Deck Care Plan
The Deck Care Plan is a recurring residential program for the wood and composite decks that lose a screw, a board, or a hardware bracket every wet Pacific Northwest winter — spring inspection visit (board-by-board screwdown check, joist-hanger visual underneath where access allows, post-base inspection on the deck rail, hardware refresh on loose railing brackets and gate latches), summer wash, and an end-of-season stain or seal coat applied when the weather window holds (late July through mid-September in the Seattle area when daytime temperatures stay between 50 and 90 degrees with a 48-hour dry window on each side). From $500 for the inspection and screwdown alone up to $1,300 for a wrap-around or larger deck with the stain coat included. Cedar, pressure-treated pine, and composite decks covered; painted decks and structural-frame repair route to a licensed Washington L&I contractor.
Service
What Does the Deck Care Plan Cover?
The Deck Care Plan is a residential program built for the Pacific Northwest deck reality — eight months of rain working at every screw, every joist hanger, and every post base, then a short summer window for a clean and a stain coat before the cycle starts again. Prices from $500 for a spring inspection and screwdown alone up to $1,300 for a wrap-around or larger deck with an end-of-season stain coat included. Cedar, pressure-treated pine, and composite (Trex, TimberTech, Azek) decks all covered. Full deck rebuilds, structural deck framing, ledger-board repair, and any permit-required structural change route to a licensed Washington L&I contractor — we name the issue in the inspection report.
Spring Inspection & Board-by-Board Screwdown
Late April through May, after the heavy spring rains taper. Every deck board gets walked and tested for spring; loose screws get re-set with a cordless impact driver, stripped holes get re-drilled and re-fastened with the next size up of stainless or coated deck screw, and any board with active rot at the screw point gets flagged for replacement. The screw-down step alone catches the failures that turn into pulled boards and tripped toes by mid-summer.
Joist-Hanger & Post-Base Visual Underneath
Where access allows (a deck on piers, an exposed deck under a back stair, a deck where the lattice opens to crawl), we walk the structure underneath with a flashlight and a moisture meter. Joist hangers get a visual for rust-through, popped nails, and the wrong fastener type (drywall screws fail in shear and should never appear on a joist hanger — galvanized hanger nails or structural screws only). Post bases on the deck rail and the ledger connection get the same visual. Anything structural that looks compromised routes to a licensed contractor with photos in hand.
Hardware Refresh — Rails, Gates, Latches
Loose railing brackets, the gate latch that no longer holds the back gate closed, a hinge that has dropped a quarter-inch and now drags, the deck-stair handrail that wobbles when you put weight on it — the spring inspection visit closes all of it with new fasteners into solid wood, replacement hardware where the old part is past its life, and a re-shim of the gate where the post has moved with seasonal swelling.
Summer Wash — PSI Matched to the Deck Material
Mid-summer wash visit, scheduled before any stain coat. Cedar and pressure-treated pine decks clean at 500 to 1,500 PSI with a 40-degree nozzle and a wider stand-off — anything higher gouges the wood and raises the grain. Composite decks (Trex, TimberTech, Azek) clean at 1,500 to 2,500 PSI but the cleaning solution does most of the work; pressure alone leaves residue. Wood decks with heavy mildew get a pre-soak with deck cleaner before the wash. We do not pressure-wash painted decks — pressure strips the paint along with the dirt.
End-of-Season Stain or Seal Coat (When Conditions Allow)
Late July through mid-September in the Seattle area when daytime temperatures stay between 50 and 90 degrees with a 48-hour dry window on each side of the application — those are the conditions oil-based and water-based deck stains need to cure properly. We use semi-transparent or solid-color stain (Cabot, Penofin, Behr Premium Solid) depending on the existing finish and the homeowner preference, applied with a brush and back-rolled into the grain on cedar and pine. Composite decks do not take stain and skip this step; the wash visit is the final coat on composite. Painted decks route to a painter — pressure-washing and re-painting a painted deck is a paint trade, not a stain trade.
