The exact cause of a deck collapse at a Germantown house that sent six people to the hospital remains under investigation, but an official with the Montgomery County Department of Permitting Services said Monday the deck failed at the “ledger attachment” — where the deck meets the townhouse.
“Most of these catastrophic collapses are happening at that point,” said Jeremy Schupp, who handles residential inspections and code compliance. Schupp said the deck at the Walnut Cove Circle house in Germantown was 33 years old, according to county records.
Schupp said the county has made requirements more stringent since 2018. “Instead of just being able to screw this deck to your house, we actually require through-bolts. So we actually want to see those bolts going from the outside to the inside of the house.”