Fence & Deck Repair
Fence and deck repair is the residential trade that fixes gate hardware, replaces individual fence and deck boards with matched lumber, braces or sisters leaning posts, and patches small wood-rot areas with structural epoxy — gate hardware from $109, fence boards from $149, deck boards from $179 with a joist check included. The back gate has not latched on its own since the wind storm in January — the kids leave it open, the dog gets out. Two deck boards flex every time someone steps on them in the same spot on the way to the grill. A fence post leans ten degrees after a moderate rain. Handis tackles the small problems before they double in size next season.
Service
What Does a Fence & Deck Repair Visit Include?
A Handis fence and deck repair visit is a residential service that covers five families of small fixes — gate latch and hinge alignment, fence board replacement with matched lumber, deck board replacement with an under-board joist check, post bracing or sister-post reinforcement, and structural epoxy patching on small rot areas — from $109 for a gate latch to $349 for a single-post re-set in fresh concrete. Each family has its own diagnostic — the gate that does not latch is rarely the latch; the soft board is sometimes the joist underneath.
Gate Latch, Hinge & Alignment
A gate that does not latch on its own swings open in the wind and defeats the point of the fence. Most failures come from worn or undersized latches, sagged hinges (the screws have backed out of soft wood), or a gate that has dropped a quarter-inch out of square because a post moved. We replace latches with stainless or galvanized hardware rated for outdoor use, install longer screws into solid wood (or relocate the hinge slightly to fresh wood), and adjust the gate alignment so it closes and locks under its own weight without slamming.
Fence Board Replacement
Cracked, warped, or rotting boards make the whole fence look ten years older than the run actually is. We remove damaged boards (cedar dog-ear, board-on-board, vinyl panel inserts), match replacement lumber as closely as possible in species, dimension, and grain, and fasten the new pieces flush with the existing run using stainless or galvanized exterior screws. New cedar reads lighter than weathered cedar for the first 12 to 18 months; UV exposure brings it closer to surrounding color over time. We can stain the replacement boards to blend faster as an add-on.
Deck Board Replacement with Joist Check
Soft, split, or bouncy deck boards are a trip hazard and often a symptom of moisture damage in the framing underneath. We do not just pull the surface boards and call it done. We probe the joists with an awl through the gap, check for soft punky wood or visible rot at the ledger and the joist hangers, and report what we find before installing. If the joist is failing, the surface board is the symptom — replacing the board over a rotting joist is a temporary cover that fails again inside a year. Joist-level rot routes to a deck contractor; we are honest on the call.
Post Bracing, Sistering & Single-Post Re-Set
A leaning post means the entire panel is under stress and pulling on the next post in line. Three repairs work depending on the post condition. For a post that is sound but has shifted, we brace and re-plumb with anchored stakes and concrete fill. For a post that has rotted at the base (the most common failure on cedar posts in damp climates), we sister a new pressure-treated post alongside the old one with through-bolts — far cheaper than digging out the old concrete footing. For a single failed post, we can remove and re-set in fresh concrete; full fence rebuilds are outside this trade.
Wood Rot Patching with Epoxy Filler
Small rot areas on fence rails, deck stair stringers, post caps, and deck trim can be cut out and filled with a structural epoxy wood filler (PC-Woody or Bondo Wood Filler) before the rot spreads through the rest of the board. We remove the soft punky wood with a chisel, treat the cavity with a borate wood preservative against fungal regrowth, fill with epoxy, sand smooth, and prime for paint or stain. Rot larger than the size of a fist, or rot that extends through the structural cross-section of a load-bearing member, routes to a full replacement.
How Fence & Deck Repair Works
Five sequential steps from the on-arrival assessment through the workmanship guarantee — the actual sequence we follow on every Handis fence and deck visit.
On-Arrival Assessment & Joist Probe
We probe deck joists with an awl through the board gap, check ledger and joist hangers, inspect fence posts for base rot, and tell you which scope fits this trade and which routes to a deck or fence contractor. The diagnostic happens before any board comes off.
Lumber Matching to Existing Run
We source the closest match in wood species (western red cedar, eastern white cedar, redwood, pressure-treated pine), dimension, and grain. New cedar reads lighter than weathered cedar for 12 to 18 months — UV exposure blends it; staining the new section as an add-on speeds the blend.
Board, Hardware or Post Repair
Damaged boards come out and the new lumber goes in with stainless or hot-dipped galvanized exterior fasteners — never interior-grade hardware that rusts through in one wet season. Gate latches and hinges get relocated to fresh wood; rotted posts get sistered with a through-bolted pressure-treated post before we dig out concrete footings.
Wood Rot Patch with Borate & Epoxy
Small rot areas on fence rails, deck stair stringers, or post caps are chiseled out, treated with a borate wood preservative against fungal regrowth, filled with structural epoxy (PC-Woody or Bondo Wood Filler), sanded smooth, and primed for paint or stain. Rot larger than a fist routes to full replacement.
