Deck repair
On a sloped Atlanta lot the deck is often a full storey above the yard, which turns the frame from a detail into the whole job. The failures we find are consistent: posts buried directly in red clay that stays wet and rots them at grade, footings too small or too shallow for the load, joists softened along their tops, notched posts, and no diagonal bracing on a structure tall enough to need it. We repair in place where the rest of the frame is good - sistering joists, replacing posts, adding bracing - and say plainly when it is not.
Atlanta's hills put a lot of decks a full storey or more above the back yard, off the main floor of a house with a walk-out basement. At that height the structure carries real load and real leverage: long posts, long spans, and a lot of weight hanging off one side of the house. The frame is not a detail on those decks. It is the deck.
Posts set straight into the ground, where red clay holds water against the wood and rots it at grade. Footings that are too small, too shallow, or were never there. Posts notched to carry the beam instead of bearing it properly. Joists softened along their tops. Rusted hangers, or no hangers at all. And on tall decks, no diagonal bracing, which is why a deck sways when a group of people moves across it.
Most of this is repairable without starting over. Failed joists get sistered or replaced. Rotted posts get replaced and lifted out of the dirt onto proper footings with a post base. Beams get properly supported. Bracing gets added. We do the work in a sequence that keeps the deck supported throughout, and structural work normally carries a permit, which we handle. If the ledger has also failed, we fix it in the same visit; if most of the frame is gone, replacement is the better spend and we will tell you.
Typical on hillside lots in Sandy Springs, East Cobb, Roswell, Dunwoody, Smyrna and Decatur.
How long does it take? Days rather than weeks, but new footings need concrete cure time and structural work normally needs a permit.
These usually turn up on the same inspection:
The board that bolts the deck to the house - the most common serious failure, and the one that also lets water into your wall.
Learn More →Soft boards, loose railings, bouncy framing - we find the cause underneath and fix that, not just the symptom on top.
Learn More →Tear-out and rebuild when the frame is past saving - built to current code, in pressure-treated or composite.
Learn More →Free - No Obligation
Two minutes. We call you back the same day.