Price it
A few questions, a range in about a minute. The calculator uses the rates we quote with — a site visit pins the exact number.
Instant fence & deck estimate
01 / 09An inspection that starts at the ledger and the footings, with a straight answer on repair versus rebuild before any money is spent.
Deck problems split cleanly in two, and knowing which side you are on decides whether you spend hundreds or thousands. Surface problems — cupped or splintered deck boards, a loose railing post, a split stair tread — are cosmetic, because the structure underneath is still doing its job. Structural problems — a rotted joist, a post soft at the base, a footing that has heaved — are the ones where patching the surface hides the fault for another season.
Straight about what we do: we build decks, we do not take on patch repairs. What we will do is inspect yours properly and tell you which of those two you have — including when the answer is your deck is fine, do not spend money on it.
The ledger board, where the deck meets the house, and its flashing. Water tracking behind a badly flashed ledger rots the framing invisibly, and ledger failure is the way decks actually collapse. It is also the one defect a homeowner almost never spots, because the damage happens behind the cladding rather than on the surface you walk on.
Joist ends at the beam, post bases at grade, and the footings. A post that has gone soft at the concrete collar looks perfect from three feet away, so we probe rather than eyeball. Then the guard: we push it hard, because a guard that flexes is not through-bolted to the rim, and under the Ontario Building Code it has to hold once the deck surface is more than 600 mm above grade.
Sanding, cleaning and a penetrating decking oil or a decking restorer will make a sound cedar or pressure-treated deck look years younger. That is worth doing on a deck whose structure checks out, and we will tell you when that is all you need. It will do nothing for a soft joist — a fresh finish over failing framing is the single most common thing we are asked about and the one we most often talk people out of.
If the footings and the ledger are sound, your deck has service life left and you should keep it. If the footings have heaved or the ledger is rotten, the cost of doing it properly approaches a rebuild — and a rebuild gives you a new deck and a new service life instead of an old deck with new parts.
Demolition and disposal of the old deck is priced as its own line, never folded into the new build. Footings go to the 1.2 m frost line. Permit and engineering apply where the deck sits more than 24 in. above grade, and we tell you that up front rather than after.
Price the rebuild yourself in about a minute with the estimator, and you will have a real range before anyone comes out.
| First inspection point | The ledger board where the deck meets the house, and its flashing |
|---|---|
| Then | Joist ends at the beam, post bases at grade, footings, and the guard under load |
| Method | Probing rather than eyeballing, because a post soft at the concrete collar looks fine from three feet away |
| When it is sound | Sanding and a penetrating oil is all it needs, and we will say so |
| The call | Heaved footings or a rotten ledger approaches a rebuild — a new deck and a new service life, not an old deck with new parts |
| What we build | The rebuild, with demolition and disposal as a separate line and footings to the 1.2 m frost line |
We are an installation contractor, not a manufacturer or a materials retailer. We build decks and fences on your property across the Greater Toronto Area: layout, footings below the frost line, framing, boards, railings, stairs and gates, finished and inspected. Composite boards are a surface option we install, alongside pressure-treated lumber and western red cedar, and the boards themselves are made by manufacturers we do not represent and whose brands we do not resell. If you already have material on site we can build with it; if you do not, we specify and source what suits the deck and include it in the written fixed price. What you are buying from us is the build and the crew that stands behind it, not a product off a shelf.
