Hey everyone, i bought a house in the Bahamas on a small island and need to restrain the deck. Its on a small island, so not really anyone there that knows much about restaining it. They suggest painting it with a water base stain. The house sits right on the Atlantic Ocean and gets a lot of salt spray. I do know that the original owner used Ready Seal semi transparent redwood stain on it about eight years ago. Its pretty worn out from the sun, wind and rain. What would be the best option to restain it in such severe weather? I would like to use a different color shade too, if possible. Any suggestions appreciated.

I live in Wisconsin and deal with crazy weather changes. I see a lot of people say stay away from solid stains, but I've had zero luck with semi stains.

To provide some context of my issue, I have two decks, one it the front of my house and one in the back that are both 5 years old now. I had them stained using Pittsburgh Ultra semi stain and in one year, it started to look like it stripped itself. Very disappointed and thinking maybe someone else can do better, I had a professional come in and they stripped it, used deck brightner, and stain again in an oil based semi stain and they used Cabot. Looked great for about 1.5 years and they looks like crap again. Also looks like I have rot and have to replace some boards now.

I have a pool deck in my back yard exposed to more sun and also is exposed to chemicals for the pool and that deck is 20 years old. I've used solid grey stain from Ace hardware and I have stained it 3 times in 20 years. I just sold the pool a few months ago and they also removed the deck, there was little to no rot and still looks good with the last time I stained it being 5 years ago.

Many posts I read have people saying, "stay away from solid it will peel especially in climates with harsh winters." Well as I mentioned earlier I have had zero luck with semi stains and the solid stains seem to have more UV resistance and have lasted 5 plus years while semi stains seemingly have to be stained every 2 years max no matter how much prep.

Im thinking about going with solid oil based stain on my house decks since I had great luck with it on the pool deck and I get confused how people say semi is easier to maintain. I'm not looking to stain my deck yearly or every 2 years and it's a ton of prep to stain again while semi comes right off when and easily provides a consitant finish that is also easy to apply just using a thin coat or two. I understand solid just is more of a top layer while semi penetrates better, but anything I read online confirms that semi doesn't last as long and requires reapplications about every 1 to 2 years while solid it says every 3 to 5 years. Not sure why so many people are against solid and are for semi other than the look, which I agree, it is nice to see the natural grain and looks better, but I've had zero luck having it last.

Any suggestions? I just pressure washed my decks and I'm about to get them further prepped because I need to stain yet again this year.

Hi everyone, I’m looking to refresh my t&g wood balcony and could use some advice on how to finish the surface.

I want a completely waterproof, durable, and good-looking finish that prevents rain from rotting the wood, especially around the edges.

My plan right now is to sand off all the old coating and add metal edges for extra protection. For the surface itself I’m stuck between two options:

I’m trying to figure out what coating to apply to the surface. I’ve seen two main options online, but I'm getting mixed reviews:
1. Liquid Rubber : Some sources say this creates a great waterproof seal, but others claim it will crack along the T&G seams as the boards expand and move.

1. Waterproof Wood Paint : Looks nice and is easy to apply, but I'm worried it won't hold up to rain or will start peeling off.

Has anyone done this on a T&G wood balcony before? Did liquid rubber hold up for you, or did you go with regular waterproof paint and regret it / love it? Any other suggestions for something that will stay waterproof and still look nice would be really appreciated.
I’m in a warm, humid climate if that helps. Thanks!

Frost line is 48” where my deck is being built

Just finished this for my favorite clients. They wanted an easier way to get in their new hot tub and a place where they could sit and dangle their feet.

I begged them to let me use redwood. It would have been 100 times easier. They wanted something low maintenance, so we used timber tech (weathered teak).

I explained that it was going to be a complete pain to figure out a way to accomplish their vision without any exposed cuts on the synthetic boards. They also didn’t want to see any of the pressure treated frame. They said… “you’ll figure it out. We don’t care what it costs.”

I have an existing 30 year old 14'X22' deck that is 9' above grade. It has a ledger that is connected with 3/4" hanger bolts into the house framing through a brick veneer (this is now against code).

I hired a GC to refurbish the deck and he expected to replace the decking and some of the framing. We didn't need a permit for this, but things got a little more extensive.

The original ledger was bad in a spot so he face mounted a new 2x10 to the existing ledger with screws. However the new 2x10 had a twist and this led to some poor fitting joists. While researching some things, I found that doubling a ledger like this increases the leverage against the brick and makes a failure more likely.

The GC has suggested digging down to the footer of the house which extends 6" from the wall and putting some 6x6 posts flush to the wall and on the footer and cementing them in. These posts would be notched to support the double 2x10 ledger and take the load off of the brick.

Does this seem reasonable?

The decking boards are not installed, but they did put on a knock-off rain escape system. Holding off on anymore work for now.

I know there are Simpson brackets for attaching a ledger through a brick veneer, but they don't support a doubled ledger. So, I would have to trash the existing joists and rain system.

Posts supporting a beam a few feet from the house would also work, but that I want to avoid that if at all possible.

Our deck needs a complete re-face, as our railings have started to rot and fail. We currently have very old, discontinued trex and it's actually held up really well, but unfortunately needs to be updated alongside the railings.

