Many homeowners make the mistake of believing that minor deck repair is no big deal. After all, what’s so wrong with just patching up a few areas around your pool or garden? Unfortunately, the fact of the matter is that there are some very common areas where you can get clogged, cracked, or ruined garden hose that requires major attention. Common deck repairs consist of replacing cracked floorboards, removed rusted nails, or removing rotted wood. So, how do you know if you should call a professional deck repair company?
Deck Repair Cost Factors
Check out this quick list of 10 signs that you should be calling a deck repair professional. The average cost of a full deck board replacement job is $2500. If you’re paying that much for a few small problems, then it’s probably worth calling a deck repair specialist to fix the damage. However, if you’re paying an average cost for a whole new railing or some other large project, then it’s probably wise to save the money and get it done yourself.
One problem area that many people don’t tend to think about is the number of footings (the concrete slabs surrounding the pool) that need to be in place to provide good structural integrity. Without adequate footings, your structure will be at risk for failure Deck Building Old Bridge New Jersey. The key to footings is making sure that you’re properly maintaining the supports themselves. For example, never nail the footers down using nails that are too long or too big. They must be the right size and length to go into the ground.
Another thing that many people fail to take into consideration is that a poor deck footings installation can actually cause problems much bigger than having weak or missing footings. Nails that are too long or nails that don’t go all the way through the concrete may actually cause your retaining wall to crumble. And because a weakened or non-functioning retaining wall allows rainwater to sit on the bottom surface of your deck, it can weaken the structural integrity of your deck as well. In fact, without proper footings, your deck could easily collapse.
Now let’s look at some more deck repair cost factors. One of the first items that you need to decide on is whether you want to have your deck completely replaced or if you want to just have the necessary repairs done to it. Now depending on whether or not you decide to replace your deck, you have a couple of different options. You can either get a new one constructed from scratch or you can rebuild an existing one using square foot lumber and deck plans.
Relying solely on the ability of your handy deck contractor to build a new one using square footage will cost you several thousand dollars. Now depending on the type of materials that you choose, and the complexity of your railing system, your DIY repairs could be significantly less than this.
If you want a simple repair, you can do it yourself using common tools that you can purchase at your local hardware store. And if you choose to rebuild your existing railing system, you can also cut down on your DIY costs by contacting a skilled, professional concrete company to come in and do the job for you. This will also probably be less expensive than going with a professional contractor.
