Again? Already?! If you’d told me ten months ago that I’d be doing deck work again less than a year later, I would’ve given you a look that said “I’d punch you if I were the punching type.”
It’s not that I didn’t enjoy building the deck the first time around — I did — but I wasn’t looking forward to repeating the process so soon. Fortunately this wasn’t a full rebuild; it was a repair. Remember this spot?
That hole was left after we had to remove a large tree. The crew who took the tree down also disassembled the bench that surrounded it, leaving a pile of bench scrap behind.
Instead of rebuilding the bench, we decided to cover the hole so a table could sit centered on the deck. If we left the hole, the dining area would’ve felt cramped and off-center. My main concern was finding deck boards that matched the width of the existing, older decking. I tried to salvage full boards from the scrap pile, but came up three boards short.
I headed to Lowe’s with an old scrap board to match the profile and discovered the deck boards were a standard width available off the shelf. Win. I grabbed:
- Seven 8-foot deck boards — $42
- One 8-foot 2×8 board (cut in half to make joists) — $9
- Four metal joist hangers — $4.50
- TOTAL: $55.50
First I cut the 2×8 into pieces to span the width of the hole and attached them with the hangers, using leftover decking nails from last summer.
The space was just over three feet, so I probably only needed one joist, but the stump had been cut at an odd angle so I couldn’t place a single joist across the middle. The final spacing looked a little odd, but as long as the new boards stayed supported it would be fine.
For stability and a more natural look, I wanted the new boards to extend beyond the patch so they could rest on existing joists at each end. That meant cutting back a few of the surrounding planks so the new boards would sit flush and camouflage the repair.
I used a Dremel Sawmax to score a deep cut along the boards. The cut didn’t go all the way through, but it was deep enough to snap the plank cleanly where I wanted it, leaving a slightly rough edge.
This approach let me avoid prying up full-length boards. I only pried out the sections I needed to remove.
To size the replacement boards I simply laid a board across the gap and marked it with a pen — no tape measure required.
Using the stairs as a makeshift sawhorse, I cut each board with a circular saw.
Then I pieced everything together and screwed the boards down. I was glad I’d kept leftover screws from the previous project — it saved a trip to the store and a few dollars.
Screwing the boards in was straightforward, and the end result isn’t the prettiest “after,” but it’s certainly better than a gaping hole. One of the original boards cracked when I pried it up, so I had to patch a bit more than planned — you can see the long board at the bottom left that reflects that extra work.
We’re hoping that after a deep cleaning, stripping, and a fresh coat of stain and sealant, the new boards will blend in with the old ones — or at least the whole deck will look refreshed together.
For now we’re just happy to host people without worrying someone might step into the hole. Sherry even sat right where the hole used to be — she took the photo, so she’s missing from the shot.
Next on the deck to-do list is a full clean and restain, and eventually we’d like to open up the back with extra-wide stairs down to the yard. That’ll be a Phase Two project down the road. We also later added two gates to the deck to keep the dog from running off.
Has anyone else tackled an unexpected project recently? Mine was an annoying surprise but a satisfying one — it only took an afternoon to complete, and now the deck is functional and safe again.