the line and I should consider adding some screws or something?
I'm very much an amateur at building so any other advice I may not be considering would be very much appreciated.
Thank you!
Here are pictures of either side of the board and as much of the whole thing as I could fit into frame (excuse the belly) there's a few mm of space on the right side, not quite as much on the left. Please don't judge me too harshly on the straightness of the cuts, my first time using a jigsaw and it was struggling to get through those boards. So basically it is wedged in tight with the door frame, didn't notice any flexing of the frame as I was bashing it in though and the door still opens and closes fine. I do have some issues with the door being a bit sticky when it's wet and cold already though and as you can probably tell, the whole frame isn't in exactly the best shape. Will probably have to do something about that at some point too. At any rate I would greatly appreciate any insight into whether or not this will be an immediate or longer term issue.
Thank you very much.
Hi @GoughWitlof,
Most of the expansion happens laterally, so the gaps on either end of the decking board are good.
I don't think there is any real need to remove it or alter anything. It looks like a snug fit, but nothing seems to be bulging out or cracking.
The only thing I would suggest is running a bead of clear silicone between the top of the decking board and the door frame to prevent water from getting underneath the door frame and sitting there slowly rotting it out.
You can use How To Silicone a Gap as an example of what is involved.
Jacob
