Deck repair in the Illinois Valley, including decks we did not build.
Xcel Outdoor Living repairs decks out of Spring Valley, Illinois, across Bureau, LaSalle, Putnam, Marshall, and Lee counties. Rot, railings that move, stairs that have had enough, boards past saving, and what a storm left behind. We did not have to build it to work on it.
Stairs, railing and the framing under them · one of our own builds
Four things bring people to this page
A deck almost never fails all at once. It gives you a warning first, and the warning is usually something you have been walking past for a year without naming it. A rail you have started bracing a hand against. A step that sounds different from the others. A board that stays dark two days after the rain has stopped.
Three of the four below are really about the frame rather than the surface, and that is the whole reason a repair starts underneath the deck instead of on top of it.
Ask about a deck repair- RotWood rots where it cannot dry, not where it gets wet. The cut end of a board, the joint where two pieces meet, the underside of a tread. It goes dark first, then soft, and it gives under a thumb where it should push back.
- A railing that movesLean on it and watch the base of the post rather than the rail. Nearly every loose railing is loose at that one joint, where the post is fastened to the frame. The rail itself is usually fine.
- StairsA stringer is the sawtooth board a stair sits on, and it is weaker than the board it was cut from because of the notches taken out of it. Water that has been sitting at the bottom of a stair run finds those notches first.
- Boards past savingCupped so they hold water, split along the grain, or lifting at the screws. One board is a board. A dozen of them across the same span is a message about what is underneath.
Two decks with the same symptom can want completely different work.
Sometimes the answer is a new deck
Plenty of contractors will repair anything you ask them to repair, because a repair is a job and a job is money. We would rather tell you when you are about to spend good money on a bad frame. New boards outlive whatever they are screwed to, so a deck that gets a new surface over tired framing is a deck you pay for twice.
Which one you have is not something anybody can settle from your back door, and it is not decided by how the deck looks. It is decided underneath. That is where Jake goes first when he comes out.
New builds and full replacementsJake tells you which of the three you are looking at, whichever way it lands.
A framed stair run and guard rail · one of our own builds
Storm and wind damage
Straight-line wind comes through this valley hard enough to put limbs on the ground, and a limb across a railing is a repair like any other. So is a section lifted where the wind got under it, a pergola post that has moved off its base, and a run of boards a falling branch went through.
What we need from the call is which part took it and whether anything is holding weight that should not be. Storm work is the same conversation as the rest of this page: somebody comes out, looks at it properly, and the number follows.
If the deck moved under you and it is not safe to stand on, that is a different call and it goes to the front of the queue.
Emergency deck repairThe permit is ours to file
A fence and a deck get opposite answers from the same counter. Plenty of fences go up around here with nobody filing anything, so a homeowner reasonably assumes a deck is the same errand. It is not. Every county we work in that lets a residential fence go up unpermitted still wants a permit for a deck, and structural deck work is exactly the kind that needs one.
We file it. The application goes to your village or county under our name, the JULIE utility locate goes in before anything is dug, and we work around the paint on the grass once it comes back. The fee is inside the number you were quoted rather than landing later.
Two things still come back to you. A few towns want the property owner’s signature on the application, so there is a form to sign. And where your property line actually runs is yours to settle, because a permit is a village saying it has seen the plan, not a ruling on where your land stops.
What the counties ask for before you buildSomebody comes out and looks under it.
The estimate is free. Jake Palmieri owns Xcel and he is the one who turns up, and the first thing he does on a repair is get a look at the frame rather than the boards. The crew is three or four people and he is on the job with them.
If a new footing has to go in, he reads the ground while he is standing on it. Parts of this valley are rocky enough that a hole can cost more than the plan said, and that is in the number before you see it rather than in a phone call afterwards.
The number comes after the visit. Never on the doorstep.
Get a free estimateNot what you came for?
What people ask before they book a repair.
Do you repair decks you did not build?
Yes, and most of the decks we repair were built by somebody else. Whoever put it up does not change what is wrong with it or what it takes to put right. Bring us a deck that came with the house and nobody knows who built it, and that is a normal call here.
Should I repair this deck or replace it?
It depends on the frame, not on the boards. A deck with a dry, solid frame and a bad surface is a good repair, and the money goes where you can see it. A deck whose framing has been wet for years is money spent twice, because the new boards will outlast what they are screwed to. Replacement is often the better answer here, and we say so before anything is spent. Jake looks at what is under the deck before anybody says which one this is.
Will a new board match the ones already on the deck?
Not on the first day. A board that has stood in the weather for years has moved a long way from the color it started at, and a new one next to it will read as new. Wood goes grey and takes stain differently once it has weathered. Composite fades a little and then stops. Both close the gap over a season or two, and neither closes it completely. If a run of boards is going to be visible from where you sit, it is worth saying so early rather than after they are down.
Do I need a permit to repair a deck?
Often, yes, and it catches people out because a fence in this valley frequently goes up without one. Replacing a few boards is usually not the same question as rebuilding a stair run or putting a new footing in the ground, and structural work on a deck is where a permit starts to matter. The filing is ours. We file with your village or county and we file the JULIE locate before anything gets dug, and the fee sits inside the number you were quoted rather than turning up afterwards. A few towns want the property owner's signature on the application, so that part comes back to you. Where your property line runs is still yours to settle, because a permit is not a ruling on a boundary.
My deck is only a few years old and a board is already soft. Why?
Age is not what rots a deck. Water sitting somewhere it cannot dry is. The end grain of a cut board drinks like a straw, so a board end that was never sealed goes long before the middle of the same board. The top of a joist sits under the decking where nothing dries it, and the bottom of a stair stringer sits closest to the ground. A young deck with one soft spot usually has a drainage reason behind it, and finding that reason is the difference between fixing it once and fixing it every few years.
What happens at the free estimate for a repair?
It costs you nothing and it happens at your deck, because a repair cannot be priced off a photograph of the top of it. Jake comes out, gets a look at the frame underneath, and walks the stairs and the rails with you. If a new footing has to go in he reads the ground while he is standing on it, and parts of this valley are rocky enough that it matters. The number comes after the visit, not on the doorstep, and the rock is already inside it. The number you were given is the number.
Let’s look under the boards.
The estimate is free. Jake comes out and starts with the frame under the deck, because that is what decides whether this is a repair or a rebuild. The number comes after.
Monday to Friday, 7:00 AM to 5:00 PMCall any time.We’re usually booking a few weeks out.
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