Rather than rebuild it, resurface an old deck if the structure is sound
Should you resurface an old deck or rebuild the deck?
Consider this question carefully. Putting new decking on a deck structure that isn’t sound is not a safe idea for the homeowners. There are plenty of devastating deck collapse videos online that you can check out.
Recently, a client asked me to update an older deck. After careful inspection, I determined that the deck structure was safe and sound. The structure actually looked like it had just been installed. The decking just needed to be updated.
So I set about to re-deck it.
Step 1.
Remove the decking and railing with my mighty Nestorbars deck dismantler. As with any remodeling demo work, it’s important to take it apart in the reverse order that it was assembled.
While smashing can look like fun on a TV makeover show, it’s a mess in real life. And you can create more work than you actually need to do.
Step 2.
Remove the old fasteners. On this project, these were ancient, stripped, dirt-packed Phillips head screws, many with the heads corroded off. Side-prying with my Vaughn hammer was key in freeing the embedded threads from the wood fiber.
Step 3.
New 5/4 decking and Spax screws of awesomeness hold the great new deck together for its second chapter.
If you’d like more detail into how to deck an old deck, check out the full how to resurface an old deck video.
