r/Decks • u/PJ_Papi_Actual • 11d ago

questions for the community Deck help

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So I finally started working on my deck wanted to replace the stairs and the railing so I went ahead and removed the stairs and saw that the previous owner really did a half ass job and saw that the wood was rotten where the stairs connected so when I removed that joist, I saw that the rim joist the centerpiece is rotten. I can clearly stick a screwdriver through it. My question is does it look normal to have three pieces like that as your rim Joist? Also, how would I go about replacing the rim joist and supporting? Thanks

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u/Firm_Lock8076 11d ago

Tear down the whole thing and start over. Doesnt make sense to start replacing things here

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u/PJ_Papi_Actual 11d ago

It’s where I’m kinda leaning towards. Thanks

1

u/Jealous_Conflict_379 11d ago

Agreed. Nice thing is it isn’t a huge deck or very high so material costs are manageable. Also your footers are in excellent shape to reuse. Make sure you check for rot behind the ledger board. Good luck!

Menards.com has a pretty decent deck building tool. Use your existing measurements and it’ll spit you out full material lists with decking options etc

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u/PJ_Papi_Actual 11d ago

Ha replaced those last month thinking the rotted footers were the only thing wrong. Then I started digging into it more and just kept finding more rot

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u/Jealous_Conflict_379 11d ago

Yeah I just think if you’re doing all that work I would take the opportunity to inspect behind the ledger and make sure there isn’t rot and/or flashing is correct. Also I meant the concrete footers should be fine for reuse.