Should You Repair the Deck or Replace It?

The preventive maintenance plan is a harsh taskmaster at maintenance facilities all around the globe, whether they are in charge of keeping up with lawnmowers or supersonic war aircraft. In spite of Murphy’s Law, preventative maintenance is what keeps issues to a minimum, allowing airplanes to fly and lawnmowers to operate as intended. We are all in need of a preventive maintenance routine for our houses since it is such a potent force for good.

The more typical scenario is when your spouse points out a loose board on your decking Chicago backyard, and you promise to check it out, but then you forget. After a month, when all of your friends are around for a BBQ, that board gives way, causing your foot to fall through the deck and touch the surface with your crotch. As a result of a large number of witnesses, the other end of the board swings up to strike you in the face, maybe catapulting you to YouTube stardom and certainly making the evening memorable. It’s a good idea to set aside some time once a year to take a long, hard look at each key section of your deck construction and ask yourself, “Should I repair or replace my deck?” This will keep your deck flooring safe (and avoid you from being humiliated on YouTube).

When Should I Replace or Repair My Deck?

You should think about replacing the complete deck when the price of deck repairs approaches the price of a new deck. Even structurally good decking Chicago materials are dated and may need to be replaced in a few short years. Finding that line is the tricky part. Even if replacing something simple as a single bad post requires bracing the nearby beams with temporary supports while the post is being replaced with a new one, this situation barely seems to warrant the expense of a new deck. Even replacing many posts would still be much less expensive than building a brand-new deck. The one exception is if your posts are buried in the ground as opposed to standing on footers. This is an outdated practice that, although sometimes being utilized, has a significant disadvantage. Posts that are buried tend to decay below the surface, thus reducing their lifetime. If you encounter this while doing deck repair Chicago, it might be wise to consider completely rebuilding it using concrete footers.

The replacement of beams is more difficult than that of posts. These support the joists, which hold up your deck planks. When a beam must be removed, several joists must also be removed. The cost per hour of doing this may make replacing the whole thing less expensive if you’re utilizing expert decking companies Chicago. In addition, water is probably being held against the full length of the beam if it is becoming caught below the fascia board. Because of this, you’re usually better off replacing the deck rather than fixing it if you have a fascia board issue.