Q: Our 35-year-old house has a 7-foot cantilevered deck on the top floor -- about 25 feet above ground level. The untreated fir joists feel solid but have large black areas on the sides -- especially ...

INDIANAPOLIS — If your deck feels a little bouncy underfoot, it might not be the top boards at all — it could be the joists underneath that are starting to rot. I ran into that exact problem on my ...

A deck can look perfectly fine from a distance and still be hiding serious problems underneath. Most homeowners only think ...

Many years ago I wrote a blog post detailing one of the most common deck defects that I find: improper joist hanger nails. The issue detailed in that blog post was the use of 1-½" nails in places ...

Dear Angie: I have a floor that has a broken joist under the house. The floor has caved in. How much will it cost to fix? The floor is wood. — Brad J., Cullman, Alabama Dear Brad: You definitely want ...

Q.The carpenter that built my deck used joist hangers to hold up the joists along the house and at the end of the deck. Are these steel joist hangers approved, and will they stand the test of time?

Q. I have a floor that has a broken joist under the house. The floor has caved in. How much will it cost to fix? The floor is wood. A. You definitely want to contact a general contractor or handyman ...

Deck repair costs swing from a couple hundred dollars to several thousand depending almost entirely on one question: is the damage cosmetic or structural? Replacing a few weathered boards is a ...