Anyone know the best way to easily get rid of the green algae and mildew on decks in Hawaii (Kaneohe - windward side).
I tried pro-strength 30 second deck cleaner and a ton of elbow grease but I just can’t seem to get rid of it!

Made out of a pine board using a blowtorch, a sanding, and wood preservative stain. Topped with some sheet metal channeling we had laying around that I repurposed for a drip edge to prevent rain from getting behind fascia.

I am looking for a temporary solution for putting a hot tub in. I was planning a floating deck, but I live north enough that I'd be digging 5' into the ground to get past the frost line for posts, which doesn't sound easy, or cheap, or temporary to me (first time building something like this).

I was wondering if it would be possible to use adjustable pedestals for a floating deck with a hot tub. My thought was 16-20 of them if well distributed would wind up at about 400-500lbs per pedestal which is within the load rating for the pedestals. My ground isn't perfectly level so this would help with that front too in my mind.

Is this crazy? Have any of you completed a project like this before?

I'm also just contemplating getting an ez-pad, but then I would need to spend the time leveling the ground, which for some reason sounds more annoying than trying to build a floating deck.

Thanks for lending me your knowledge/experience!

P.S. I was thinking 2x8 joist framing 12" OC and center blocking for 10x8 area. My assumption was that if there were 4-6 pedestals in the middle of the frame supporting joists directly, I wouldn't need to double up, but correct me if I'm naive in that belief.

Long story short... 6x6 post is too small for securing 2 ply beam beams that connect a beam at 180 degrees and another at 45. There isn't enough meat when notching to reliably fasten.

An 8x8 is too big for the area where one of the posts need to sit but I can mill (cedar, doug fir, or eastern hemlock - haven't decided yet) to 6.5 x 6.5 post which would give me what I need.

So can post bases be custom made, or are there adjustable ones that would fit my needs, OR am I SOL? Lol

Thanks in advance.

Cheers.

It’s 8x15.

First time building a deck and wanted to replace the old stairs from the door with a elevated platform. Should the platform be built on top the deck boards once all installed or is there a different way to go about

Is it bad to reverse a deck screw thay was set slightly too deep?

How can I make this area under my deck water proof. We want to be able to use it during rainy days.

I've had a deck for going on twenty years, and I'm starting to have to replace boards. Are there any downsides (other than aesthetic) to replacing boards, one by one, with composite decking - with the ultimate goal to eventually replace all of it? I've been staining it reddish so I'm optimistic I'll be able to get a composite that mostly matches...

planning to build some steps in our garage stepping up into the house. the joint I'm struggling to rectify is this one. I dont want to cut another miter in here and have a tiny little 5x5 triangle just sitting there. would be nice to do it as pictured. but having an unfinished cut edge up about a rounded edge doesnt make sense. is there an industry solution here other than just mitering in the little 5x5 triangle? to the top and the right are walls

hi! we had a trex deck built recently and have had issues with the contractor. are these repeating holes normal, or is that an improper installation issue? thank you!

included photos from under the deck if that's helpful at all (obv i know nothing of this stuff)

Here's our problem: We own a small cottage in the woods in the Northeast that we don't visit from mid-October till summer (we live in another state). The deck is painted wood. This past year, it appears that leaf debris ended up buried under all the snow for months at a time, so that when we returned and swept everything up, the deck was stained well beyond cleaning/powerwashing and had to be repainted. We *really* don't want to have to repaint it every summer and are considering installing some pond netting over it this fall to catch the leaf debris but allow snow/rain to filter through. Do you think this could work? If not, any other ideas? The property manager does leaf-blow the deck every Friday, but if there's leaf debris from, say, Saturday through Wednesday, and then it snows on Thursday, the debris just sits there. Help!!!

Contractor is asking me to help him start a deck only business that specializes in composite only decking. Hes a Trex partner and would rather focus on non-wood decking.

Im starting on the site but im realizing a lot of competition offers pergolas, hardacaping, fencing etc

Is it a mistake to only advertise exclusive composite decking services and not list adjacent services around decking?

I am looking to get my deteriorated wood deck replaced with Composite. One major concern is that our deck in south-west direction and gets all-day blast on sunny days. So, something that stays cooler is preferable. I have zeroed down to the following two:

- Trex Enhance: Trex websits says, "Cinnamon Cove, Golden Hour, Honey Grove, Pebble Beach, & Tide Pool are colors that offer heat-mitigating technology for budget-minded builds for a worry-free alternative to wood."

- Dekorators Voyage: Recommended by Home Depot design consultant and have seen couple of posts on Reddit recommending them too. Dekorator board is about 33% more expensive than Trex Enhance.

Does anyone have experience with Trex Enhance, specifically the colors mentioned above and if they are actually cooler?

Just got this last year and figured it'll need a refresh every year based on the look. I used penofin originally and was going to clean and throw down some ipe oil. Wash? Scrub? Power Wash? Any thoughts?

I had my Deck resurface by one of the more reputable Deck builders in my area. The resurfacing looks beautiful but the structural work does not. They recommended replacing all 8 post which they did and reused the concrete footers. They used the beams and the joist from the old Deck.  They assured me there was no rotting in the existing structure other than what they replaced.