Walkthrough & 30-Day Guarantee
We walk the repair with the homeowner, point out anything else on the fence or deck that looks like a future failure, and document the work for the 30-day workmanship guarantee. Weather damage and normal wood movement are not workmanship issues and fall outside the guarantee.
Fence & Deck Repair Pricing
Final pricing depends on the number of boards, post condition, lumber species, and whether the framing under a deck needs inspection or repair. Request a free estimate for an accurate quote.
Send us photos of the gate, the boards, or the leaning post — we will quote the repair.
Why Handis for Fence & Deck Repair
Most fence and deck calls we get are for the second or third small thing in a row — a gate that did not latch right last summer, three soft boards near the steps that the homeowner has been stepping around for six months, a post that started leaning after the last rain. Each item alone is a 45-minute job; together they are an afternoon. Left alone, one soft board becomes three, the leaning post pulls the panel down with it, and the small-repair window closes. We fix the small stuff before it turns into the structural rebuild — and we tell you honestly on the booking call when the structural rebuild is already what you need.
Joist check under every deck board before we replace
A bad deck board is sometimes just a bad board — and sometimes it is the symptom of a rotting joist underneath. We probe the joist through the board gap with an awl, check for soft punky wood with a moisture meter, look at the ledger-board connection at the house and the joist hangers, and report what we find before installing a single replacement board. Covering a failing joist with a fresh board is a temporary fix that fails again in a year and costs you twice.
We match the existing lumber, not just any cedar
Replacing three boards with off-color or different-dimensional lumber looks worse than the original damage. We source the closest match in wood species (western red cedar, eastern white cedar, redwood, pressure-treated pine), dimension (nominal 1x6, 5/4 deck board, vinyl panel insert), and grain (vertical grain vs flat sawn). We tell you upfront if an exact match is unavailable — for example, true-vertical-grain old-growth cedar is hard to source on most current lots — and what the closest available substitute looks like.
Stainless or galvanized hardware — interior screws rust through
Standard zinc-coated interior screws and hinges rust through outdoor exposure in one wet season. We install stainless steel or hot-dipped galvanized fasteners, hinges, and latches on every exterior repair — never the bag of interior-grade hardware that came in the original gate kit. The hardware lasts as long as the wood.
Sister posts before pulling concrete footings
A post that has rotted at the base is the most common fence failure in damp climates. Digging out the existing concrete footing to set a fresh post is a four-hour job per post. Sistering a new pressure-treated post alongside the old one with three or four through-bolts is a 45-minute job per post and gives equivalent structural strength for a typical residential fence panel. We recommend sistering first; single-post re-set in concrete is the upgrade when the old post is too far gone to support a sister.
30-day workmanship guarantee
If a fence or deck repair we completed fails within 30 days because of our workmanship — a board pulls loose, a sister post shifts, a gate stops latching, a rot patch cracks — we come back and correct it at no extra charge. Weather damage (storms, falling branches), normal wood movement (cupping, checking, slight grain raise on new lumber), and UV-driven color change on new boards are not workmanship issues and are outside the guarantee. We will tell you on arrival if we see anything in the rest of the fence or deck that looks like a future failure.
Estimate
Describe the fence or deck issue — number of boards, gate hardware, post condition, signs of rot, lumber species if you know it — and we will quote the repair.
Customer Reviews
Recent fence and deck repair reviews from verified customers.
The back gate would not latch anymore — the kids kept leaving it open and the dog kept getting out. The tech showed me that the hinge screws had backed out of soft wood at the post, relocated the hinges to fresh wood about an inch up, replaced the latch with a stainless one, and adjusted the gate alignment. Closes and locks on its own weight now. Maybe 30 minutes total.
Four deck boards near the grill were soft and bouncy. The tech pulled them out, checked the joists underneath with a moisture meter and an awl, said the framing was still solid (which saved us a lot of money), and installed pressure-treated replacements. He noted the new boards would read lighter for about a year until UV blended them. About two hours.
Wind storm blew a tree branch through two fence boards and bent the top rail. The tech matched the wood (vertical-grain cedar; he told me on the call the closest match in stock would not be exact and he was right but it is barely noticeable), replaced both boards, straightened the rail. He also tightened a couple of nearby boards I had not noticed were loose.
One fence post was leaning about ten degrees after a moderate rain. Tech said the base had rotted from years of damp ground contact and proposed sistering a new pressure-treated post alongside with through-bolts instead of digging out the concrete footing. Saved us a couple of hours of labor. It has held through two windstorms since.
Soft rot on three feet of the deck stair stringer where it meets the lower step. Tech said it was small enough for an epoxy patch instead of replacing the whole stringer, chiseled out the soft wood, treated with borate, filled with structural epoxy, sanded, and primed. He told me a full stringer replacement would have been outside this trade. Solid since.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about residential fence and deck repair.