Deck Repair: Common Issues and Solutions

Decks need reg­u­lar main­te­nance just like any oth­er part of a home. How­ev­er, when home­own­ers neglect rou­tine deck repair or expose their decks to exces­sive wear and tear, it can lead to sig­nif­i­cant repairs or even an entire deck replacement. 

Let’s take a look at the most com­mon deck prob­lems and iden­ti­fy when a deck can be repaired instead of hav­ing to be replaced.

Importance of Regular Maintenance

Reg­u­lar deck main­te­nance keeps a deck look­ing great while ensur­ing its struc­tur­al integri­ty isn’t com­pro­mised. Exces­sive mois­ture, UV expo­sure and every­day wear can lead to rot, warp­ing, loose deck fas­ten­ing and safe­ty hazards. 

Sched­uled inspec­tions, clean­ing, seal­ing and minor deck repairs extend the life of the deck and reduce future expens­es for home­own­ers. After all, reg­u­lar­ly main­tain­ing a deck is much more cost-effi­cient than pay­ing for major repairs or replace­ments lat­er on. 

Common Deck Problems

Com­mon deck prob­lems are usu­al­ly easy to spot dur­ing rou­tine inspec­tions and can be fixed before the deck’s aes­thet­ic val­ue or struc­tur­al integri­ty becomes com­pro­mised. The most com­mon deck prob­lems that con­trac­tors see are:

Loose Boards

Loose boards are seri­ous trip haz­ards and com­pro­mise the deck’s strength. Spot­ting loose deck boards starts with a sim­ple walk test. Walk on the deck and feel for move­ment under­foot, lis­ten for creaks and look for gaps at the fas­ten­ers or ends.

Visu­al­ly inspect the board edges for lift­ing or warp­ing, espe­cial­ly around high-traf­fic areas, stair treads and perime­ter zones where boards are more exposed. Use a pry bar or flat­head screw­driv­er to test sus­pect­ed loose spots. 

Check under­neath the deck for loose joist hang­ers or fail­ing fas­ten­ers, which can con­tribute to sur­face instability.

Causes and Fixes

Loose boards are typ­i­cal­ly caused by ther­mal expan­sion and con­trac­tion, mois­ture cycling, inad­e­quate fas­ten­ing or dete­ri­o­rat­ed fram­ing. Nails can back out over time, espe­cial­ly in old­er decks. Even screws can lose grip if the wood fibers are degrad­ed or the sub­struc­ture shifts.

To fix a loose board, first deter­mine if the board is sal­vage­able. We will dis­cuss how to fig­ure this out a lit­tle bit lat­er. If it’s in good shape, refas­ten it using cor­ro­sion-resis­tant deck screws dri­ven into fresh loca­tions on the joist. 

Use block­ing under­neath if the joist is dam­aged or too nar­row to hold a sol­id con­nec­tion. If the boards are warped or cracked, they may need to be replaced. 

Warping and Splitting

Warp­ing and split­ting are com­mon, espe­cial­ly on old­er or neglect­ed decks. These prob­lems usu­al­ly stem from mois­ture imbal­ance. Dam­age is caused by boards expand­ing and con­tract­ing repeat­ed­ly with weath­er changes.

Improp­er spac­ing, inad­e­quate seal­ing or using low-qual­i­ty or uncured lum­ber accel­er­ates the dam­age. Warped boards can cre­ate trip­ping haz­ards and com­pro­mise struc­tur­al alignment.

Split­ting typ­i­cal­ly occurs at the ends or around fas­ten­ers, where stress concentrates. 

Before you can deter­mine whether to repair or replace the boards, you need to assess whether the dam­age is iso­lat­ed or symp­to­matic of broad­er mois­ture or design problems.

How To Identify

To iden­ti­fy warped or split­ting deck boards, look for boards that are cupped, twist­ed or bowed. Often, you can tell if a board is warped by its side pro­file or by look­ing down the length of the board.

Walk the deck and feel for uneven sur­faces or raised edges. Splits typ­i­cal­ly show up at the ends or near fas­ten­ers and may be vis­i­ble as hair­line cracks or deep fractures. 

Pay spe­cial atten­tion to high-mois­ture areas and spots with heavy sun expo­sure, where dam­age tends to be more severe. Use a straight­edge or lev­el if need­ed to con­firm warping.

Repair Methods

If the deck boards can be repaired, you’ll need to start by assess­ing the dam­age. Slight warps can some­times be cor­rect­ed by re-fas­ten­ing the board more secure­ly or adding block­ing under­neath to reduce movement.

For cupped or twist­ed boards beyond repair, removal and replace­ment is the best option. Always use cor­ro­sion-resis­tant screws and secure them through fresh, sol­id joist areas to ensure a tight fit.

For boards with minor splits, you can apply exte­ri­or-grade wood filler or epoxy for a tem­po­rary fix, but it’s bet­ter to replace the board to ensure it remains sta­ble over time. 

When replac­ing boards, match the mate­r­i­al type and spac­ing. Seal all sides before instal­la­tion to min­i­mize future warp­ing and splitting.

Mold and Mildew

Mold and mildew on decks aren’t just a cos­met­ic issue. They’re caused by trapped mois­ture, espe­cial­ly in shad­ed or poor­ly ven­ti­lat­ed areas. The pres­ence of mold and mildew can indi­cate rot that could dam­age the sta­bil­i­ty of the deck. Fun­gi can break down wood fibers over time, mak­ing boards slip­pery, weak and unsafe.

