Every job below is one we do ourselves across Mobile.
We frame new decks with pressure-treated joists set on concrete footings poured below grade, sized for our clay soil and the load you'll put on the deck. Ledger boards get flashed before a single deck board goes down, because that's the connection that lets water into your house if it's done wrong.
Soft spots, bouncy joists, and stair stringers that have started to crack are the calls we get most. We replace the rotted framing member, not just the board sitting on top of it, so the fix holds.
Pine and cedar decks require a fresh coat of stain every one to three years down here, sooner if the deck gets full sun. We pressure wash, let the wood dry out fully, then apply a penetrating sealer rather than a film-forming one that peels.
Multi-level decks, built-in benches, and stairs that land where you actually want them, we draw it out before we cut any lumber. We'll tell you if a design idea is going to fight the slope of your yard.
Composite boards don't rot, but they still require proper joist spacing, usually 12 inches on center or tighter, or they'll sag between supports. We install with hidden fastener clips so you don't see a single screw head on the finished deck.
Balusters spaced wider than 4 inches apart fail inspection and aren't safe for kids, so we build to that spacing every time. We also replace posts that have rotted at the base, which is the most common reason a railing feels loose.
If the frame underneath is still solid, we can pull the old decking and lay new boards without rebuilding the whole structure. This usually costs a fraction of a full tear-off and works well on decks under 15 years old.
We frame screened sections onto an existing or new deck, with a separate roof structure tied into the house framing correctly, not just nailed to the fascia. Keeps the bugs out during a Mobile summer evening.
A pergola or shade structure over part of the deck cuts down on how much direct sun the boards take, which slows fading and cracking. We set posts on their own footings so the added structure doesn't overload the deck framing.
Sometimes a deck is past saving, rotted ledger, sunk footings, cracked posts, and it's cheaper to start over than patch it. We tear out and haul away the old structure and check the house framing behind the ledger board before we build anything new.
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.
Deck work across Mobile County and the surrounding Gulf Coast.
Questions that come up once a deck project is underway.
Describe the problem and we will tell you what it probably is. No obligation.
