Small repair on a wash visit

Deck board replacement

This is a small exterior fix on a cleaning visit, not a licensed trade, and it is refused when it is plumbing, electrical, or structural.

A rotten or split board or two.

A rotten or split board or two gets replaced, usually before the deck is washed, because washing a soft board fails it faster. I probe the soft spots first.

Joists, beams, posts and a whole deck frame are a carpenter. If more boards are soft than the quote covered, I stop and tell you.

What I check

• Every board with a screwdriver, not just the one you noticed.
• The joist under a bad board. If the joist is soft, the board is not the problem.
• Rails and steps, because that is where people put their weight.

When a board is worth it

A sound deck with one or two bad boards is worth fixing. The new board will look newer than the rest until it weathers, and I tell you that up front. If a lot of boards are soft, the money is better spent on a carpenter looking at the frame.

What I won't touch

Joists, beams, posts, footings, stairs that are pulling away, and the ledger where the deck meets the house. Those are structural, and they are a carpenter.

What to have ready

A photo of the bad board, a wide one of the whole deck, and the board size if you know it. Tell me if the deck is wood or composite. Send them here, and see deck cleaning if you want the wash on the same visit.

The price is agreed before anything comes off the house. If opening it up shows more than the quote covered, I stop and we talk.

Call (706) 415-7564Send a photo of it

Longer answer: When a deck needs a board, not a wash · Every small repair I do, and what I won't