Like most builders in the Pacific Northwest, we get called on to build and repair wooden decks. My best advice on repairing decks usually is “Don’t! That deck is probably in worse shape than you think.”

To make your deck last, keep it free of dirt and debris, help it dry, repel carpenter ants and other nesting critters, and tend to minor damages immediately.

Decks collapse more often than you might think, and when they do people are often seriously injured.  (Deck Collapse, by Robson Forensics.) It often happens with a group of people on the deck when they all move to the railing to see something. The deck pulls away from the house and collapses. It may have been under designed to begin with, or it was never attached well enough, or the fasteners have weakened from contact with treated lumber, or the wood itself has decayed due to trapped moisture or prolonged contact with dirt or leaves.

Railings are susceptible to the leverage of people leaning against them. The International Residential Code (IRC) requires deck guardrails to be able to withstand a lateral force of 200 pounds. Personally, I would not trust my safety to something able to hold back only 200 pounds when it was new. (The Simpson Strong-Tie Deck Center offers excellent material on designing and building safer decks.)