How the Deck Care Plan Works
Five sequential steps from the spring inspection through the end-of-season stain coat — the actual sequence we follow on every Handis Deck Care plan year.
Spring Inspection & Board-by-Board Screwdown
Late April through May after the heavy spring rains taper. Every deck board gets walked and tested for spring; loose screws are re-set with a cordless impact driver, stripped holes are re-drilled and re-fastened with the next size up of stainless or coated deck screw, and any board with active rot at the screw point is flagged for replacement.
Joist-Hanger & Post-Base Visual Underneath
Where access allows (deck on piers, exposed deck under a back stair, deck with an openable lattice), the structure gets a flashlight-and-moisture-meter walk underneath. Joist hangers checked for rust-through and wrong fastener type (drywall screws never on a hanger — galvanized hanger nails or structural screws only). Anything structural routes to a licensed contractor.
Hardware Refresh on Rails, Gates, and Stair Handrails
Loose railing brackets, a gate latch that no longer holds, a hinge that has dropped and drags, a stair handrail that wobbles — all closed during the spring visit with new fasteners into solid wood, replacement hardware where the old part is past its life, and a re-shim of the gate where the post has moved with seasonal swelling.
Summer Wash — PSI Matched to the Deck Material
Mid-summer wash visit before any stain coat. Cedar and pressure-treated pine clean at 500 to 1,500 PSI with a 40-degree nozzle and a wider stand-off — higher gouges the wood and raises the grain. Composite cleans at 1,500 to 2,500 PSI with the cleaning solution doing the work. We never pressure-wash painted decks; pressure strips paint.
End-of-Season Stain Coat — When the Weather Window Holds
Late July through mid-September when daytime temperatures stay between 50 and 90 degrees with a 48-hour dry window on each side. Semi-transparent or solid stain (Cabot, Penofin, Behr Premium Solid) applied with a brush and back-rolled into the grain. We check the 7-day forecast before the visit and reschedule into the next dry window if rain threatens the cure.
Deck Care Plan Pricing
Final pricing depends on deck size (square footage including stairs and rails), material (cedar, pressure-treated pine, composite), whether the structure underneath is accessible for the joist-hanger visual, hardware refresh scope, and whether the plan includes the end-of-season stain coat. Members pay member labor rate on add-on board replacement caught during the inspection. Request a free estimate for an accurate annual quote.
Tell us the deck size, material, and whether you want the stain coat — we will quote the year.
Why Handis for the Deck Care Plan
Most deck failures we get called for trace to the same three issues — screws that backed out over a wet winter and were never re-set, a joist hanger underneath that had a drywall screw instead of a galvanized hanger nail and finally failed, and a stain coat applied during a humid week that never properly cured and started peeling six months later. After a few thousand deck visits across cedar, pressure-treated pine, and composite surfaces in the Seattle area, every one of those failures has a fix in the truck or a clear handoff to a licensed contractor when it crosses out of the handyman trade. The Deck Care Plan is the schedule that catches them in spring instead of the following winter.
Board-by-board screwdown — not a glance from the steps
Every board on the deck surface gets walked and tested for spring during the inspection visit. Loose screws get re-set with a cordless impact driver; stripped holes get re-drilled and re-fastened with the next size up of stainless or coated deck screw; any board with active rot at the screw point gets flagged for replacement before it becomes a pulled board and a tripped toe in July. The screwdown step alone is what separates a deck that holds together through summer and one that loses a fastener a week.
Right hardware underneath, right stain on top
Joist hangers take galvanized hanger nails or structural screws — never drywall screws, never deck screws (drywall screws fail in shear and should not appear on any structural connector). Ledger-board connections take lag screws or structural through-bolts with washers. Stain coats use products rated for the wood species and the existing finish — Cabot semi-transparent and solid, Penofin for cedar, Behr Premium Solid for heavily weathered surfaces. The truck carries the right hardware and the tech knows which stain pairs with which existing finish.