We're currently thinking of doing:

• Trex Jasper boards & drink rail
• Trex signature mesh railing in Bronze, alongside deck
• Trex signature round balluster railing in Bronze, alongside stairs
• Trex signature wedge lights along posts

Would love to know if anyone has any "watchouts" of our selections before we sign the bid. Right now we're thinking of paying higher labor costs for the mesh railing because we like the look & higher visibility, but are wondering if it's really worth the 13k difference. Does anyone have the mesh railings and have opinions?

Pics 1 - 4: Existing house
Pic 5: Top contender boards (we're currently going towards the middle board, Trex Jasper)
Pic 6: Mesh panel railing we want for main deck
Pic 7: Round baluster railing we want for stairs

I'm at the end of this redwood deck and I have about 3" for the last board.

Do I just rip one board to fit? Or divide the space between the last 2 boards? Or 3?

I have an 14 year old wood deck (14x15) that I would like resurfaced to composite with aluminum railings. Only planning to be in the house for 6-8 more years and possibly rent it out or sell (most likely). Objective of project is to enjoy the deck for our remaining years and hopefully enhance home resale value.

Was thinking of Trex Enhanced Naturals or TimberTech Prime+ with Westbury Tuscany C10 railings. Deck and stair fascia matching the decking.

6 step 48” wide stairs would need to be replaced as the stringers are rotting. Existing frame is solid with no rotting but did not have pressure blocking installed. GCs said it looks great overall.

I would demo and dispose of the deck, railings, and stair and provide a bagster for the GC’s waste. Other than blocking added for the picture frame and pressure blocking added on the joists, the remaining frame will be reused. 16” oc with no plans discussed to bring to 12”.

In central MN. Estimates have been in the range of about $15-18k. This range sound about right?

Trex or TimberTech?

Thanks!

Edit: Trex estimates about $13-15k, TimberTech about $15-18k.

Can I keep as-is to pass inspection or are these not up to code? Also doing 3-step stairs - can I get away with just the vertical 2x4s or do I need to cap it with another, horizontal 2x4 (or the like)? Thanks!

Not sure why this one spot seems to be falling apart but looking for idea to patch it vs replacing full board

I have a customer that bought a 2 person coleman inflatable hot tub. It holds 177 gallons of water at maximum and it has a 52" inner diameter, 71" outer diameter. She wants to put it on her deck. At first I thought we just wouldn't want to fill it up all the way but thinking of an estimated 1,100-1,300lbs of water weight over 52" inner diameter that's almost 80lbs per sqft. Right?

Would you consider this safe? or should I suggest another location for the Hot Tub?

EDIT: It has been made clear to me that this is not safe. I will NOT be setting up a hot tub on the deck and will use your insight to help explain to the customer why.

EDIT 2: Now I need to figure out if this deck is safe at all as the 6x6's are connected via bluetooth

Was hiking today and found this absolute beauty of a hunting shack. If they don’t have a hot tub in there yet, they probably need to get one installed ASAP.

My parents are putting in a deck with a traditional sloped roof. The deck looks fine but I am concerned about the structural integrity across the front of the roof. It is a 40 foot span and there are no full length cross members. We live in Idaho and I worry that if there is much snowfall then the weight will make it sag in the middle or fail entirely.

As you can see by the photos, there is a nice seam right down the middle that is held place by the metal plates on the trusses and a single, vertical 2x4 in the back.

They live in a very small town about 30 miles from anything so they hired the local handyman for the work. I am nowhere close to a structural engineer and I tend to be a classic overbuilder so I may just be overthinking this.

Opinons?

Any other subreddits that I may want to cross post?

It’s amazing. It gives you a consistent gap and hides the screws. Give me reasons why you aren’t using this…

The previous owners of our home did lots of DIY that we have had to fix. This deck failed and detached from the posts. How do I frame this?

Help!

Building our first deck, we tore down the old rotted one yesterday and I went to take the nuts off the existing ledger board and noticed there wasn't a rim board. I guess I should have know since floor joist are engineered I-joists. The existing ledge board is just bolted to what im assuming is the osb sheathing. I assuming this is not correct as this seems very weak to me.

My research has not equipped me for this moment, is there a way to connect the new ledger board to the i joists? With blocking or connectors? Really hate to make a complete free standing deck with the amout of rock we had to move for the new foundations. Can't imagine digging more. Thanks, appreciate all the help I can get.

Upper level is 14’x26’, lower is 10’x12.5’. Trex toasted sand with Fortress fe26 42” steel rail. I need to finish the fascia, but feeling incredibly accomplished with how it came out.

First time resurfacing. I know the gaps aren’t great but we saved money and are happy with the results.

Silly us left a few boards on the deck and now we have tan lines. We were planning to stain this here in the next few months, but don’t want to lock these tan lines in.

How would you proceed? My gut says let the rest of it “tan”, and then stain? I appreciate your time and any input you may have

Hi guys,

I just purchased a new construction house 1 year ago. It seems like they built the deck with non-pressure treated wood in upstate NY. That includes the load bearing parts as well. What should I do from now to prevent rot/warpping or is it too late?

Is this my fault for not staining it early on or the builder for not using pressure treated wood?

Are the decks supposed to have permit or get inspected upon completion?

Thanks in advance.

Edit: Thank you all for your feedback. Is sanding the gray area and staining it with Cutek Extreme good enough?

Planning out my deck and just have a really quick question. I’d it better to put my footers so the post will line up with the edge of the deck or have the footers inset a foot or two so they are hidden and have the deck overhang? Is this just personal preference?