Every job below is one we do ourselves across Phoenix.
We frame new decks with pressure-treated joists set 16 inches on center, bolted to a ledger board that's flashed so water can't get behind it and rot the rim joist. Footings go down through Phoenix's caliche layer to solid soil, not just a few inches of fill. You pick the decking, wood, composite or PVC, and we handle the permit.
Most repair calls start with a board that cupped or a post that's gone soft where it sits in the concrete. We pull the bad boards, check the joists underneath for rot before covering them back up, and match new material as close as we can to what's already there. Small jobs, a loose stair stringer, a rail that's come off its posts, we take those too.
Phoenix sun bleaches and cracks wood fast, a deck that goes two summers without a fresh coat is already graying and splitting. We pressure wash, let the wood dry out fully, then apply a stain and sealer rated for high UV exposure. Composite decks don't need staining but we clean them and check fastener heads and expansion gaps.
If you want something beyond a rectangle off the back door, we'll draw up multi-level decks, built-in bench seating, or a layout that works around a pool equipment pad or a slope. We size joists and beams for the layout you actually want, not for whatever's easiest to build. You see the plan before we order any lumber.
Composite holds up better than wood against Phoenix summers, but it still needs hidden fasteners set right and expansion gaps sized for how much the boards move in extreme heat. We install with a clip system so there are no screw heads on top, and we leave the gap spacing the manufacturer specifies, not a guess.
Code calls for guardrails at 36 inches minimum on residential decks, with balusters spaced so a 4-inch sphere can't pass through. We build to that whether it's a full railing replacement or resetting one wobbly post. Cable rail, wood baluster, aluminum panel, we've installed all three.
Sometimes the frame underneath is still solid and it's only the decking on top that's worn out. We pull the old boards, check every joist while it's exposed, and lay new decking on the frame that's already there instead of rebuilding it from scratch. It's a faster job and a cheaper one when the structure checks out.
Old decks that are sagging, past saving, or in the way of a remodel, we tear out and haul off. We check first whether the footings underneath can be reused for the new deck, that alone can save a few days of digging.
A deck in direct Phoenix sun is unusable by June without something over it. We build attached and freestanding pergolas sized to your deck, and can run shade cloth or louvered covers if you want it usable at 2pm in July, not just at sunset.
This is the part nobody sees once the decking goes down, but it decides whether the deck is still solid in ten years. We check joist hangers for rust, especially after monsoon season, and replace any framing lumber that's checked, split, or gone soft from water sitting where it shouldn't. Beams and posts get resized if the original build was undersized for the span.
Four steps, and no surprises in any of them.
You tell us what you want doing, we look at what is actually there, and we ask the awkward questions early.
In writing, itemised, free. If something might add cost later we flag it now rather than at the end.
Same crew throughout. We cover your floors, keep the dust down and tidy up before we leave each day.
You point out anything you are not happy with and we fix it before the invoice, not after.
We take on deck jobs throughout the Valley, not just in Phoenix proper.
Questions that come up once a deck project is actually underway.
Describe the problem and we will tell you what it probably is. No obligation.
