Past the soft boards
Columbia is a tight-knit neighborhood of early-1900s bungalows, and a lot of them got a pressure-treated deck bolted on sometime in the 80s or 90s. Those decks are now hitting the end of their natural life. The boards go soft and gray first, which is what homeowners notice, but the real story is usually underneath: posts that have rotted at the base, footings that have heaved, and a ledger that was never flashed.
That's why we start with a free safety check instead of just quoting new boards. We probe the framing and the ledger and tell you straight whether you need a repair or a footing-and-ledger rebuild. New boards on a failing structure is money wasted. When a rebuild is the honest answer, we do it right: footings below frost depth, a flashed and bolted ledger, and ground-contact-rated framing so the next deck lasts a lot longer than the last one.
What we build in Columbia.
Common projects
Deck rebuilds on 90s-era pressure-treated decks, footing and ledger repairs, cedar decks that suit the bungalow look, and cedar privacy fence for small back yards.
Permits and inspection
Decks over 30 inches off the ground or attached to the house need a City of Bellingham building permit and inspection. We pull the permit, handle the drawings, and meet the inspector.
Climate considerations
Around 35 inches of rain a year rots undersized footings and unflashed ledgers, which is what we find on most older Columbia decks. We rebuild with drained footings and flashing.