Decks and porches

Signs Your Deck Needs Repair

Soft boards, wobbly rails and rusty hardware are warning signs. Here's how to check your deck and what to do next.

Decks wear out slowly, and that's what makes problems easy to miss. A board gets a little soft, a railing gets a little loose, and one day it's a real safety issue. Here's how to check your deck and spot the signs it needs repair.

Walk-Around Checklist

Check your deck at least once a year, and after any big storm. Bring a flat screwdriver and a flashlight.

On top

• Soft or spongy boards. Press with your foot, then probe with the screwdriver. Pay extra attention to spots that stay damp: under planters, near downspouts, and around the edges.
• Cracked, split or cupped boards. Small surface checks are normal. Deep splits or boards that have warped up at the edges can trip people and let water in.
• Popped nails or loose screws. These are trip hazards and a sign the wood is moving.
• Mildew or algae. Slick boards are a slip risk, especially on stairs.

Railings and stairs

• Wobbly railings or posts. Grab the rail and push. It should feel solid, not sway.
• Loose or missing balusters. Gaps between balusters are there to keep small kids from slipping through.
• Loose, cracked or soft stair treads.
• Rotted stair stringers, the angled boards that hold the treads. These often rot where they touch the ground.
• No handrail on stairs, or one that isn't sturdy.

Underneath

• Ledger board. This is the board that attaches the deck to the house. Look for rot, gaps between it and the house, missing flashing, or water stains on the house siding below. A failing ledger is one of the most serious deck problems.
• Posts. Probe the bottoms where they meet the ground or footing. Look for rot, cracks or leaning.
• Beams and joists. Look for sagging, soft spots, splits or dark water stains.
• Hardware. Check joist hangers, bolts, screws and brackets for rust or missing fasteners.

What the Signs Mean

Usually a simple repair

• A few soft or cracked deck boards
• Popped nails
• A loose baluster or two
• One worn stair tread
• Surface mildew

Needs attention soon

• A wobbly railing or post
• Rusty hangers or brackets
• Several soft boards in the same area
• Stairs that flex or bounce

Stop using that part of the deck

• Rot in the ledger, posts or beams
• A deck that sways or bounces when you walk on it
• Leaning posts
• A gap opening up between the deck and the house

If you see anything in that last group, keep people off the deck until it's been looked at.

A Few Things You Can Fix Yourself

Some small fixes are fine for a handy homeowner:

1. Popped nails: Pull them and replace with deck screws one size longer, driven into solid wood.
2. A single cracked board: Unscrew it, cut a new board to length, and screw it down to the joists with two screws at each joist. Use wood rated for outdoor and ground contact where needed.
3. Mildew: Clean with a deck cleaner and a stiff brush. Our guide on deck maintenance in Georgia humidity covers cleaning and sealing.

If the joist under a soft board is soft too, stop. That's a sign the problem goes deeper than the decking.

Why Decks Rot Here

West Georgia's humidity, summer storms and shade from big trees keep wood damp longer. Anything that traps water speeds up rot: leaves in the gaps, planters sitting flat on the boards, a downspout dumping onto the deck, or soil piled up against posts. Fixing those habits helps any repair last longer.

Repair or Replace?

We get asked this a lot, and the answer depends on what's underneath. If the frame (posts, beams, joists and ledger) is solid, replacing boards, railings and stairs can give a deck a lot more life. If the frame is rotted in several places, putting new boards on it isn't a good use of your money.

We'll give you an honest read either way. Our deck repair service covers boards, railings, stairs and hardware. If it's time for a fresh start, we also do deck building. For porches, which have a lot of the same problems, see porch repair.

Send Us a Photo

The easiest first step is to text a few pictures of the problem spots to (706) 594-5049. Or request a free estimate online. Pricing depends on the job, and the estimate is free.