Does this deck need full replacement?
Hi friends. My wife and I bought our house about a year ago and it was built in 2001 with this monster 3-story all wood deck attached — basement is a walk out and there is a concrete pad supporting the full weight of this thing. We’ve kind of walked into a nightmare scenario… it started when we noticed that it is leaning a few degrees, and then we discovered that the concrete pad is pulling away from the house and starting to slide down the hill. The lugs (photo 3) that attach it to the side of our house are literally being ripped out! We then were informed that we have a drainage issue where water from the gutters is being deposited right underneath the concrete pad, likely expediting the concrete moving away from the house. We also noticed that it isn’t footed properly (photo 4); from what i understand the current code requirements would have the support beams passing through the concrete directly into the ground.
We had two deck/landscape companies come out and have a look, and it definitely seems like they are trying to sell us a whole new deck. They pointed out an area that is rotting in a structural zone, which i’ve included in the photos — it does look bad for sure, and is soft/spongy to the touch, but i don’t really know what options i might have as far as repair goes, and whether it may be possible to repair the rot based on its location as well as correct the drainage and hopefully keep everything where it is. If we need to replace the entire deck, then that’s just what we’ll have to do, but we just want to make sure we’re also not being taken for a ride replacing something that has a chance at repairs.
What do you guys think? Is this a disaster waiting to happen that I need to address immediately, or can we repair and wait a few years?
EDIT: by the way, this is in the south Denver area -- definitely open to suggestions for companies/contractors/engineers that people would vouch for.