Deck repair or replace?

[xcr440]

I have a deck ( ~14' x 18' ) where the previous owner didn't leave any gap between the 2x6's when installed, and then painted it with exterior latex. Yeah, the water sits on it, and now after about 5 years its pealing up as you would imagine.

Without doing a complete tear off of the current wood decking, how could I clean that up and make gaps so the water drains, and then putting a proper stain/sealant on it? The wood itself is still in pretty good shape. I was thinking, if I made a temporary "fence" that I could run my circular saw up against to re-cut a gap in between the boards, essentially narrowing them by the width of the blade to create the gap it should have had, then a quick sanding along those edges to take away the 90 degree sharp angle left by the cut. Would it work? I know it may be a bit of work, but tearing all that decking off is not going to be a fun job, nor would the cost of buying new lumber.

Any other thoughts or suggestions?

 

[High Country]

Maybe theres a bit you can put on a router cut the groove and round the edges off at the same time?

 

[katden4]

Honest answer, tear it off. My deck is about 600 sqft, and after all the years of staining and replacing boards, last fall I took off all the decking boards and did it with composite. So far I am very happy! Maybe somebody will have advise about long term, but I wish I had done it years ago.

 

[gary_in_neenah]

If you can afford it, I'd go with composite and forget it. Done.

Now, thinking outside the box... you say the lumber is still good. Consider removing the decking, flip it with painted side down and reinstall with the proper spacing. Stain or finish to your liking. Good Luck!

 

[maddogg]

Now that's an idea!!

 

[ICT Sledder]

Composite is slick underfoot, sags after a few years between joists, and gets screaming hot in the summer sun.

My $.02, worth what you paid for it.

 

[snobuilder]

You can do what you are thinking but put 2 blades on your saw for a larger kerf. Use 2 new 24 tooth blades and index them so they lay flat to each other.

What Gary said is another good idea ...."if" the screws are willing to play along.

Composite is a great option and not that far above the price of wood right now. BUT you have to be framed a max. of 16 o.c. and if in the direct sun, opt for a light color..... in this market you can probly sell your "reclaimed" 2x6 wood decking for a profit.

 

[mezz]

If you can afford it, I'd go with composite and forget it. Done.

Now, thinking outside the box... you say the lumber is still good. Consider removing the decking, flip it with painted side down and reinstall with the proper spacing. Stain or finish to your liking. Good Luck!

This does sound like a good idea, my only concern would be how the decking is fastened to the joists, screws or nails. Issue with screws is if you can get a clean bite on the head to back them out enough before they strip or snap. Another concern would be removing the decking around the railings & posts. Some decks were put together with ring shank nails which are a real be-otch to remove without destroying the decking. If you can remove the latex paint in its entirety then I think the best option would be to strip it & widen the gap, however, the curf on a standard circular saw blade is only an 1/8" unless you use a carbide tooth blade which will give you 3/16". If you are forced to finish the surface as it sits & you can't remove enough of the previous paint you may want to consider sanding the areas than wont come off & using a porch & floor paint or break out the Zip Strip. -Mezz

 

[frnash]

I have a deck ( ~14' x 18' ) where the previous owner didn't leave any gap between the 2x6's when installed, and then painted it with exterior latex. Yeah, the water sits on it, and now after about 5 years its pealing up as you would imagine. …

Pealing? You have bells on your deck? How ap-peal-ing!

<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/amm1-uzuO4s" title="YouTube video player" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" width="623" height="360" frameborder="0"></iframe>

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Yeah, I couldn't help it …

 

[mrbb]

I knew a few folks that reused deck wood, they would send it thru a planer, to clean the old paint or stain off, and then just re stain and reuse
composite decking is nice, BUT your still mounting it too wood, so, in all honestly its not a once and done deal
time can rot out the structure its mounted too!
unless your using some sort of metal for the framing!
be it galvanized, stainless steel or likes?
Just saying!

I like composite too, so NO bash, just giving info on it!

 

[racerx]

Typically all wood shrinks after a install so if there are absolutely no gaps I would think the deck is not that old whereas the fasteners could be removed easily. I was doing that on my 25 year old deck before we sold that house but some of the fasteners broke off due to rust but that was at the interface of the joists an the deck boards but I could still get them out of the deck board, the only issue I ran into was the underside of some of the boards where there for a reason as I originally installed the ugly side down. As for cut boards you will gain a few when you space them and then you could always add a couple new ones.

 

[ezra]

So I see you have not been to a lumber yard in the last 3 mo .