Stain coat only when the weather window actually holds
Oil-based and water-based deck stains need daytime temperatures between 50 and 90 degrees and a 48-hour dry window on each side of the application to cure properly. In the Seattle area that window is reliable from late July through mid-September. We check the 7-day forecast 48 hours before every stain visit; if rain threatens the cure we shift the visit into the next dry window and tell you on the call. A stain coat applied during a wet week is a coat that peels in six months — we will not put one down for the sake of staying on the calendar.
Honest scope — handyman work only, contractor handoff on structural
Spring inspection, screwdown, hardware refresh, wash, and stain are all in scope. Full deck rebuilds, ledger-board replacement, structural deck framing, post-base replacement at the foundation, new deck construction, and any permit-required structural change route to a licensed Washington L&I contractor — we name the issue in the inspection report and recommend a deck contractor when we see one. Painted decks route to a painter; pressure-washing and re-painting a painted deck is a paint trade, not a stain trade.
Insured, background-checked, 30-day workmanship guarantee
Every Handis handyman carries liability insurance and has cleared a background screening before the first job. If a deck screw we set backs out within 30 days, a hardware refresh loosens, a wash leaves visible streaks, or a stain coat we applied fails to cure because of incorrect application (not weather we honored on the forecast), we come back and fix it at no extra charge. New rot from a wet winter, storm damage to a railing, or a board failure unrelated to our hardware is outside the guarantee — we are honest about the line.
Estimate
Tell us the deck size in square feet (including stairs and rail spindles), the deck material (cedar, pressure-treated pine, composite Trex/TimberTech/Azek, or painted), whether the structure underneath is accessible for the joist-hanger visual, the existing finish if any, and whether you want the end-of-season stain coat included. We will send back a clear annual estimate with the visit calendar.
Customer Reviews
Recent Deck Care Plan reviews from verified Seattle-area customers.
Wrap-around cedar deck on a 1990s house. Spring inspection caught two boards that had pulled at the south rail and three loose joist hangers underneath. The tech replaced the boards, sistered the bad joist hangers with structural screws, and re-shimmed the back gate that had dropped a half-inch over winter. End-of-season stain coat went on the last weekend of August during a clean dry window. Stain has held a year on the high-sun side without fading.
Composite Trex deck off the kitchen, four years old. Tech told me on the booking call composite does not take stain so the plan would be inspection plus screwdown plus the summer wash only. Wash visit used cleaning solution rather than raw pressure — said pressure alone leaves residue on composite — and the boards came back to that flat-matte finish like new. Plan stayed honest about scope; nothing upsold.
Pressure-treated pine deck off the back, heavily weathered and silvered. Tech walked me through the choice between semi-transparent (would not hide the silvering) and a solid-color stain (would). We picked the solid coat, summer wash a week before to get the surface clean, stain went on Labor Day weekend during a dry stretch. Looks like new lumber. He scheduled the late July wash visit and the stain visit on a forecast that held both ways.
Spring inspection on a 12-year-old cedar deck. Tech walked every board, re-set probably forty loose screws, swapped four boards where the rot had set in at the screw point, and refreshed the loose handrail brackets on both stair runs. Underneath he found two joist hangers with old drywall screws that had failed in shear — flagged those, took photos, recommended a deck contractor for the structural fix. Saved us a separate diagnosis call.
Booked the plan because the gate to the back yard had not closed properly in two years and the deck was eating screws every fall. Tech re-shimmed the gate where the post had moved, swapped the latch and hinges for stainless, did the full board screwdown, and put down a semi-transparent stain coat in late August. Gate closes one-handed and the deck has not lost a screw all winter.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about the Deck Care Plan — pricing, scope, stain weather windows, deck materials covered, and what routes to a contractor.