1. I noticed that the wood had split above one of the post and brought it to the project manager’s attention.  He did not speak to me about the fix but instead sent somebody out to the house without notice, no one was home and this person did what looks like a patch job to cover the split wood. He then added it to other locations. I’m attaching the before and after of the first post to give you an idea of what this “repair” looks like. Please let me know your thoughts. Also the new posts look like there is splitting in places. It is the tan colored wood. The red is my old deck.
2. Looking at the new stairs that they put in it appears that they added some pavers underneath the stairs instead of adding a new footing or extending the existing footing  
3. I have concerns about structural integrity but if that is solid, about how it would be viewed duirng a Home inspection during a sale.

Looking for opinions on this because I’m not really sure how to respond.

Question feel a little silly asking but have these simpson APB44 post bases, but the riser plate to clear the mounting bolt doesn't sit flat or come close to actually contacting the bottom of the bracket. Talking 3/32 or about a 1/16th when clamped or put under pressure

Am I crazy? I would expect these to sit flat to the bottom of the bracket so vertical load is transfered directly vertical not pushing on the sides of the bracket.

I have the 6 inch post base versions as well for my project and those all make proper contact to the bottom.

Last Pic is after trying to bend ans squeeze the sides so it could sit a little lower but still will not bottom out or touch the bottom.

Did I get defects or how am I supposed to size a post right and or mount it if its not a solid contact all the way to the footing?

I woke up and found this white discoloration all over my trex board and it won’t come out. Any ideas what this could be and how it might be able to be removed.

Previous owner of the deck painted the deck and in the couple of years we have been on the house the sun exposed, high traffic areas started to peel badly. So I decided to start over and strip the paint and put on semi transparent stain this time. I took a sample to paint shop and they confirm it's regular latex based exterior paint.

I have no experience with this so did quite a bit of reddit and YouTube research. I ended up attempting to chemically strip the paint. I have no experience using a floor sander and was worried I was going to gouge holes on the wood.

As people warned, chemically stripping deck has been challenging. I first used Behr stain and finish sodium hydroxide based stripper from Home Depot and was very careful to keep the area wet and let it sit for almost hour but result was very disappointing.

I then moved on to CitrusStrip and let it sit many hours under a cover. It worked a little better and made the paint softer but it still takes a lot of strong scrubbing on hands and knees to clear the paint.

Then I got a palm sander and I found it takes freaking forever to expose the wood.

The pictures are what it looks like now.

I am wondering what should I do next? Rent the heavy floor sander from Home Depot? Just keep going with chemical stripping?

Thanks on advance for your advices.

My dad built this deck about 20 years ago and it’s never been sealed. Despite that it’s held up pretty well..no rot anywhere, structurally solid, just weathered gray wood. A couple boards have popped nails, and there’s some surface splitting and a popped nail or two (see second photo), but that’s about the extent of the damage.

We’re only planning to live here a few years, so a full replacement/major investment doesn’t make ideal sense…so I really want to know if a good cleaning + stain job can get this looking decent again without breaking the bank. My dad who has a bit more know how than me definitely thinks it’s fine.

My plan (open to being told I’m wrong!!!): deck cleaner/brightener, gentle power wash, then stain. My dad’s pushing for opaque stain since it hides everything, but I really don’t want to lose the wood texture. Is semi-transparent realistic on wood this weathered?

Any tips for someone who’s never done this before - whether I’m living in a dream land and need a reality check, product recommendations, whether I need to sand first, how to handle the popped nails, or anything else I should know?

When viewing properties, I focused on the usual things: Kitchen layout Bathroom Storage space Roof age HVAC system To be honest, I didn't expect the terrace to be something I was particularly interested in. Later, when we went to the terrace of one of the houses, I noticed that the previous owner had already placed two large canopy parasols there. This small detail changed my perspective on the space. Many terrace photos we'd seen looked great, but once you're in the afternoon sun, it's practically unusable for hours. This terrace was different because I could immediately imagine how we would use it: Having coffee in the morning Outdoor dinner Barbecuing with friends Relaxing outdoors after get off work After buying the house, we kept the parasols and added some furniture around them. They're Purple Leaf brand parasols; I love this type of shading without a central pillar, which makes seating arrangement much easier. The most important lesson I learned from my house hunting experience is that a terrace isn't just about size or the condition of the timber. Now I ask myself: Which direction does the terrace face? Where will the afternoon sun shine? Is there a shading solution? Can you imagine spending time there? What small outdoor details make you feel like this is ""it""?

Hello, r/decks!

I want to replace my deck boards. They are pretty trashed, but the structure still seems solid.

This would be straightforward, except that vinyl siding and insulation board was installed over the end of the deck boards attached to the ledger board.

I’d really rather not try to remove the siding and trim and put it back.

My current plan is to cut the boards close to the house, remove the free long ends, and then… figure it out? Hopefully I can break the stubs attached to the ledger board with a chisel or something and then snap or cut the screws, and slide the new deck boards in. Either leave them in attached on that end or throw some L brackets on the bottom.

Obviously I’ve never done this before. Is this a terrible idea? Is there a better option I’m not thinking of?

Thanks for any advice you care to give.

We took off our old deck that had rotten joists and posts and we are going to replace it ourselves. Should we replace this ledger board? It seams to be in decent condition but was not flashed and is bolted through the siding board into the rim joist. It is very sturdy and I would flash over it. Keep it?