Get your deck in tip-top shape with these useful tips
You can repair several deck problems on your own.
Professionals should repair issues related to safety.
Water is the most prominent cause of deck problems.
Eliminating water issues can slow your deck’s aging.
Replacing loose or corroded hardware fixes several deck problems.
Decks are the go-to gathering spot for many during the summer, providing a hub for parties with friends, family get-togethers, potlucks, and more. That’s why it’s important to address issues like cracked deck boards, water damage, rotting, and fading immediately—especially if you have a wooden deck. By properly maintaining your deck, you can avoid these problems and keep your outdoor entertainment space looking like new all year long.
Regular deck maintenance includes sweeping off debris, washing the deck with mild soap, and hosing it down or pressure washing it. Long-term maintenance includes repairing or replacing hardware or boards and always being on the lookout for damage, warping, or cracking/peeling paint.
When you or your pro install your deck’s wood boards, they may not be fully dried if they’re made of fresh-cut wood, as this type of lumber tends to have moisture in it. Over time, most wood will shrink as it dries out, which can lead to gaps in your deck.
One way to combat shrinkage is to make sure the boards are completely dried before installation. If you or your pro use fresh wood to build your deck, you should install the boards without spacing to account for shrinkage when they dry.
Although there’s no simple fix if the problem is widespread on your deck, you can remove the fasteners on areas with gaps of over 3/8 of an inch and adjust the spacing. Add a partial board at the edge of the deck when the fix is complete.
A sagging deck is a safety issue. If you notice soft areas or a spongy feel below your feet, look underneath the deck around its perimeter for corroded joist hangers (hardware used to connect structural joists to your deck’s beams).
Although these galvanized steel components take a long time to rust all the way through (up to 75 years in forgiving soil), it can happen. Use a pry bar to remove the joist nails holding the old hanger in place and replace both with new hardware.
Wood will inevitably lose its color due to weather exposure, use, natural aging, and debris like stray fall leaves. Restore some of the original color with a wood cleaner and brightener. You can also paint or stain the wood with your preferred color.
Regardless of what option you choose, reseal the deck again to prevent water damage and other issues.
As much as you enjoy your deck, termites, carpenter ants, and woodpeckers love to destroy it even more. Woodpecker damage is identifiable by numerous small holes in the wood and wood flakes on the ground below. Insect damage can be harder to spot before it becomes severe. Look for wood dust on the ground near the deck posts or an abundance of insects on and around the deck.
If you discover pest damage, your best course of action is to get a local exterminator on site to assess the issue. After they’ve diagnosed and resolved the pest problem, you can start replacing or repairing the affected boards.
Pressure-treated spruce, pine, fir, and SPF lumber are common deck materials that are frequently riddled with natural wood knots. After the wood dries, the knots often loosen and fall out of deck boards, leaving you with holes of various sizes.
Filling the voids with exterior-grade epoxy wood filler is the most reliable solution. However, not everyone loves this look on unpainted decks. On bare-wood decks, try mixing sawdust that matches the deck’s color into the epoxy to make the filler blend seamlessly into your deck.
In severe cases of a loose ledger board (the piece of wood that sits flush with your home and serves as a joint between your deck and your home), you may feel movement underfoot when you step onto your deck. Most often, you’ll spot a loose ledger board by inspecting the wood closest to the home and looking for dirt or dust, which are signs of movement.
To retighten the board, replace the existing lag bolts with slightly larger ones. For extra security, consider adding more bolts along the top and bottom of the board. Call a local deck repair specialist to diagnose the situation if you feel deck movement but discover no apparent issues with your ledger board or if you don’t feel confident in making this repair yourself.
Loose deck posts are often the result of incorrect installation. Posts installed directly into concrete or the ground will eventually give way to rot. Unfortunately, this situation usually means you must completely replace the offending post and ensure the new one is correctly installed; otherwise, you may encounter the problem again in the not-so-distant future.
Even if your deck and railing posts are secure, loose railings can still happen for a couple of reasons. When water reaches the ends of the railings where they meet the posts, it can rot out the untreated lumber.
Luckily, there’s a fairly easy solution here: Detach the railing, fill the rot with epoxy putty, and reinstall the repaired section with new hardware for a long-lasting fix.
If you’re spotting green specks on your deck, this may be a sign that you have standing water or prolonged moisture on your deck after it snows or rains. Remove the stains with a deck cleaner, a brightener, and a stiff scrub brush. Once you rid the deck of staining, address the water problem by ensuring there are sufficient gaps between deck boards to allow for drainage, cleaning overhead rain gutters, eliminating other nearby water sources if possible, and sealing the deck.
You may see nails popping out of your deck, but don’t be alarmed. This issue is more common in older structures where the builder used nails to fasten the boards. Nowadays, carpenters use anti-corrosion screws. To fix this issue, you have a couple of options:
Hammer the nails back in.
