Every job below is one we do ourselves across Pekin.
We build new decks from the footings up, sized to the load you'll actually put on them, furniture, a hot tub, a crowd on the Fourth of July. Framing goes down before we ever talk about decking material, because that's what carries the weight for the next twenty years.
Soft boards, wobbly railings, and sagging joists get fixed at the source, not just patched over. If the ledger board attaching the deck to your house has rotted, we cut it out and reflash it instead of just tightening the lag bolts.
We strip old finish, sand the grain back, and apply a stain and sealant rated for Illinois freeze-thaw cycles. Skipping this every couple years is usually what turns a repairable deck into a rebuild.
Multi-level decks, built-in benches, pergolas, whatever the yard and the budget allow, we draw it out before anyone picks up a saw. We'll tell you upfront if something you want isn't going to hold up structurally.
When the frame underneath is too far gone to save, we tear it out and start over rather than build a new deck surface on top of bad bones. That's usually cheaper in the long run than repairing a structure that's going to keep failing.
Composite boards from brands like Trex or TimberTech don't splinter, don't need restaining, and hold up better against Illinois humidity than untreated wood. They cost more upfront, and we'll tell you honestly if a pressure-treated deck makes more sense for your budget.
Loose or missing balusters, wobbly posts, and rail systems that don't meet the 4 inch sphere code all get fixed or replaced. We build rail posts bolted through the rim joist, not just screwed to the surface board, because that's the difference between a rail that holds and one that doesn't.
Undersized joists, footings that have heaved with the frost, and beams spanning further than they should get corrected before anything cosmetic happens. This is the part of the job nobody sees once it's finished, and it's the part that actually matters.
We'll frame and screen in an existing deck or build one designed for it from the start, so you get an outdoor space without the mosquitoes. It's a bigger structural job than most people expect, since the roof load has to tie in correctly.
Old decks get torn out board by board, with the lumber and hardware hauled off the property, not left in a pile by the fence. We check the footings while we're down there in case you want to reuse them for the new deck.
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.
Where this deck work gets done.
Questions that come up once a deck project is underway.
Describe the problem and we will tell you what it probably is. No obligation.
