One Quarter (23%) of Homeowners with a Wooden Deck Have Never Fully Inspected It for Safety

Toronto, ON - One quarter (23%) of Canadian homeowners with a wooden deck say that they have never inspected their deck from top to bottom for safety, according to a new Ipsos poll conducted on behalf of SigmaDek. Interestingly, deck owners in Ontario (29%) and Atlantic Canada (28%) are most likely to say they've never inspected the safety of their deck, followed by those living in BC (25%), Alberta (20%), Saskatchewan and Manitoba (18%) and Quebec (16%).

While 53% have inspected their deck a year ago or more recently, others have inspected it less recently than that, including two to five years (20%) ago, six to ten years ago (3%), or more than ten years ago (1%).

Six in ten (62%) homeowners have a wooden deck, and the average deck in Canada is 10 years old. However, 5% of homeowners have a deck that is more than twenty years old. Two in ten (17%) have a deck that is 11 to 20 years old, while 18% say their deck is 6 to 10 years old. Just one in twenty (5%) have a deck that was built a year ago or in the past year, and 17% say their deck is between 2 and 5 years old.

Interestingly, those with a deck this is 11 to 15 years old are most likely (31%) to say that they have never inspected their deck for safety, wear, disrepair and structural stability. But many of those with a deck that is 16 to 20 year old (20%) or over 20 years old (19%) have never inspected their deck.

The state of (dis)repair of many homeowners' decks is so bad that one in ten (11%) of those with a wooden deck `agree' (4% strongly/7% somewhat) that they feel like their deck could collapse any minute', with wooden deck owners in Quebec (16%) being most likely to say so, as are those with a deck older than 20 years (19%). Moreover, a similar proportion (12%) `agrees' (5% strongly/8% somewhat) that the safety of their deck prevents them from using it, including one in five (20%) Quebec wooden deck owners, and 17% of those with a deck older than 20 years.

For many, deck safety is not top of mind. In fact, four in ten (40%) wooden deck owners `agree' (12% strongly/29% somewhat) that they don't really think about how safe their deck is, while six in ten (60%) `disagree' (33% strongly/27% somewhat), suggesting that they do think about its safety. Ideally, eight in ten (80%) `agree' (47% strongly/33% somewhat) that they'd like to enjoy their deck without worrying about its safety, while two in ten (20%) `disagree' (12% strongly/9% somewhat) that they'd rather not think about it.

It's not just the safety of the deck that many would rather avoid thinking about, but the upkeep too. Two in three (68%) wooden deck owners `agree' (27% strongly/41% somewhat) that treating the wood and repairing their deck is a pain', compared to just one in three (32%) who `disagree' (12% strongly/20% somewhat) that they consider this task to be a pain.

Thinking about options other than wood for their home deck, three quarters (76%) of wooden deck owners `agree' (34% strongly/42% somewhat) that they would `choose prefabricated, non-degradable materials instead of wood if it provided an attractive deck that's safer, non-combustible and maintenance-free'. One quarter (24%) of wooden deck owners, however, appear happy with a wooden deck, `disagreeing' (8% strongly/16% somewhat) that they would choose this other material even if it came with these benefits.

Wooden deck owners in BC (84%), Alberta (83%) and Quebec (80%) are most likely to be interested in prefabricated materials that are non-degradable, safer, non-combustible and maintenance free, ahead of those in Saskatchewan and Manitoba (77%), Atlantic Canada (76%) and Ontario (69%). Those aged 55+ are most likely to agree (80%), followed by those aged 35 to 54 (76%) and those 18 to 34 (72%).

These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted between April 6th and 8th, 2015 on behalf of SigmaDek. For this survey, a sample of 1,005Canadian homeowners (including 615 who have a wooden deck) from Ipsos' Canadian online panel was interviewed online. Weighting was then employed to balance demographics to ensure that the sample's composition reflects that of the adult population according to Census data and to provide results intended to approximate the sample universe. The precision of Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll is accurate to within +/ - 3.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, had all Canadian homeowners been polled. The credibility interval will be wider among subsets of the population, including deck owners. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error.

For more information on this news release, please contact:

Sean Simpson
Vice President
Ipsos Public Affairs
(416) 572-4474
[email protected]

About Ipsos

Ipsos is an independent market research company controlled and managed by research professionals. Founded in France in 1975, Ipsos has grown into a worldwide research group with a strong presence in all key markets. Ipsos ranks third in the global research industry.

Ipsos has been listed on the Paris Stock Exchange since 1999 and generated global revenues of e1,669.5 ($2,218.4 million) in 2014.

With offices in 87 countries, Ipsos delivers insightful expertise across five research specializations: brand, advertising and media, customer loyalty, marketing, public affairs research, and survey management.

Ipsos researchers assess market potential and interpret market trends. They develop and build brands. They help clients build long-term relationships with their customers. They test advertising and study audience responses to various media and they measure public opinion around the globe.

Visit www.ipsos.com to learn more about Ipsos' offerings and capabilities.