The back deck here was in sorry shape. The stain was peeling off and the boards were rotting and lifting from exposure during long wet winters. We initially thought we'd have to replace all the deck boards (to the tune of thousands), but discovered that elbow grease is all we needed to spend.
Once hubby removed a few boards, he discovered that the undersides were in great shape and in fact only a few boards were rotting at the ends. We proceeded to remove all the boards, pull all the rusty nails out of them (untreated nails are NOT the best fastener choice for a deck!), scrub the crusty, dirty debris off, trim the ends and reinstall them. Sounds easy but poor hubby has been working SO hard on this project with only a little help from me (I've been painting the inside of the house).
The deck joists are sound and solid and now the deck boards are too! I'll show you pictures of it once it's stained. In the end, we only needed to buy 2 new deck boards and the stain (which was bought on a 35% off sale) so this was a frugal maintenance/repair project that will pay off for many years to come.
It is a wonderful feeling to discover joists in great shape underneath - a big cost averted too.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely! We are well pleased.
DeleteWe are doing something similar with an outdoor dining table at the moment. Hubby is having to trim off the ends due to rot, so the table will be a little smaller, but it will save it.
ReplyDeleteGood for you. A wee bit of elbow grease can save a LOT of money.
Deletewow great savings there, so pleased for you all xoxo
ReplyDeleteThanks, Sue. We are happy, too as we hadn't budgeted for replacing them (didn't realize how bad they were until we arrived).
Delete