Pull the nails out and replace them with deck screws, preferably longer than the nails you pulled out, so they grab some new wood to get a better hold and stay put longer.
“We always specify that decking boards be installed with screws,” says Bob Tschudi, Angi Expert Review Board Member and general contractor in Raleigh, NC. “With changing weather, boards will expand and contract, and nails will wiggle loose, causing dangerous and unsightly nail pops.”
Deck stairs are subject to water damage, wood rot, insects, and general wear and tear, making them especially vulnerable to every type of common deck problem. The first step—pun intended—is to determine what’s causing the looseness or instability. Address the cause by eliminating or repairing rotten wood or replacing loose fasteners, as these are the most common causes of stair problems.
Splitting deck boards signal that your deck’s lumber is dried out. You can try to repair slight cracking damage with epoxy wood filler. However, the best solution is to reseal your deck boards and try to slow the aging process. Once the cracking becomes widespread, the only real fix is to replace the boards, which is a much more costly process than epoxying or resealing the existing damaged boards.
If you need to replace deck boards that have split, you can expect to pay $12 to $45 per square foot for composite wood, $8 to $20 per square foot for pressure-treated lumber, or $5 to $30 per square foot for redwood.
If your deck looks uneven, you may be dealing with unstable footings. Deck footings can become unstable due to frost heave, erosion, or extensively wet soil conditions. There are several fixes professionals can use to remedy the various causes of this deck problem. Your best defense against unstable footings is to reduce nearby soil erosion with landscaping and divert flowing water, but a pro can help direct you to the best solution for you.
Warped deck boards can mean that water is unevenly penetrating the wood and drying out after precipitation. Often, you can pry warped boards back into shape and replace the fasteners, or you can remove and flip cupped boards so that the opposite, undamaged, flat side is facing upward. If your deck is suffering from severe warping, you may have to replace the offending boards. In either case, sealing your deck following these repairs will reduce the amount of future warping.
“If you look at the edge of any wood board, you will see the rings, which look like many letter Cs,” says Tschudi. “Boards with too much moisture will cup in the direction of the C, which is why professionals install the boards with the C facing down. So if your board is in good shape, it might be a matter of removing it and flipping it over and reinstalling it.”
Many wooden decks experience water damage over time due to the high accumulation of moisture that can eventually affect the resistance and strength of the deck’s boards and posts. Water damage can easily lead to several of the previous deck problems, like warped boards, splitting boards, and mold.
Here’s a trick you can use to check if your deck is absorbing too much liquid: Sprinkle some water onto it and keep watching to see what happens. If the water stops beading and seeps into the wood instead, you'll know that it's time to reseal it.
When you have a pro install a brand-new wooden deck, seal it with a water-resistant formula (or see if they’ll do it for you). This important step can help your deck resist water damage down the line.
It’s hard to miss crumbling, rotting wood on your deck. Rot is a common wooden deck problem that tends to occur around corners, railings, and stairs, all areas that are more challenging to seal effectively.
Take these steps to assess and fix rot problems:
Inspect your deck’s perimeter, including boards, posts, joists, beams, staircases, and railings.
Identify the damaged area and possible causes. Often, you may discover a gutter issue or a problem with a fixture or sprinkler system funneling water onto a particular area of your deck.
Repair or replace any affected boards, posts, or beams to ensure the deck remains stable.
Seal the deck completely to prevent rotting and other common problems.
José R. Mendoza contributed to this piece.
The cost to professionally repair a deck is between $700 and $2,600, including the cost of labor and materials. If you have a deck made of recycled plastic, repairs may be more costly than a deck made of pressure-treated lumber or ipe hardwood. Repairs may also get costly if a professional finds more deck problems when repairing the one you called them in for, which isn’t entirely uncommon. Ask your local deck repair contractor to provide a custom quote for your project.
Consider replacing your deck when you notice far-reaching wear and tear. If your deck boards are splintering, cracking, and warping all across the deck and it would cost half the price of a new deck to fix it, it’s probably a better investment of your time and money to opt for a replacement. Additionally, if there are structural issues that threaten the safety of your deck and may be too difficult to repair, don’t wait to replace.
PVC is the lowest-maintenance decking material. Where you have to stain, seal, and paint wood consistently, PVC decking only needs a good wash once a year, on average. PVC is naturally more resistant to the elements since it has no organic material in it. Plus, PVC has a longer life span than most types of wood decking at 30 to 50 years.
The average price to stain a wooden deck is $900. This estimate includes labor costs and the price of the staining materials. Your individual price could increase if you have to power-wash, sand, or paint-strip your deck before staining. Different staining products will also impact the price. Oil-based stains have the highest potential price per gallon ($35 to $120 per gallon), and clear deck stains are typically the most wallet-friendly at $20 to $60 per gallon.
