The frame sets the job
Every deck we look at around Hot Springs ends up on one of two roads. One is deck repair: new boards and fresh stain over a frame that is still sound. The other is deck replacement: a new frame built from the footings up, with new decking on top of it.
On a deck out here the framing gives out before the boards do. So our crew puts weight on the joists and the posts, and checks the ledger where it bolts to the house, before anyone looks at the surface. You hear which job your deck needs before we write the quote.
Both roads are deck building and repair work we do, and both end with a deck you can use.
Fresh stain on a sound frame
Staining goes in one order on every deck. The whole surface gets a wash and a sanding, and the wood has to dry before any color goes on. Two coats cover the floor and the steps last.
A two-level deck on a wooded hillside lot came to us bare and weathered gray, with its stair going down to a flagstone path. The crew sanded the lower floor back to bare wood with a walk-behind floor sander. The deck now has an even dark stain from the upper railing down to the lower boards.
A covered patio deck at a brick house started at the pressure washer. Once it was washed, a run of bright new boards stood beside the older ones. The deck finished deep brown, with two wide steps down to the pad.
Repairs between the two roads
Some decks need a little of both, and a stair is a good example. At one brick house the crew rebuilt the bottom three treads and the landing in new pressure-treated lumber. Pressure-treated lumber is what we use to replace worn stair stringers and landings.
The same goes for boards. New treated lumber or composite decking can go down over framing that still passes the check. A deck and a room addition share one framing crew with us, so a bigger project stays on one schedule.
Deck replacement from the footings up
When the frame fails the check, the deck gets rebuilt. The footings go in first, and the posts stand plumb on top of them. Pressure-treated joists hang off a rim beam, and a ledger board bolts flat to the wall of the house.
One walkway along a stone veneer wall shows that order. The crew framed treated joists and a rim beam on posts over concrete pier pads set in gravel, with the ledger bolted to the house. Dark composite decking went down picture-framed at the edge, and black cable railing wraps the corner of the house.
At a lake house, the upper porch went from bare framing under house wrap to composite decking laid the full length. Black horizontal metal railing closes the open side. You can see that porch and the walkway in the before and after gallery.
What you choose, and what we check
You choose the material on top, composite decking or treated lumber you can stain the shade you like. Black metal railing closes the open sides on the decks we build.
The crew checks the structure under your choice. That means the joists, the posts, the ledger and the stair stringers. A repair found at that stage goes into the same quote, and it gets handled while the crew is on the job.
If the deck leads to a covered porch or a patio, the same crew builds patios and porches on the same schedule. Ask for a free estimate and we come check your deck, or call 501-276-4770.
Every job on this site was finished by the same crew around Hot Springs and Hot Springs Village. Read more about outdoor spaces, look at the finished work, or ask us about your own house.
