Every job below is one we do ourselves across Escondido.
We frame new decks with pressure-treated joists on 16-inch centers, tied back to the house with a properly flashed ledger board. Footings go below grade to solid bearing soil, not a few inches of decomposed granite. You pick the decking, we handle the layout, beam sizing, and railing to code.
Soft boards, wobbly railings, and sagging joists all come through this door. We pull up the decking to check the frame underneath before we replace anything on the surface. Sometimes it's one bad joist, sometimes the whole ledger board has to come off and get reflashed.
Sun in Escondido is hard on wood. We pressure wash, let the boards dry for a couple of days, then apply a penetrating stain or sealer rated for UV. Skip this every year or two and the wood starts to gray, crack, and pull away from the fasteners.
Multi-level decks, built-in benches, stair stringers that land exactly where you want them, we draw it out before we cut anything. We size beams and posts to the actual loads, not a generic span chart, so the deck doesn't bounce when people walk across it.
Trex, TimberTech, and similar composite boards need a hidden fastener system and tighter joist spacing than wood, or they'll sag between supports. We install starter and edge boards to the manufacturer's spec so the warranty actually holds. No staining, no sealing, but composite still requires the frame underneath built right.
A railing that moves when you lean on it is a liability, not just an eyesore. We rebuild post connections with through-bolts instead of lag screws where we can get to the framing, and we keep baluster spacing under the 4-inch rule for anyone with kids or dogs.
If the frame is sound but the boards are cupped, splintering, or dated, we strip the old decking and run new boards over the existing joists. It's faster and cheaper than a full rebuild, as long as the joists pass inspection first. We'll tell you straight if resurfacing isn't going to cut it.
A deck that bounces, sags at one corner, or has a post sitting in dirt instead of on a footing is a safety problem before it's a cosmetic one. We jack and reframe sagging sections, replace rotted joists, and pour new footings where the old ones have settled or cracked.
Some decks are past the point of fixing one board at a time. We tear the whole thing out, haul off the lumber, and leave the ledger area ready for whatever comes next, whether that's a new deck or nothing at all.
A pergola or a solid cover changes how much a deck gets used in July and August. We tie the posts into the existing deck framing or set new footings alongside it, and we size the rafters for whatever shade cloth or polycarbonate panel you're after.
Four steps, and no surprises in any of them.
You tell us what you want doing, we look at what is actually there, and we ask the awkward questions early.
In writing, itemised, free. If something might add cost later we flag it now rather than at the end.
Same crew throughout. We cover your floors, keep the dust down and tidy up before we leave each day.
You point out anything you are not happy with and we fix it before the invoice, not after.
We bring the crew and the lumber to your part of North County.
Questions that come up once a deck job is actually underway.
Describe the problem and we will tell you what it probably is. No obligation.
