Decks & Outdoor Living
The cedar deck the original owner built in 1998 that has gone soft at the ledger and the steps. The pressure-treated platform with a wobbly railing the inspector flagged on the sale. The flat back yard waiting for a covered patio. The hot tub the spa dealer dropped on a 4-inch concrete slab that has spider-cracked under it. The Eastside hillside lot where the slope wants engineered footings and the city wants stamped drawings. Decks and outdoor living is the Handis carpentry hub — new builds, repairs, railings, pergolas, outdoor kitchens, screened porches, hot-tub pads, sauna shells. We self-perform every cut, every footing, every board, every cap rail, every flashing detail. Permits and stamped engineering on the larger builds are pulled and coordinated by Handis as the general contractor. Line-voltage and hot-tub-circuit electrical routes to a licensed Washington L&I electrician; any gas line to a licensed gas fitter. Low-voltage deck lighting, framing, decking, and railing stay in our scope. Peak build season runs April through September in the Puget Sound — we book the dry-window calendar early; winter scheduling for repairs and railing work continues when the forecast cooperates. From $250 for an inspection to $80,000 for a multi-level engineered build.
Services
What Decks & Outdoor Living Covers
Decks and outdoor living is the residential carpentry trade for everything between an annual stain-and-seal and an engineered multi-level rooftop build — new deck construction, structural and cosmetic repair, railings, pergolas and shade structures, outdoor features like kitchens and screened porches, and the structural pads and framing for hot tubs and saunas. Six service families, each with its own scope, pricing floor, and licensed-trade handoff. Handis self-performs the framing, decking, railing, cap rail, fascia, and flashing — the carpentry IS the work. Permits and stamped engineering on builds over Seattle DCI's deck thresholds are pulled and coordinated by Handis as the general contractor. Regulated work — line-voltage outdoor outlets, hot-tub circuits, gas lines to a fire pit or outdoor kitchen — subs to a licensed Washington L&I electrician or gas fitter, named line by line on the quote. We are honest on the booking call about which scopes fit a single Handis crew and which need a sub schedule.
Deck Building
New deck construction on grade, on a hillside, attached to the house, freestanding, multi-level, floating ground-level, rooftop and condo, and the lot-specific Eastside hillside builds with engineered footings. Materials covered are composite (Trex, TimberTech, Fiberon, Deckorators), cedar, pressure-treated, PVC, and hardwood ipe. Handis frames, decks, rails, flashes, and finishes. Engineered drawings and permits routed through Handis as the lead contractor on builds that warrant them. Low-voltage stair and rail lighting stays in our scope; any line-voltage outdoor outlet routes to the licensed electrician. From $8,000 for a floating ground-level deck to $80,000 for a multi-level engineered build on a sloped lot.
Deck Building — composite, cedar, PT, PVC, ipe, multi-level, floating, rooftop, hillside
Deck Repair & Restoration
The work for the existing deck the homeowner already owns — replacement of split, rotted, or warped boards on an otherwise sound frame; sister-sistering and full repair of compromised joists, beams, and posts; ledger inspection and re-flashing for the failure mode that causes most catastrophic deck collapses; stain-and-seal with pressure wash and brightening; full composite resurface over an existing frame; railing repair on wobbly or out-of-code top rails; and a written safety inspection for an aging deck the homeowner has not had eyes on in years. From $250 for an inspection to $65,000 for a full composite resurface.
Deck Repair & Restoration — boards, joists, ledger, stain, pressure wash, resurface, inspection
Railings
New railings and retrofits across the five material categories — wood (cedar, ipe, PT), cable (stainless cable with metal or wood posts, the modern view-preserving choice), glass (tempered panels for premium unobstructed sight lines), aluminum (powder-coated, low-maintenance, code-compliant baluster spacing), and composite (Trex/TimberTech rail systems matched to the deck boards). Every railing meets the Washington Residential Code 42-inch top rail height on raised decks and the 4-inch sphere baluster gap. From $2,500 for a basic wood railing to $16,000 for a glass-panel premium build.
