All decks even those that are well maintained and well protected from our harsh climate will eventually need some deck repair work done.  With many years industry experience I can assure you that if you do not quickly make the deck repairs needed, the cost for the growing repair work that will be needed will start to escalate.  Good deck repairs can keep a deck looking good and being of sound construction for 10 plus years, depending on the type of wood, the location of your deck and the quality of the original deck builder’s work.

Wood Rot

Wood rot is one of the deck repairs that really does need to be addressed as quickly as possible.  Common causes of wood rot is leaking gutters, water pooling on an uneven deck and railings and stairs where the seal has worn off.

Firstly the cause of the rot needs to be determined, if it is a broken gutter for example this should be fixed.  Then all rotten boards should be removed and replaced with new sealed timber boards.  As the new boards will be a different colour to your aged timber boards you can re-stain the entire deck so that the boards blend in or alternatively you can paint your deck.  Painting a deck has both pros and cons.

Boards Faded in Colour

Over time if not regularly maintained the timber boards of even covered decks will fade usually into a gray colour as it ages.  To revitalise your deck you could try cleaning it and if that is not sufficient you may consider sanding the boards to expose the natural timber underneath.  Obviously whether your clean or sand your boards you will need to seal them again to protect them.  There is also again the option of painting your deck.

Cracked or Warped Boards

Cracked or warped deck boards need to be removed and replaced.  If most of your deck is sound then replacing a couple of deck boards is an easy fix.  The fastening of the boards need to be removed and then the boards themselves lifted and an exact replacement cut. The boards should then be either screwed or nailed in place.  Naturally one then needs to stain and seal the replacement boards trying to match them in as close as possible to the existing boards.

Protruding Nails

Protruding nails are a hazard and should be removed or re-inserted into the timber.  It is often quicker in the long run to remove a protruding nail and replace it with a screw than to hammer down the nail to only find it soon protrudes again.  If you want to keep uniformity of fasteners then you can replace the nail with a new one of similar size.

If you have a decking board that has many protruding nails and has not weather all that well it may be a good solution to remove all the fasteners, lift out the boards and then replace it back, turning it over with the underside of the board now showing on top of the deck.