Deck check — fasteners, ledger, and finish
Annual · typically May
Why it matters
A deck is the one part of your house you regularly load with everyone you love, held to the structure by a single connection almost nobody ever looks at.
Freeze-thaw does structural work here too — water in a hairline crack becomes a wedge 60–120 times a winter, and frost heave works on the footings. Check post bases for lift and lean each spring.
What skipping it costs
$2,000–$40,000
Nearly every deck collapse traces to one detail: the ledger board pulling away from the house. It fails at a party, under load, all at once — injuries and rebuild routinely clear $40,000. The inspection that catches it is free and takes ninety minutes. The rest of neglect is slower: unsealed boards drink water, cup, crack, and turn a $60 gallon of sealer into a $6,000 re-deck.
Two ways to get it done
Do it yourself
You'll need: Screwdriver or awl (for probing wood), Flashlight, Wrench for lag bolts, Garden hose, Deck cleaner (~$15), Sealer/stain if the water test fails (~$30–60/gallon).
- The ledger first. Get under the deck where it meets the house. You want to see bolts (hex heads or carriage bolts), not just nails, and metal flashing over the top edge. Probe the board with a screwdriver — soft wood, rust streaks, or any gap between ledger and house is a stop-everything finding.
- Probe posts at ground level and joists at their ends — rot starts where water sits. Solid wood resists a screwdriver tip; trouble takes the point easily.
- Grab and shake the railing, hard — harder than a guest would. Wiggle means loose fasteners; tighten or replace them now.
- Walk the surface: popped nails or screws proud of the deck get driven or replaced, cracked boards flagged.
- The water test: pour a cup of water on a few boards. Beads up = your finish is alive, done for the year. Soaks straight in = wash, let dry two days, and seal.
- Sealing day: cleaner, hose (light pressure — pressure washers at close range chew soft spring wood), dry, then sealer per the can. It's a full day and it buys years.
Hire it out
$300–$900National fair range — local labor moves this number.
Wash-and-seal service runs $300–$900 depending on square footage and railing count — reasonable to hire, and worth it done right, since sealing over dirty or wet wood peels within a season and gets blamed on the product.
Structural repairs are their own category: ledger re-attachment with proper bolts and flashing typically runs $500–$1,500 and is the best money a deck owner ever spends. If an inspection turns up a nailed-only ledger — common on older and owner-built decks — treat it as this year's must-do, not a someday.
Ask the tech
- How is the ledger board attached — lags or through-bolts — and is it flashed? Show me.
- Are you washing before sealing, and what's the dry time between?
- Any joist or post rot, and can you photograph what you probe?
Red flags you're being upsold
- A full rebuild pitch for a deck with surface-level graying and a few popped nails — weathered gray is cosmetic, not structural.
- Sealing quoted over $1,500 for an average deck. Wash-and-seal is honest work; it is not four-figure work at normal size.
- Anyone who shrugs at the ledger connection. If they don't care about the ledger, they don't understand decks.
Second opinion time: Any structural repair quote over $2,000 — and any 'the whole frame is shot' verdict on a deck under 20 years old.
The call
DIY the inspection and the sealing — both are genuinely homeowner work. Hire immediately if the ledger shows movement, rot, or nails-instead-of-bolts; that's a structural repair, not a weekend project.