Bothell's wet winters and shaded yards are hard on wood decks. Everett Deck Repair works in Bothell. We check the boards, framing, ledger and railings, then tell you what needs fixing now and what can wait. Call (425) 010-0006 or request an estimate below.

What Bothell weather does to a deck

Bothell's weather is wet and mild. Rain usually starts in autumn and stays until spring, and tall firs and cedars shade a lot of yards. That's hard on wood. Boards on a shaded deck can stay damp for weeks, which gives moss, algae and rot a long season to work. Freezes don't usually last long, but water that soaks into a cracked board and then freezes can widen the crack a little more each winter.

The age and style of the house matter too. Older parts of town have ranch and split-level homes whose decks were added or rebuilt over the years, sometimes by different builders with different ideas about flashing and fasteners. Newer subdivisions on the hills often have raised decks off a kitchen or main living floor, with tall posts and a long drop to a sloped yard. Those decks are fine when they're built properly. But they put more load on the ledger and the posts, so a problem there is more serious than a soft board on a deck at ground level.

What we usually find on Bothell decks

Most calls start with something small: a board that flexes underfoot, a railing that moves when you lean on it, or a dark stain that won't scrub off. Here's what those usually mean.

A soft or spongy board often means rot has started where the board sits on a joist. Water collects there and dries slowest. The top of the board can look fine while the underside is gone. Black streaks on the siding below the deck often mean water is getting behind the ledger board, the piece that bolts the deck to the house. That's the connection we take most seriously, because if it fails, the whole deck can pull away from the wall.

A wobbly railing usually comes from loose or rusted fasteners at the posts, or from a post that has rotted at its base. A green film and slippery boards mean moss and algae from the shade. Gray, splintering wood means the finish wore off a while ago and the wood soaks up water every time it rains. Posts set straight into soil, or on footings that have settled on a slope, show up as a deck that tilts or a door threshold that no longer lines up.

Deck services we offer in Bothell

In Bothell we offer the same services as everywhere else we work.

Deck Repair covers everyday fixes: replacing damaged boards, tightening or replacing fasteners, re-securing stairs and straightening sagging sections. Rot Repair goes further. We cut out rotted joists, beams or posts and replace them with sound framing. Deck Inspection is a careful look at the whole structure, including the ledger, flashing, posts, footings and railings, so you know what you're dealing with before you spend money.

Deck Railing work means fixing loose railings or putting in new ones. Deck Staining and Sealing protects sound wood from the rain, and on a shaded Bothell deck it's worth keeping up. Composite Decking is an option if you want boards that never need stain. The framing underneath still has to be sound, and it still needs checking.

When a deck can't be repaired, Deck Replacement means taking it down and building a new one, often with the same layout you're used to. Deck Building is for adding a deck where there wasn't one, or a bigger one. Emergency Deck Repair handles urgent problems, like a collapsed stair or a broken railing on a raised deck, during our regular hours. We don't work after hours. If something fails at night, keep everyone off the deck and call us when we open.

Repair or replace

A tired deck doesn't always have to come down. If the framing is sound and the problems are limited to surface boards, a railing or a few soft spots, repairing it usually makes sense. New boards can go on old joists if the joists are solid and spaced right for the new material.

Replacing starts to make sense when rot has spread through several joists or a beam, when the ledger went in without proper flashing and the wall behind it is damaged, or when the posts and footings need to be redone anyway. By then you're paying to rebuild most of the structure, and a new deck may cost less over time than a long string of repairs. We'll tell you which side of that line your deck is on and why. The decision is yours.

What a visit looks like

When we come to a home in Bothell, we first ask what you've noticed and how you use the deck. Then we look at it from above and below. We probe the boards and framing for soft wood and check the ledger and flashing where the deck meets the house. We also look at the posts, footings and beam connections, and test the railings and stairs by hand.

If we can get underneath, we do. On a raised deck over a slope, the underside tells us much more than the top. Afterward we walk you through what we found: what needs attention now, what can wait, and what can be left alone. If you decide to go ahead, we explain the scope of the work before anything starts.

How to book

Call us at (425) 010-0006 or email info@deckrepaireverett.com. We're open Monday to Friday from 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM and Saturday from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM. We're closed Sunday. It helps to know roughly how high the deck is, what it's made of and what you've noticed. Photos help too. Use the Request a Deck Estimate button on this page and we'll get back to you to find a time that works.

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Get Started

Tell us what your deck is doing

Call (425) 010-0006 or send a note through the form. Tell us about the deck and what you have noticed, and we will set up a time to look at it.