Emergency Deck Repair in Everett, WA

A loose railing, a sagging section or a broken stair can turn a deck into a hazard overnight. We help homeowners in Everett secure the damage, find the cause and plan a proper repair. We do not offer after-hours service, so this page also covers what to do until we can get there.

What counts as a deck emergency

Most deck problems can wait a week or two for a normal estimate. A few cannot. If any part of the deck that carries weight has moved, cracked or pulled away, treat it as urgent. Keep people off it until someone has looked at it.

These are the problems we treat as urgent:

• The deck has dropped, tilted or pulled away from the house at the ledger board
• A post has shifted, split, or sits loose on its footing
• A railing moves when you lean on it, or has come loose at the post
• A stair stringer has cracked, or the stairs bounce and sag underfoot
• A board has broken through, or there is a soft spot near a joist that you can push a screwdriver into
• A fallen tree limb or a windstorm has damaged the framing

What to do before we get there

If someone is hurt or the deck has partly collapsed, call 911 first. For anything else, a few simple steps stop the problem getting worse.

• Keep everyone off the deck and the stairs, pets included.
• Close or lock the door that opens onto the deck, and tell everyone in the house.
• Do not stand underneath a deck that has sagged or tilted.
• Move grills, planters and furniture off the deck only if you can reach them without walking on the damaged area.
• Take a few photos from the ground and from inside the house.

What usually causes a sudden failure in Everett

A deck rarely fails without warning. Usually the cause has been building for years, and then something finally gives: a crowd at a summer barbecue, a long wet winter, a windstorm. In Everett the most common cause is water.

Our wet season is long, and decks here stay damp for months at a time. Water that sits on top of joists, or gets behind the ledger board where the deck meets the house, rots the wood slowly from the inside. The surface boards can look fine while the framing under them has gone soft. Moss, needles and leaf litter make it worse by holding moisture against the wood.

We also see a lot of corroded hardware. Old joist hangers, nails and lag screws rust, and when they lose their grip the load shifts onto wood that was never meant to carry it alone. Many homes around Everett have decks that were built decades ago, often added after the house. Some were fastened to the house with nails alone instead of being bolted through to the rim joist.

Slope plays a part too. Plenty of lots in and around Everett sit on hillsides, so a deck off the main floor can be a full storey or more above the ground. Tall posts on sloped ground are more likely to shift, and a railing that gives way at that height is a serious matter.

What an urgent visit involves

When we come out for an urgent problem, the first job is to make the deck safe. Selling you a new deck is not part of that visit. We look at the damaged area first, then at the framing around it, because the problem you can see is often a symptom of something nearby.

Depending on what we find, making the deck safe might mean:

• Putting temporary posts or shoring under a sagging section
• Bracing or refastening a loose railing, or removing it and blocking off the edge
• Closing off a failed stair with a barrier
• Removing broken boards so nobody steps into the gap

Repair now, repair later, or replace

A temporary fix only holds things until the real work is done. Once the deck is safe, we write up an estimate for the permanent repair, and you can take your time deciding.

Repair usually makes sense when the damage is confined to one area, such as a rotted post, a few joist ends, one railing section or a set of stairs. We replace the bad wood, add proper hardware and flashing, and the rest of the deck stays in service.

Replacement starts to make more sense when rot turns up in several places, when the ledger connection is compromised along most of its length, or when the deck was built without proper footings or connectors. In those cases, fixing one failure tends to expose the next. We show you what we found so you can judge for yourself.

If water has got behind the ledger, the rim joist or siding on the house may need attention as well. We point that out when we find it, so it doesn't surprise you later.

Our hours and how to reach us

We are open Monday to Friday, 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM, and Saturday, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM. We are closed on Sunday, and we do not offer after-hours service. If something fails in the evening or on a Sunday, keep everyone off the deck and call us at (425) 010-0006 when we open.

When you call, tell us the problem is urgent and describe what moved or broke. Where our schedule allows, we see urgent safety problems before routine estimates. Besides Everett, we work in Marysville, Lynnwood, Mukilteo, Mill Creek, Lake Stevens, Snohomish, Edmonds and Bothell.