Before you fire up that grill or set out the patio chairs, take ten minutes to walk around your deck. The heat, the rain, and that sticky Louisiana humidity do a number on your wood. Here are four simple things to look for so you can keep your family safe and avoid a costly repair down the road.
Your Deck Takes a Beating and You Might Not Even Notice It
Let’s be real for a second. In Baton Rouge, our backyards are basically our second living rooms. Whether you’re boiling crawfish, watching the Tigers on a portable TV, or just sipping sweet tea while the kids run around, your deck is where the good times happen.
But here is the thing nobody really talks about. Our weather down here is straight-up brutal on outdoor structures. We get scorching sun that bakes the wood dry, then sudden afternoon thunderstorms that soak it completely. Add in that thick humidity that hangs in the air all summer long, and your deck is going through the wringer every single year.
You don’t have to be a contractor to spot the warning signs. You just have to know what to look for. I’m going to walk you through four key areas that every homeowner can check in about ten minutes. If you catch these issues early, you might save yourself a huge headache—and a massive repair bill—later on. Grab a glass of water, head outside, and let’s do a little walkaround together.
Grab the Railing and Give It a Good Shake
This is the very first thing I do when I walk onto an older deck. Walk over to your stair railing or the main railing that wraps around the edge. Don’t be polite about it. Reach out, grab it firmly, and give it a solid shake. Does it wiggle even a little bit? Does it feel loose right where it connects to the big support posts?
If it moves, that is a huge red flag. Those railings are not just for looks. They are there to keep Uncle Jerry from tumbling off the edge after he’s had one too many beers. If you have little kids or grandparents coming over, a wobbly railing is a genuine safety hazard.
Usually, this looseness just means the screws or lag bolts have backed out over time from all that expanding and contracting in the heat. That is an easy fix with a drill and some new, longer screws. But sometimes, that wiggle means the wood underneath has gotten soft and started to rot. If that is the case, the hardware has nothing solid to bite into. Don’t push this one off. It takes two seconds to check, but ignoring it could lead to someone getting hurt.
Walk Around and Look for Soft Spots Under Your Feet
Alright, now it is time to test the floorboards themselves. Take a slow walk around the entire deck. Put a little extra weight on your heels as you step. Do you feel any give? Is there a spot that feels bouncy or kind of spongy when you step on it?
That bounce is usually a sign of rot underneath the surface. Water gets trapped between the boards, or maybe the floor joists (the beams underneath holding everything up) are starting to break down.
Here is an old trick that works every time. Go grab a butter knife or a flathead screwdriver from the kitchen drawer. Find a spot on the deck that looks a little darker or grayer than the rest. Poke that spot with the screwdriver. If the metal sinks right in, like poking into a rotten pumpkin, that wood is toast. It has zero strength left.
That soft spot could give out completely the next time you have a heavy cooler, a big grill, or a crowd of people standing there. Now, don’t panic and think you have to rip the whole thing out. A few rotten decking boards can usually be replaced easily without redoing the whole structure. But if the support beams underneath are rotting, you will definitely want a professional to come take a look. Trust me, it’s way better to find this now than when you are holding a plate of boudin and taking an unexpected dive into the flower beds.
Look Down at the Nails and Screws Holding It Together
I know this sounds a little nitpicky, but just stay with me for a minute. Take a close look at the hardware holding your deck planks down. Do you see any nails popping up? Are there screws that look reddish-brown and crusty with rust?
When nails pop up, they turn into tripping hazards. I can’t tell you how many times I have seen someone stub a toe or catch their flip-flop on a popped nail. Plus, when those nails rise up, they aren’t holding the wood tight anymore. That lets the boards warp and cup over time.
Rust is also a big deal here. With all the moisture in the Baton Rouge air, regular steel nails and screws just don’t stand a chance. They rust, they get brittle, and they snap right off. If you are building new or replacing boards, you absolutely want to use galvanized or stainless steel hardware. That is the only way to make it last in our neck of the woods.
For now, just take a hammer and pound those popped nails back down. But even better, pull them out and replace them with a proper deck screw. Screws grip the wood way tighter than nails, especially when the wood starts to dry out and shrink in August.
Look at the Color (and Watch Out for the Green Stuff)
Okay, this last one is not really a safety issue, but it is a longevity issue. Take a good look at the surface of your wood. Does it look dry, gray, and faded? Do you see patches of green mildew or black mold starting to grow in the corners?
If your deck looks gray, that means the protective sealant or stain has worn completely off. The wood is now bare and soaking up rainwater like a sponge. That moisture leads directly to the rot we talked about in step two.
If you are seeing green or black gunk, you have a moisture problem on your hands. Not only does that look grimy and gross, but it also makes the deck slippery as heck when it rains. A good, professional pressure washing can blast all that grime off and get the wood looking fresh and bright again.
A lot of folks think pressure washing is just for making things look pretty. And yeah, it definitely does that. But more importantly, it gets rid of all that organic gunk that eats away at your wood fibers over time. It’s like brushing your teeth—it cleans off the stuff that would eventually cause cavities. After you get it cleaned up, you will want to seal or stain it to protect it for the next few years so you don’t end right back here again.
Wrapping It All Up
So, there you have it. Four simple things that take less time than waiting on your gumbo to simmer. Grab a cup of coffee, walk your deck, and just look closely.
If you notice any of these signs, please don’t just file it away in the back of your brain. Get it handled. Small fixes are cheap and quick. Waiting until the whole thing caves in is expensive, stressful, and will ruin your weekend barbecue.
If you get out there and realize you’ve got soft spots, rotten boards, or a deck that just looks tired and worn out, we are here to help. At Fortified Construction Services, we deal with this exact stuff every single day. We can handle simple repairs, knock out a professional pressure washing to get you back to square one, or even build you a brand new custom deck that will actually hold up to our crazy Louisiana weather.
We pride ourselves on straightforward pricing, showing up when we say we will, and doing clean work we are proud of. No hidden surprises, just solid craftsmanship. Give us a call or swing by our contact page, and we will come take a look at your deck. You deserve a backyard you can actually enjoy without worrying about falling through the floorboards.