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.
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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.
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.