10/20/2026
A lot of homeowners ask whether an aging deck can simply be "resurfaced" with new boards to save on cost. The honest answer always comes down to what our carpenter finds underneath.
We were out in Innsbrook this week walking an older deck with our lead carpenter to lay out repair-versus-replace options for the owner. Visually, the decking has taken decades of weather—surface checking, moss growth, and loss of structural tension across the fasteners. Replacing surface boards is mechanically simple, but putting new boards on rotten joists is throwing good money after bad.
When water sits in the micro-gap between the decking and joists, it rots the joist from the top down. During our inspection, we probe joist crowns, check ledger board flashing, verify fastener hold, and inspect post-to-beam bearing points.
If the joists have sufficient sound wood, we can save the substructure by sistering isolated damage, applying protective joist tape, and running new decking. But if moisture infiltration has degraded the framing beyond code-compliant fastener retention, a full teardown to the piers is the only safe path forward. Build it right from the ground up, every time.
Ready to build? Call us at 1 (314) 527-2302 or hit the link in our bio.
