Deck Post and Footing Repair in Everett, WA

Deck post and footing repair means cutting out posts that have rotted or shifted and fixing the concrete or pier blocks they stand on. It is for Everett homeowners whose deck leans, bounces, sits lower on one side, or has a post that feels soft at the base. The work is done from the ground up, so the deck keeps its existing frame and surface wherever that is sound.

Signs a deck post or footing has failed

Posts and footings carry the whole deck down into the soil, so when one gives way the symptoms show up everywhere else first. Most homeowners notice a problem in the boards or railing before they ever look at the post.

This page covers the support points under the deck. If you are still working out what is wrong across the whole structure, our deck repair page explains the full range of work we do. The signs below point specifically at posts and footings.

• A corner or edge of the deck sits lower than it did, or water now pools against the house side.
• The deck sways or racks when you walk across it or lean on the railing.
• A screwdriver sinks into the base of a post, or the wood crumbles and looks stringy.
• A post has tilted, or the gap between the post and its beam has opened up.
• A concrete pier has cracked, tipped, or settled into the ground at an angle.
• Doors that open onto the deck stick, or boards near one post have started to dip.

Why deck posts rot at the base

Almost every rotted post fails at the same place: the bottom few inches, where wood meets wet ground or wet concrete. Moisture sits there longest and dries slowest.

Posts buried or boxed in at grade

Older decks often have posts set straight into the ground or sunk into a concrete collar. Water collects around the wood and has nowhere to go, so the post decays from the outside in while the top still looks fine. A post can lose most of its strength before any rot is visible.

Pressure-treated lumber cut and left exposed

Pressure-treated posts resist rot because the preservative soaks in from the surface. When a post is notched, drilled or cut to length and the exposed end is not treated, that open end wicks up water. Rot then starts from the cut face and the bolt holes.

Posts sitting flat on a footing

A post set directly on a flat concrete surface holds water at its end grain. A metal standoff base lifts the wood a small distance off the concrete and lets it dry between rains. Its absence is one of the most common reasons we find a soft post on a deck that is otherwise in decent shape.

How we replace a rotted deck post

Replacing a post means taking the load off it, so the first job is supporting the beam. We set adjustable steel jack posts or cribbing under the beam beside the bad post, and raise it only enough to unload the old one. Raising it further risks cracking the boards and pulling fasteners loose.

Then the sequence is the same on most decks:

• Cut out the rotted post and check the beam end, the footing top and the connecting hardware for damage.
• Cut a new pressure-treated post, rated for ground contact where it needs to be, and seal every cut end before it goes in.
• Fix it to the footing with a galvanized or stainless post base, and tie it to the beam with a post cap or through-bolts, not toenailed screws.
• Plumb the post in both directions, then lower the beam onto it and remove the temporary support.
• Check the nearby joists and beam end for rot. If the damage has spread, joist and beam repair is done in the same visit.

Fixing sinking, tilted or cracked footings

A footing fails in one of three ways: it settles, it tips, or the concrete itself breaks down. Each calls for a different fix, so we dig down and look before deciding.

Precast pier blocks and surface pads

Many older decks sit on precast concrete blocks laid on the ground with no real foundation. They shift when the soil softens and move again as it dries out. These are rarely worth re-levelling. We usually replace them with poured footings dug to the depth the local building department requires.

Poured concrete footings

A proper footing is a poured concrete pier, often a round form tube, set on undisturbed soil below the frost line and wider at the base than the post. Where one has cracked or tilted, we cut it out and pour a new one. Where it has only settled, we may be able to lift the post and shim or rebuild the top of the pier.

Helical piers and added footings

If the soil will not hold a standard footing, a helical steel pier screwed down to firmer ground is an option. Sometimes the answer is adding a footing partway along a long beam span, which cuts the load on the footings that were sinking.

What Everett soil and rain do to footings

Everett gets about 35.71 inches of rain a year, most of it from October to March. That long wet season keeps the ground around footings saturated for months, which is hard on wood posts and on soft fill.

The ground itself varies. Parts of the Port Gardner Peninsula sit on loamy soil with gravelly glacial outwash, which drains well. Other parts of the city have ravines, creek drainage and fill. A footing on well-drained gravel behaves very differently from one on loose backfill beside a downspout, so we dig and test each location instead of assuming.

Water routing matters as much as the concrete. A downspout that empties beside a footing, or a grade that slopes toward the deck, will undermine the best-built pier. We point out drainage problems when we see them, because fixing a footing without fixing the water usually means doing the job twice.

Repair, replace or rebuild: how to decide

A single rotted post with a sound footing and beam is a straightforward repair. Two or three bad posts on the same deck usually mean the whole support system is at the end of its life, and patching one at a time costs more over the years than doing them together.

We lean toward rebuilding when footings have settled unevenly, when posts are buried in the ground, or when rot has reached the ledger or the beam. If rot has spread into surrounding wood, our rot repair work covers cutting it out and rebuilding the framing around it.

Whatever we recommend, we tell you what we found and why. A visit includes checking each post with a probe, looking at the connections and measuring how far the deck has dropped, so the quote matches what is actually wrong.

Keeping new posts and footings dry

Once the support is rebuilt, a few habits keep it that way. Keep soil, mulch and plants from piling against the posts. Clear leaves from the base, and leave a gap under the deck for air to move. Direct downspouts well away from the footings.

Seal the cut ends and the lower part of each post, and refresh the finish on the deck itself on a regular schedule. A quick look at the base of each post once a year, after the wet season, catches soft spots while they are still small.