Railings — wood, cable, glass, aluminum, composite
Pergolas & Shade
Pergolas (cedar, aluminum louvered, attached, freestanding), covered decks and patio covers, gazebos, sun shades, and awning structures. Handis frames, sheathes, posts, beams, and finishes; any in-cover line-voltage (recessed lighting, fan rough-in) routes to the licensed electrician. Stamped engineering and permits on larger covers and attached structures over Seattle DCI thresholds are pulled and coordinated by Handis. From $800 for a basic sun-shade install to $30,000 for a louvered aluminum pergola.
Pergolas & Shade — cedar pergola, louvered aluminum, attached, freestanding, gazebo, covered deck
Outdoor Features
The high-touch outdoor-living builds that turn a deck or patio into a working entertaining space — outdoor kitchens (cabinet boxes, countertop, sink basin set, gas-grill island), built-in fire pits (wood-burning ring or gas with a licensed-gas-fitter line), built-in bars and serving counters, and screened-in porches (framing, screen panels, roof tie-in). Handis self-performs the carpentry, cabinet boxes, countertops, and screen panels; gas lines route to the licensed gas fitter; line-voltage outlets and lighting route to the licensed electrician. From $3,500 for a wood-burning fire pit to $35,000 for a full outdoor kitchen.
Outdoor Features — kitchen, fire pit, bar, screened porch
Outdoor Wellness
The structural side of the outdoor-wellness builds — hot-tub structural pads (engineered concrete or framed deck section sized for the loaded spa weight), hot-tub framing-in on an existing deck (joist reinforcement, beam upgrade, point-load post add), sauna outdoor-shell builds (cedar or thermally modified wood shell, vented roof, code-compliant footing). Handis self-performs the pad, the framing, the shell carpentry. The hot-tub 240V circuit routes to a licensed Washington L&I electrician; any gas line for a sauna heater routes to the licensed gas fitter. From $1,200 for a framed pad to $25,000 for a full sauna shell.
Outdoor Wellness — hot-tub pad, hot-tub framing, sauna shell
Decks & Outdoor Living Pricing
Final pricing depends on deck size, material selection, structural condition of the existing frame on repair work, footing and engineering requirements, railing material, and whether any licensed electrical or gas work is in scope. Each sub-category page below lists detailed pricing for that family. Engineered drawings, Seattle DCI deck permit fees, and any electrical or gas permit fees are pass-through line items named in the project total — never marked up. Request a free in-home estimate for an accurate quote.
Tell us the lot, the existing structure (if any), and what you have in mind — we will quote the whole project including engineering, permits, and licensed-sub coordination.
Why Seattle Homeowners Book Handis for Decks & Outdoor Living
Most deck failures we are called to repair were built right and maintained nothing — or built fast by a contractor who skipped the ledger flashing, drove deck screws into pressure-treated lumber with the wrong fastener grade, or sank post bases into wet ground without a pier. The catastrophic ledger separations that make the news every summer almost always trace to a ledger that was nailed instead of through-bolted, with no Z-flashing tucked under the siding, sitting against rotted bottom plate the original contractor never inspected. Decks read as simple — until you understand they are a small piece of structural framing nailed to your house and standing on point loads in wet soil for twenty Puget Sound winters. Handis builds and repairs them to the residential code AND to the failure modes the code does not always cover. We own the framing, the flashing, the fasteners, the footings, and the permit coordination on every build that needs one.
Permits and engineering pulled and coordinated by Handis as the GC
Decks over 30 inches above grade, attached decks of any height, multi-level builds, hillside builds with engineered footings, large pergolas, and structural cover additions require a Seattle DCI permit and in most cases stamped engineering drawings. Handis pulls the permit as the general contractor, coordinates the stamped engineering with a licensed structural engineer when the drawings are required, schedules the framing and final inspections, and provides the permit copy at project close. Permit fees and engineering fees are pass-through line items named in the project total — never marked up.
Engineered footings on the Eastside hillside builds
The sloped lots that fill Bellevue, Mercer Island, Issaquah, and the Sammamish plateau move enough through freeze-thaw cycles to walk a 4x4 post off a 12-inch dry-stack concrete block. We build the engineered builds on stamped drawings — typically 18 to 36-inch deep helical piers or augered concrete piers with point-loaded steel post bases, sized by the structural engineer to the loaded deck weight and the lot's soil bearing capacity. The pier inspection is logged with Seattle DCI or the appropriate jurisdiction before any framing lands.
