Resurfacing means keeping the structure and replacing the boards and rails. It runs at about half a rebuild, and it is the right answer more often than people expect.
How to tell if the frame will take it
Get underneath with a screwdriver. Push it into the joists at several points, and into the ledger where the deck meets the house. Timber that resists is fine. Timber that takes the blade has gone.
If fewer than a third of the joists are soft and the ledger is sound, resurfacing works.
What gets replaced
Decking, railings, stair treads and all the fixings. What stays is the posts, beams, joists and ledger — everything you do not see.
It is also the moment to change material
Since the boards are coming off anyway, resurfacing is the cheapest point to move from timber to composite. The frame does not care which goes on top.
When it is not enough
Posts that move under load, a ledger that has been wet for years, or a deck built without flashing. New boards on any of those is money on top of a problem.
Deck repair covers what we find. Finished work is on our Facebook page.
