The Village's historic decks
Locals just call Fairhaven the Village, and the homes here have real character: Victorians and early Craftsmans from the 1890s lining the streets above Harris Avenue. The catch with old homes is the deck ledger. On a lot of these houses the original deck was tacked straight to old wood siding with nails and no flashing, which is exactly how water gets behind it and rots out the rim joist over the wet decades.
That unflashed ledger is the number one thing we fix in Fairhaven, and it's the number one cause of deck collapses anywhere. We rebuild the connection the right way: a flashed ledger lag-bolted into the rim joist, footings below frost depth, and ground-contact-rated framing. The Village sits right by the water, so we use corrosion-resistant fasteners that hold up to the damp salt air rolling off the ferry terminal.
What we build in Fairhaven.
Common projects
Deck rebuilds with proper ledger flashing on historic homes, cedar decks that suit the older architecture, cedar privacy fence on tight lots, and code railing upgrades.
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
Fairhaven sits on the waterfront, so salt air and constant damp are hard on fasteners and framing. We use corrosion-resistant hardware, flash every ledger, and set fence posts in drained concrete.