What I repair, week in week out
- Boards: cupped, split or rotten boards replaced and colour-matched — merbau, spotted gum, blackbutt, pine, and composite board swaps.
- Structure: soft joists sistered or replaced, posts re-stumped onto galvanised stirrups, ledger connections re-flashed where decks meet the house — the most common serious fault I find.
- Balustrades and stairs: loose rails re-fixed or rebuilt to current requirements, treads replaced, wobbles removed.
- Finish: full restoration — sand back, treat, re-oil. Ten-year-old grey timber routinely comes back looking two years old. Mydeck maintenance and restoration guidecovers the wash-sand-oil sequence and the schedule that keeps it looking that way.
The honest inspection, first
Every job starts underneath. I check footings, posts, bearers, joists and the house connection before talking about what's visible on top — because a beautiful re-oil over a failing frame is the most expensive kind of cheap. You get a straight verdict: what's sound, what needs work now, what can wait, and a fixed written price for each. No drama either way — around half my inspections end with "the frame's fine, it just needs boards and oil."
Why decks fail early here
Lower North Shore conditions are specific: salt air that eats budget fixings, shaded gardens that keep timber damp, and a generation of decks built with posts straight into soil. If your deck is 15–25 years old, odds are the boards were the good news and the substructure is where attention belongs. Catching post rot early is the difference between a board-and-fastener repair and a full rebuild — which is exactly why I'd rather inspect early and tell you there's nothing to worry about.
While I'm up there
Repair visits pair naturally with the small-jobs list — a sticking door, gutter clearing, the gate that never latched. One insured, local crew for the lot; seehandyman services if the list has been growing.