Emergency deck repair when a rail, a stair or the deck itself gives way.
Xcel Outdoor Living, out of Spring Valley, Illinois, across Bureau, LaSalle, Putnam, Marshall, and Lee counties. If something on your deck moved under weight, call. Tell us what moved and we will tell you what we can do. We did not have to build the deck to come and put it right.Call 815-579-2323
Before you do anything else
- Get off itEverybody, not only whoever felt it go. Something that moved once under a person will move again under the next one.
- Block the way onThe gate shut, the back door locked, something across the bottom step. Stopping people walking out there tonight does more than anything you could do with a screwdriver.
- Then call and say what movedWhich part it was, whether it dropped or just gave, and whether the deck is raised or a step up from the lawn. That is enough for us to know what we are coming to.
What we treat as urgent
Three things, and underneath they are one thing. Something built to hold a person has stopped holding one.
- A deck that is not safe to stand on. It dropped, it shifted sideways, or you heard it go. Whatever happened, it happened under load, and the load was somebody’s weight.
- A railing that gives. On a raised deck the guard rail is the only thing between the boards and the ground. One that moves when you put a hand on it has stopped doing that job, and it usually lets go at the foot of the post rather than in the rail.
- Stairs that will not hold. A tread that flexes underfoot, a stringer split at one of the notches cut into it, or a whole run that has pulled away from the deck at the top.
Say which of the three it is when you call, and say whether the deck is raised or sits a step up from the lawn. A rail on a raised deck and a rail on a low platform are not the same phone call.
Call 815-579-2323
A guard rail on one of our own builds, not a repair
What happens after you call
- You get an answer on the phone. Tell us what moved and we will tell you what we can do about it. The weather and what the frame turns out to be doing move a schedule around more than anybody would like, so we would rather give you a real answer than a slot.
- There is no clock on this page, on purpose. The answer depends on where the crew is that day and what the weather is doing. A number we might miss is worth less to you than knowing where you stand.
- Somebody comes and looks at it. The visit costs you nothing, and the number comes after it rather than down the phone. Nobody can price a structural repair from a description.
- If the fix is structural, the paperwork is ours. We file the permit with your village or county and we file the JULIE locate before anything is dug, and the fee sits inside the number you were quoted. A few towns want the property owner’s signature on the application, so that much comes back to you.
Not this urgent?
Four things people ask on the phone.
What counts as an emergency deck repair, and what can wait?
An emergency is something that has stopped holding weight. The deck moved under somebody, a guard rail gives when you lean on it, or a stair will not take a foot. Anything in that group is worth a call today. A deck that is grey, splintered, soft in one board, or has a rail you have been meaning to sort out for a year is real work and it is not this, and it belongs on our deck repair page instead.
What should we do until somebody gets there?
Keep everybody off it, children and dogs included, and stop the way onto it rather than trying to fix anything tonight. The gate shut, the back door locked, something across the bottom step. If the deck has a light switch that invites people out there in the evening, leave it off. Then call and tell us which part moved.
How fast can you get here?
There is no clock printed on this page and that is deliberate. What we cannot tell you, in advance and in writing, is an hour, because it depends on where the crew is that day and what the weather is doing. What we can tell you is what we are able to do about your deck, on the phone, once you have told us what moved. A number we might miss is worth less to you than an answer that holds.
The railing is loose. Should we just take it off?
Taking it off does not make the deck safer. It removes the thing that was there to stop a fall, and in the dark an open edge is hard to see. Blocking the way onto the deck does more than removing anything from it. Leave the rail where it is, keep people off, and say on the phone that it is the rail rather than the deck itself, because those are two different jobs.
Or write it down.
If you would rather not talk, this reaches the same place. Say what moved, where the deck is, and a number to reach you on. Somebody still comes out and looks, the visit is free, and the number comes after.
Monday to Friday, 7:00 AM to 5:00 PMCall any time.We’re usually booking a few weeks out.
Fully insured & registered