Through-bolted, flashed, and inspected ledger on every attached build
Every ledger on an attached deck Handis builds is through-bolted (1/2-inch hot-dipped galvanized or stainless lag bolts at 16-inch on-center staggered top/bottom per the IRC ledger schedule), Z-flashed under the siding with the flashing leg tucked behind the WRB, and inspected before the joists hang. The bottom plate of the wall behind the ledger gets opened, inspected, and replaced if there is rot — a ledger bolted to a rotted bottom plate is the failure mode that causes catastrophic deck-collapse incidents.
Honest licensed-trade handoff, named on the quote
Low-voltage stair and rail lighting (12-volt landscape transformers, the kind that plug into an existing GFCI outlet) stays in Handis scope and we self-perform. Any new line-voltage outdoor outlet, the 240V circuit for a hot tub, the supply circuit for an outdoor kitchen, and any hardwired pergola fixture routes to a licensed Washington L&I electrician — named on the quote with the electrical permit owner identified. Gas lines for a fire pit or outdoor kitchen route to a licensed gas fitter — also named with the gas permit owner. We are not licensed electricians and we are not licensed gas fitters; we name the sub on every quote.
Real protection of the rest of the property
Plywood walkboards down every plant bed the crew crosses, plywood mats over the lawn at staging, rosin paper at the building line, daily debris cleanup, and the dumpster placed on the driveway with plywood under the wheels (the dumpster company will tell you it does not damage concrete; that is not always true on the older Seattle driveways). The landscape, the lawn, and the neighbor's fence go home in the condition they were in when we arrived.
Insured, background-checked, written project warranty
Handis carries general liability and workers' compensation; every carpenter has cleared a background screening. Project warranty covers our workmanship for one year on all decking, railing, cap rail, fascia, and finish — and two years on structural framing (joists, beams, posts, ledger flashing) for full new builds. The licensed-electrical and licensed-gas portions carry their own L&I-trade warranties, also named on the quote.
Estimate
Tell us the lot (flat back yard, sloped Eastside hillside, rooftop or condo terrace), the existing structure (none, an existing deck to repair or resurface, an existing patio to cover), what you have in mind (new build, repair scope, railing replacement, pergola or cover, outdoor kitchen, hot-tub pad, sauna shell), any known issues (soft boards at the steps, wobbly railing, ledger separation, settled footings), and rough dimensions. We send a clear estimate with the engineering, permit, and licensed-sub portions named line by line.
What Our Customers Say
Recent decks and outdoor living reviews from verified Seattle-area customers.
New 480-square-foot composite deck on a flat back yard in Ballard. Trex Transcend boards, capped cedar railing, low-voltage step lights at the stairs, Handis pulled the permit. The crew framed everything in five working days, decked and railed it in three more, and we passed final inspection on the first walk-through. The cap rail is dead flat — you can roll a marble down it.
Cedar deck repair on a 1996 build in Magnolia. The ledger had separated from the house about 1/4 inch and three joists were soft at the hangers. Handis pulled the failing boards, opened the wall behind the ledger, found rotted bottom plate, replaced it, re-flashed, re-bolted with proper lag schedule. Sistered the bad joists, replaced the worst seven boards. The deck reads completely different — solid where it used to bounce.
Hillside Eastside lot in Issaquah, multi-level deck with a 9-foot drop at the back corner. Handis brought a structural engineer in on the second visit, stamped drawings two weeks later, helical piers went in before any framing. The whole build took six weeks including the engineering and permit time. We have had it through one winter now and nothing has moved.
Hot-tub pad and deck framing-in on an existing deck in Redmond. The dealer told us they could drop the tub on the existing framing — Handis came out, looked at the joists, and told us the load was 1,200 pounds over what the existing 2x8 framing rated for. Reinforced the joists with sistered 2x10s, added a beam and two new posts on concrete piers. The licensed electrician they coordinated ran the 240V circuit on the same week. The tub has been in service for ten months with zero issues.
Cable railing retrofit on a 35-foot stretch of an existing cedar deck overlooking Lake Washington. The old wood balusters blocked the view and the cap rail was due. Handis pulled the old railing, installed cedar 4x4 posts with stainless cable tensioner kits, capped with ipe top rail. The view from the kitchen window is a different house now.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about Handis decks and outdoor living — scope, permits, engineering, licensed-trade handoff, scheduling, seasonality, and what fits a single Handis crew versus a multi-trade project.