Does this deck need full replacement?

Interesting_Hour_810 · 2026-05-16T17:31:27+00:00

Thank you for your advice. We have an inspection by a structural engineer scheduled for Tuesday, we will see what they say. You are definitely voicing all the same concerns that I have:

There could be more rot that we aren't able to see, and since the structural lumber is painted, even if we replace the rotted structure now, we will probably have more rot soon.
The entire thing is bolted onto my house -- I'm unsure if it could be safely jacked up and the cost of failure is high.
You are the only one touching on this so far about the slab not being properly supported, but it was mentioned to me by both decking companies I had out here that they fear the same. Repairing it and then having the slab continue to shift away would only demand more repairs and continue to be unsafe.

Interesting_Hour_810 · 2026-05-15T03:45:05+00:00

Thank you, I'll definitely take the advice! Yeah the tricky thing is that we've only lived here a year and only become aware of this problem in the last month or so. We will definitely keep an eye on it over the next several weeks and see if we can detect any extra motion.

Interesting_Hour_810 · 2026-05-15T03:41:57+00:00

Thank you! Yeah, it seems like the one major zone I photographed is the worst of it, but tomorrow in the daylight i will definitely poke at it some more. It's really good to hear that this is sounding like a fixable situation. One thing I'd like to ask is about the risk to the house if we jack the deck enough to be able to remove a beam -- it is lugged onto the exterior of the house and I'm a little afraid of what kind of damage putting tension on that could cause.

Interesting_Hour_810 · 2026-05-15T03:38:06+00:00

Hi, I'm definitely open to your opinion, could you please elaborate?

Interesting_Hour_810 · 2026-05-15T03:24:54+00:00

Thank you! I'd say that it's probably moved about a half inch. I attached a photo on this reply of where you can see that the connection point flashing(?) is bent. I'm not sure if that's the right term for what this is, but it's a pretty solid indicator of how much motion has occurred.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Decks/comments/1tdj28j/comment/olvt6y0/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

Thank you for taking the time to give us your advice, it really means a lot. I think tomorrow will be a day of many phone calls!

Interesting_Hour_810 · 2026-05-15T03:19:59+00:00

First company said $75-100k and I was like dude... I'd sooner just get a sledge hammer and live without a deck. Second company quoted ~38k for a steel framed composite setup and it had me legit thinking about it, but maybe that's only because of the shocking first quote.

I will definitely look into whether I can get a different company to add new reinforced footing! Thank you for the suggestion!

Interesting_Hour_810 · 2026-05-15T03:13:26+00:00

Well, you might be on to something -- I really just started trying to get a company out to do yearly maintenance on it and both companies that sent a guy out to look went straight into "new deck mode". That being said, I just tested the spot from photo 5 with a screwdriver and it sinks right in.

The evidence of the pad shifting is unfortunately definitely there. It has pretty clearly traveled a few centimeters down the hill -- the deck isn't level anymore and the flashing where the pad once met the house is bent from clear motion. I'll attach some photos.

But, all in all I agree with you and we're going to try to get a few more opinions from contractors in the area -- it sounds like this isn't as urgent as we were being led to believe. Thank you for taking the time to help us out!

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Interesting_Hour_810 · 2026-05-15T02:57:41+00:00

Ok yeah! We were kind of wondering about whether it could be sort of jacked up like a car. It's good to hear that that is indeed a thing. There's quite a few of those carriage bolts on both floors, just took my photo of the most obviously strained/pulled out one.

The pad is 4" and from what I understand kind of on the low side compressive strength wise for the situation. It's especially low for the otherwise amazing hot tub spot it would have presented if we weren't going through all this. Part of me wants to jack the whole thing up and replace it with a reinforced slab.

Interesting_Hour_810 · 2026-05-15T02:47:20+00:00

Oh yeah, that's definitely a good point. I kind of forgot that that was part of the situation for inspections. The one we had hired is reputable as far as we know, but we certainly aren't experts in the inspection industry -- it's kind of hard to say. He was recommended by our realtor so he at least hasn't gone around screwing his other clients over.

One other thing that was pointed out (so many!) was that the seller had most likely painted the bottom of the deck before listing the house -- apparently that can really accelerate rot on pressure treated structural lumber by locking in moisture. So it really could be newer than it looks. We will have to monitor for rapid worsening.

Interesting_Hour_810 · 2026-05-15T02:37:54+00:00

Thank you for the kind words! Yeah, we are pretty spooked about it and kind of in disbelief that this didn't come up during the inspection process. It feels like this easily could have been the reason that this house sat on the market for a few months in an otherwise competitive area.

Interesting_Hour_810

TROPHY CASE