Deck Repair & Replacement in Tacoma, WA

Deck repair and replacement in Tacoma usually starts with the same question: how far has the water gotten in? Decks here spend most of the year wet, and rot rarely shows on the surface first. It starts where water sits: at the ledger board against the house, on the tops of joists under the boards, at the base of posts, and at the ends of stair stringers. Before we quote a repair or a replacement, we probe those spots with an awl and look underneath, so you know what you are paying to fix.

Signs a deck needs attention

• Boards that feel soft or spongy, or split around the fasteners
• A railing that moves when you lean on it
• Stairs that wobble, or stringers that are dark and soft at the bottom
• Posts with rot at the base or that sit in soil or standing water
• Rust on hangers, bolts or screws
• A gap opening between the deck and the house, or a ledger with no flashing
• Moss and green growth that keeps coming back in the same places

Repair, resurface or replace

If the framing is sound, replacing damaged boards, railing sections or stair treads is often enough. If the frame is solid but the surface is worn out, resurfacing puts new decking on the existing joists, sometimes switching from wood to composite. If the ledger, many joists or the posts are rotted, replacing the deck is usually safer and not much more expensive than piecemeal fixes. Fixr puts same-size replacement at about $20 to $70 per square foot including removal, and Angi lists the average repair at about $2,250.

The ledger connection

The ledger is where most serious deck failures begin. An old deck may be nailed to the house instead of bolted, or have no flashing, letting water run behind the ledger and into the house rim joist. When we replace or rebuild, the ledger is bolted to the house framing, flashed so water sheds away from the wall, and paired with the lateral load connections the residential code calls for. If water has damaged the house framing behind the old ledger, we show you before covering it up.

When a permit applies

Replacing a few boards or railing pickets usually does not need a permit. Rebuilding the structure of an attached deck, or a deck more than 30 inches above grade, generally does. We check with the City of Tacoma or your local permit office and include the permit in the quote when one is required.

Older decks and new code

Many decks in Tacoma were built decades ago, before current guard heights, baluster spacing and ledger rules. A repair does not always trigger bringing the whole deck up to today's code, but a rebuild does. We tell you what an inspector will expect so there are no surprises.