Start here: is it cosmetic or structural?
Weathered, grey, splintery boards look bad and are usually harmless. A deck that has moved is a different category. Before you get quotes, walk the deck and check these:
- Does it feel springy underfoot? Bounce mid-span suggests undersized or failing joists.
- Is it level? Put a level on the frame in several places. A consistent slope away from the house is intentional. Irregular dips and rises are not.
- Push the railings hard. Any real movement is a serious safety issue, not a maintenance item.
- Look at where it meets the house. Any gap, any staining on the siding below, any rot at the ledger — stop using the deck and get it looked at.
- Probe the wood with a screwdriver at post bases, stair stringers and anywhere water sits. If it sinks in easily, that is rot.
The four causes, in order of how much they cost
1. Heaved footings
The characteristic eastern Idaho failure. Pocatello's design frost depth is 36 inches. Decks built with shallower footings — very common on older builds and on anything put up without a permit — move every winter. The tell is a deck that is out of level in an irregular pattern, with posts that appear to have risen relative to each other, gaps opening at stair connections, and a frame that has gone out of square.
This is the expensive one. Fixing it properly means supporting the structure, removing the old footings and pouring new ones to depth. Sometimes it is genuinely cheaper to rebuild. A builder who tells you a heaved deck can be fixed by shimming is offering you a few years, not a repair.
2. Ledger failure
The dangerous one. Water gets behind poorly flashed ledger board, the house rim joist rots, fasteners lose their grip. This is how decks collapse, and Pocatello's freeze-thaw cycling plus the prevalence of elevated walkout decks makes it both more likely and more consequential here.
Warning signs: staining or soft siding below the ledger line, any visible gap between deck and house, movement when you push the deck away from the wall. If you see these, keep people off it until it is inspected. Repair means opening up the connection, assessing the house framing behind it, replacing rotted material and rebuilding the attachment and flashing correctly.
3. Rot at the usual places
Idaho's dry climate means decay pressure is relatively low compared to humid regions — but water still collects. It concentrates at post bases sitting on or in concrete, at stair stringers where they meet the ground, under planters and mats that stay damp, and anywhere debris packs into a gap. Localised rot is usually a component replacement rather than a rebuild.
4. UV damage and surface wear
The most common complaint and the least serious. High-desert sun at elevation, combined with severe daily temperature swings, breaks down wood surfaces and finishes faster than most homeowners expect. Boards check, cup and go silver-grey. South and west exposures fail first.
If the structure is sound, this is a sanding and refinishing job, or a board replacement over an existing frame. Replacing decking on a good frame is a fraction of the cost of a new deck and is often the right call on a deck that is structurally fine but looks tired.
Repair, re-deck, or replace?
| Situation | Usually the answer |
|---|---|
| Frame sound, boards weathered or splintered | Re-deck over existing frame |
| Localised rot at a few posts or stringers | Component repair |
| Railings loose but frame level and solid | Rebuild railings to current code |
| Ledger compromised, frame otherwise fine | Ledger repair — do it immediately |
| Deck out of level, footings heaved | Get both quotes: repair and replace |
| Multiple issues, deck over about 20 years old | Usually replace |
The honest rule of thumb: if the frame and footings are good, almost anything above them is worth repairing. If the footings have moved, you are usually rebuilding whether you want to or not.
A contractor quoting a repair without getting under the deck and probing the framing is quoting a guess. Ask what they found, not just what they propose. And if a repair estimate approaches half of what a new deck would cost, take the new-deck quote seriously — a rebuild resets the clock and gets you 36-inch footings.
Common questions
Can I just replace the boards and leave the frame?
If the frame is sound, yes, and it is one of the best-value projects in home improvement. Two cautions: check joist spacing against your new decking's requirements, because composite typically needs tighter spacing than wood, and inspect the joist tops for rot while they are exposed — that is your one chance.
My deck is only ten years old and already moving. Why?
Most likely footings that never reached 36 inches. This is common on decks built without a permit, or built by someone working to a national plan set rather than local frost depth. Ten years is roughly when shallow-footing decks in this climate start visibly racking.
Is a wobbly railing a real problem?
Yes. Guardrails are required to resist a substantial lateral load, because their entire purpose is stopping someone from going over the edge. A railing you can move by hand will not hold an adult falling against it. Treat it as urgent, particularly on an elevated deck.
Does deck repair need a permit?
Surface board replacement generally does not. Anything structural — joists, beams, posts, footings, the ledger — generally does. More on the permits page.