New elevated deck with railings and a long stair run to grade, Dacula, Georgia
Diagnosis before demolition
Deck Repair and Replacement
Most deck problems announce themselves in the surface and live in the frame. Knowing which one you have is the whole job.
Northwest Georgia and the north Atlanta metro
Cosmetic, or structural
Almost every deck complaint sorts into one of two piles. Gray wood, splinters, cupped boards, a stain that has given up. That pile is cosmetic.
It looks bad, it's cheap to put right, and none of it is dangerous. Softness, movement, a rail that gives, a stair tread that has dropped. That pile is structural.
It rarely looks as bad as the first pile. It's the one that matters. The trouble is that homeowners meet the cosmetic pile every day and the structural pile once. So the deck gets sanded and stained, and the joist carries on rotting under a fresh coat.
What a soft board is actually telling you
A deck board is short. It spans from one joist to the next and very little else is asked of it.
So when a board dips underfoot, the board is usually fine. What has moved is the joist holding it, or the hanger holding the joist. Water gets into the top of a joist through the gap between two deck boards. It sits there in the shade of the decking and never fully dries.
Which is why joists rot from the top down while the boards over them still look reasonable.
Posts, and the line where soil meets air
A post rarely rots in the middle. It rots in a band a few inches either side of grade, where wood is wet often and dry often.
Push the base of each post sideways. A post that rocks has either lost its footing or lost its ankle. Two different repairs, two different prices.
Rails and stairs, which fail differently
Rails come loose because the posts holding them are fastened to a rim joist that has softened. The rail itself is rarely the problem, and refastening into bad wood buys a few months.
Stairs drop because the stringer is sitting on dirt. Once the bottom of a stringer wicks water it goes quickly, and the tread nearest the ground is the one that gives.
Repair, resurface or rebuild
Repair is right when the structure is sound and the damage is in one area. Resurfacing is right when the frame is good and only the walking surface is finished. Rebuilding is right when the failures are in the frame itself.
Once posts, beams or the ledger are coming out, you're already most of the way to a new deck. Paying twice for the same work is the outcome nobody wants.
Related pages
If the answer turns out to be a new deck, deck building covers how the structure gets put back. If the answer is a fresh surface, staining and sealing is the finish and composite decking is the swap. Loose rails and dropped stair runs live on the railings and stairs page. To think it through before calling anyone, choosing between decking, fencing and patio materials lays out the trade-offs, and cleaning and sealing a deck covers what regular care actually prevents.
Twenty seven people have reviewed our work on Google and every one of them gave five stars. Read them, or send us the details.
Our work
Finished deck repair jobs
New deck with roof structure and stair access built onto a manufactured home, Dalton, Georgia
Stair treads landing on the poured concrete pad, Stockbridge, Georgia
Long switchback accessibility ramp in pressure-treated lumber with full-height railings, rising through wooded ground to an elevated rear entry, Woodstock, Georgia
Evening view of the extended deck above the new covered space, Cumming, Georgia
Finished deck at dusk, Adairsville, Georgia
Fire pit and seating on the patio below, Cumming, Georgia
Deck rebuilt in Trex with black metal railings, over a poured concrete landing at the foot of the stairs, Stockbridge, Georgia
New elevated deck and screened porch on a brick home, with a pergola structure at grade below, McDonough, Georgia
New elevated deck with railings and a long stair run to grade, Dacula, Georgia
New deck with roof structure and stair access built onto a manufactured home, Dalton, Georgia
Long switchback accessibility ramp in pressure-treated lumber with full-height railings, rising through wooded ground to an elevated rear entry, Woodstock, Georgia
What actually happens
How we work out what's wrong
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From underneath, with a screwdriver
Sound wood pushes back. Wood that has gone soft takes a blade with almost no pressure. Ten minutes under a deck answers more questions than an hour standing on it.
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The three places that go first
Where the deck meets the house, where posts meet the ground, and where stair stringers land. Failures cluster at joints and at the soil line because that's where water stops moving.
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Load, not looks
We lean on rails, walk the middle of the longest span and watch the frame, not the boards. Movement travels. A rail that moves can be a rail problem or a rim joist problem.
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A straight answer, in two parts
What has to be done now, and what can wait a season or two. Those are different lists and you should get both of them before you decide anything.
Questions we get asked
Before you call
How do I know if it's the boards or the frame?
Boards that are gray, splintered or cupped are a surface problem. Boards that flex, dip or feel spongy under one foot are usually telling you about the joist beneath them. If the whole deck moves when somebody crosses it, the movement is in the frame or the posts.
Can you replace just the boards?
Yes, when the frame under them is sound, and that's checked first. Laying new decking over tired joists buys a few seasons and hides what's really happening. We'll tell you if that's what you're about to pay for.
Part of my deck came down in a storm. Do you do that kind of work?
Yes. Storm damage is usually easier to price than slow rot because the failure is visible. The question worth asking is whether the rest of the run was already weak and the storm simply found it first.
At what point is replacing cheaper than repairing?
When the frame is the problem, not the surface. Once posts, beams or the ledger have to come out, most of the deck is already coming apart, and rebuilding costs less than repairing it twice. Repairs make sense when the structure is sound and the damage is local.
Where we work
Where we take repair calls
Something feel wrong underfoot?
Describe it on the phone and we'll tell you what we need to see. English or Spanish, whichever is easier.