On decks that have shad­ed or poor­ly ven­ti­lat­ed areas, look for black, green or gray patch­es on the sur­face. Inspect between boards, under fur­ni­ture or near planters. 

Prevention and Treatment

The best way to treat mold and mildew is to deep clean the area using an oxy­genat­ed clean­er or dilut­ed bleach solu­tion to kill spores and remove buildup, espe­cial­ly in cracks and between boards. Gen­tle pow­er wash­ing can also remove buildup. 

Once the area has been cleaned and dried, apply a high-qual­i­ty, mold-resis­tant seal­er or stain to block future growth.

To help pre­vent mold and mildew, make sure there is a prop­er runoff chan­nel for water and ade­quate board spac­ing for good air­flow. Rec­om­mend reg­u­lar clean­ing and main­te­nance to the home­own­er and make sure all the deck boards are sealed.

Tools and Materials Needed

Your tool kit for deck repairs should have the sup­plies nec­es­sary for struc­tur­al fix­es, sur­face repairs and fin­ish­ing work.

Essential Tools

Every pro­fes­sion­al doing deck repairs should keep a well-stocked truck. Essen­tial tools include a cir­cu­lar saw, impact dri­ver, drill, pry bar, ham­mer, speed square and tape measure. 

Keep a mul­ti-tool or oscil­lat­ing saw for tight cuts and detailed work, along with a lev­el, chalk line and util­i­ty knife. A ful­ly equipped truck means faster fix­es, few­er delays and more pro­fes­sion­al results.

Recommended Materials

For effi­cient deck repairs, your truck should be stocked with key mate­ri­als that cov­er the most com­mon issues.

Car­ry a vari­ety of cor­ro­sion-resis­tant deck fas­ten­ing screws in mul­ti­ple lengths, joist hang­ers, struc­tur­al con­nec­tors and gal­va­nized nails. Include extra deck­ing boards like pres­sure-treat­ed, cedar or com­pos­ite in stan­dard sizes, as well as shims and block­ing material.

Deck board spac­ers, wood glue, exte­ri­or-grade wood filler and con­struc­tion adhe­sive are also must-haves. Addi­tion­al­ly, be sure to have hand sealants and water­proof­ing prod­ucts, includ­ing clear or tint­ed deck seal­ers and mold and mildew cleaners. 

Hav­ing these mate­ri­als on hand means you can han­dle repairs on the spot.

Step-by-Step Deck Repair Process

In most cas­es, deck repairs aren’t com­pli­cat­ed. If you fol­low these steps, you can stream­line the process of check­ing for dam­age and exe­cut­ing any nec­es­sary repairs. 

Assessing the Damage

Start with a sys­tem­at­ic inspec­tion of both the deck sur­face and the sub­struc­ture. Walk the deck to feel for soft spots, move­ment or loose boards. Check for rot, split­ting, weak deck fas­ten­ing or warp­ing. Pay close atten­tion to the areas around fas­ten­ers, stair con­nec­tions and rail posts.

Look under­neath the deck to inspect joists, beams, ledger boards and hard­ware for signs of water dam­age, rust or struc­tur­al com­pro­mise. Probe any sus­pi­cious areas with an awl or screw­driv­er to test for rot.

Executing Repairs

Once you have assessed the con­di­tion of the deck and deter­mined whether the dam­age is cos­met­ic or struc­tur­al (or both), you can begin the repairs.

Fixing Loose Boards

To fix loose deck boards that are still in good shape, remove any nails or dam­aged screws and re-secure them using cor­ro­sion-resis­tant deck screws in a new loca­tion to get a bet­ter hold.

If the joist is com­pro­mised, add block­ing or sis­ter a new piece along­side to pro­vide a sol­id deck fas­ten­ing point. For boards that lift or bounce, use addi­tion­al screws to anchor the cen­ter span. Always check near­by boards as loose boards often come in clusters.

Treating Mold

To treat mold on a deck, clear any debris, then use a stiff brush or broom to remove sur­face buildup. Apply a com­mer­cial-grade oxy­genat­ed deck clean­er that’s safe for the type of deck being cleaned or use a dilut­ed bleach solution.

Scrub thor­ough­ly and let the solu­tion sit as direct­ed before rins­ing with a hose or a pres­sure wash­er on a low set­ting. Once the wood is dry, inspect it for any soft or rot­ted areas that may need repair.

If there are no boards that need replac­ing or fix­ing, fin­ish the treat­ment by apply­ing a mold-resis­tant seal­er to help pre­vent future growth.

Find The Right Solutions For Deck Repairs And Builds With FastenMaster

Whether it’s a repair job or a brand new deck build, select­ing the right fas­ten­ers can make or break the design results. When you’re search­ing for fas­ten­ers that you can rely on time and time again, look no fur­ther than FastenMaster.

At Fas­ten­Mas­ter, we have deck fas­ten­ing solu­tions that get the job done right the first time and make repairs a breeze. With prod­ucts that pri­or­i­tize speed, strength, ease and safe­ty, you can tack­le projects with confidence. 

Check out FastenMaster’s deck solu­tions to find the lat­est inno­v­a­tive fas­ten­er sys­tems for every deck build or repair project.