All Hands On Deck

After several seasons of use, an outdoor deck may need more than just a few coats of paint or stain. Some of the structure may actually need to be replaced.

But replacing the deck doesn't have to be a major project, as our Rent-a-Husband Kaile Warren demonstrated for one New Jersey homeowner.

"Besides it being very unattractive, I think [the deck's] unsafe and it's time [to replace it]," homeowner Emily Straka said.

Warren observed that Straka's deck was rotted. In fact, he said the old pressure-wash trick, often used to refresh old decks, will not work with this deck, because of the severity of the damage.

"While the rails aren't rotted, I'm going to replace them because I'm sure as an expectant mother, safety is a primary concern of yours," Warren told Starak.

Warren informed Starak he was going to install balusters to enclose the deck in a much smaller area.

"Another concern I have are these steps," Warren said. He explained the openings between the steps were hazardous for a small child, who possibly could get lodged in the space.

"So, I am going to recommend that we enclose the stairs," Warren explained. "To do that, we are going to install a riser on the upper part and new treads on the top."

Warren explained that deck repairs would be a great late-summer, or early fall project that shouldn't take long to complete.

Warren easily stripped the deck's floorboard with a ply-bar and hammer.

While Warren stripped the deck, Starak locked the door that lead to the outside floor under construction and marked it with caution tape to avoid any missteps.

Once the floor was removed, Warren started to work on to the rails.

"We removed all of the decking and the rails are gone, but Mr. Murphy played his law and we ran into some dry rot with some timbers," observed Warren. "And dry rot is bad, because you can't really see it from the outside. But once you start putting pressure on it by removing a deck, it crumbles. So, we'll have to replace a couple of these timbers."

Once the old joists were removed, Warren measured, cut and installed new ones using the existing hangers.

Warren used cedar decking to put on the deck. He recommends cedar because it has beautiful woodgrains, so you can leave it natural or stain it or paint it; and it doesn't retain much water, which means it will have a long lifetime.

After the joists were put in place, the decking was ready to be installed, with a perimeter board, also known as a picture frame.

Warren notched a nailer to the board. He explained the nailer will provide support for the inside edge of the picture frame.

Once the nailers are in place, the picture frame gets installed. Warren put the long ends in first. Also, he made notches for the posts and cut the ends at 45-degree angles.

Once the picture frame was installed, the next step was to put the center pieces in. Warren measured each one because the deck is not a perfect square.

"We attached the deck to the joists using screws rather than nails, which was a hazardous problem for the old deck," he said. "To avoid splitting our new decking, we pre-drilled each screw location."

To keep the space between the boards consistent, Warren used a 3/8-inch wedge cut from a jigsaw. The installation, he said, should then move along pretty quickly.

After completing the deck, Warren started to work on the stairs. He used a riser and treads to box in the stairs.

"I'd already pre-drilled the riser so we can take the speed square and lay it across the top," said Warren. "This is how you make sure the risers are straight when you are dealing with old stairs."

While the risers will be flush to the stair's stinger, the treads will extend 3/4 of an inch beyond the riser.

"I added a third rail to the bottom, and to the top I added a nailer - that's what I'm going to attach the baluster to," Warren said.

The balusters will help support the rails and keep children from falling from the deck. Most local building codes require a space of no more than four inches between each baluster. "Ours are two-and-a-half inches betweenr each baluster."

It took Warren one day, including the evening to complete the project.

"I love the stair risers and the planking on the deck," an appreciative Starak said. "It looks fantastic."

Warren said, "I really like the picture framing around the deck. It looks a lot neater and it'll look a lot better when you get it painted or stained. So, I guess the only question is - is it going to be blue or pink?"

"Pink," laughed Starak.