 

[ezra]

You can do what you are thinking but put 2 blades on your saw for a larger kerf. Use 2 new 24 tooth blades and index them so they lay flat to each other.

What Gary said is another good idea ...."if" the screws are willing to play along.

Composite is a great option and not that far above the price of wood right now. BUT you have to be framed a max. of 16 o.c. and if in the direct sun, opt for a light color..... in this market you can probly sell your "reclaimed" 2x6 wood decking for a profit.

None made now say anything but 12 oc and 8 on stairs . Just saying
Not a big deal if pulling whole deck off any way hangers are cheep.
But again lumber is crazy money now and composit raised with it .
I get my floor sanding guy out to fully sand the deck and have painter use penifin 2 coats to refinish then toss rail in the dumpster if wood if I get roped in to doing a old deck

 

[ezra]

This does sound like a good idea, my only concern would be how the decking is fastened to the joists, screws or nails. Issue with screws is if you can get a clean bite on the head to back them out enough before they strip or snap. Another concern would be removing the decking around the railings & posts. Some decks were put together with ring shank nails which are a real be-otch to remove without destroying the decking. If you can remove the latex paint in its entirety then I think the best option would be to strip it & widen the gap, however, the curf on a standard circular saw blade is only an 1/8" unless you use a carbide tooth blade which will give you 3/16". If you are forced to finish the surface as it sits & you can't remove enough of the previous paint you may want to consider sanding the areas than wont come off & using a porch & floor paint or break out the Zip Strip. -Mezz

You will be lucky to get 3/4 out clean. I would not even start a job like that. It has been painted for christ sake those heads are full of old dry paint boards will be beat to **** from prybars and yiu will be in to 8g starting for cheep composite. . Get a large outdoor rug cover it up till lumber gets back to reality

 

[xcr440]

Thanks for all the suggestions everyone.

 

[mrbb]

covering wood outside in weather , even if carpet is rated for weather<br> it will trap water and moisture under it and make that deck rot out way faster and  even can cause mold to grow all over under it!<br>I would NOT recommend ever covering a wood deck with a carpet, its asking for issues<br><br>all the more so if there is a  lot of shade on the deck area where the carpet is!<br><br>YES the screw head could be full of paint and ??<br> but if you take your time and use a hammer and a bit to press into each head before trying to unscrew it is possible<br> time consuming, yes,<br> but some will come out a lot easier than others<br> and if you plan to flip things, even if you have to grind off a few heads, it won't matter as that side will be face down when you flip it!<br><br><br>

 

[favoritos]

I really like the flip suggestion for a couple of reasons.
I'm cheap is a big factor.
The other is still open. Are we talking about treated lumber as the current decking? I have always had the impression that treated lumber gives the best lifespan if it does not have too many cut edges. I'd hate to go through all the work of cutting/routing edges just to end up shortening the life of the deck. Granted, the current situation is already hard on the lifespan. I'd be a lot happier doing the flip work if I knew it was going to give me a longer lasting deck.

 

[mrbb]

plain lumber NOT Treated wood, should NOT be used for making outside decking period<br> its not made to last in weather<br> even good treated wood can fail if it gets wet often and or touches the ground,a s NOT all treated wood is made for ground contact and there are grades to ground contact treated wood too!<br>just saying!<br><br>

 

[BigSix]

I realize this may not be an option for you, xcr440, but concrete is the way to go. I had a 100% cedar deck installed on my second house, thinking I would escape the wood rot problem, which I did but the planks shrunk, exposing the screw heads. There were also a lot of splinters and wood grain patterns showing. When I tried re-screwing the screws in, some of them broke off or the heads stripped. I still had to seal the cedar about every other year.

When we built our 3rd home, we designed it so that the back yard was only slightly lower than the main floor. Poured a nice concrete slab. No rails to fall off of and no steps except to get in the house. Now on year 18 and I am thrilled I did that. Pressure wash the concrete patio about 3-5 years and you are good to go. I would highly recommend concrete if you have that choice.

 

[slimcake]

X1000 on the concrete.  Steel roof steel siding and concrete patio.  Only picture I had of it was one morning when I was cooking on the traeger.  I went with a colored crete and a stamp pattern.  Only thing I wish I woulda done is gone ALOT bigger than what I did....<img src="https://forum.johndee.com/vbulletin/attachment.php?attachmentid=63126&stc=1" attachmentid="63126" alt="" id="vbattach_63126" class="previewthumb">