Kelso, Washington
Dry Rot Repair in Kelso, WA
Dry rot repair in Kelso. Deck ledgers, posts, joists, sills and porch framing on hillside houses, opened up to solid wood and rebuilt to carry the load again.
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Kelso is a hillside town, and water on a hillside has somewhere to go. It runs off the slope, off the roof, and down the uphill side of whatever is in the way. That is why rot in Kelso is so often structural. It is not the siding or the deck boards that go, it is the ledger behind them, the posts at grade, and the sill at the bottom of a wall on the uphill side of the house.
A Kelso deck this year is the example I give people. It was sold as a re-deck. Rotted boards and handrails, new cedar on top. When the old material came off, the framing under it was soft, and what started as a surface job turned into a full structural recovery, rebuilt top to bottom. The homeowner ended up with a deck that will outlast the house instead of new boards screwed to bad joists.
That is the decision on every rot job, and it gets made with the wood open, not from the driveway. I cut back until I reach solid material. If the framing is sound, you keep it and the repair is small. If it is not, you hear that and what it changes before the work goes ahead.
The water gets handled as part of the repair, because on a hill it will come right back. Ledger flashing where there was none, a downspout that dumps at the post instead of away from it, grade that slopes toward the house. Fixing the wood without fixing the water is a repair you pay for twice.
Electrical and plumbing go to licensed trades. The carpentry is mine, and I am on the job every day. My shop is on Confer Road in Kalama, a few minutes south.
Save yourself the wait
Send me photos of the soft wood and of where the water comes off the roof or the hill above it. I will tell you what I think is behind it and what it takes to open it up.
Dry Rot Repair We Have Built
Elevated deck with stairs in Kelso, WA
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Deck framing overview in Kelso, WA
Deck with stained railing in Kelso, WA
Recent work in Kelso
Two-story cedar deck rebuild in Kelso
Tore out rotted decking and handrails and rebuilt in cedar top to bottom. What started as a re-deck turned into a full structural recovery once the old material came off.
Dry Rot Repair questions in Kelso
Why do Kelso decks rot faster than the house?
Grade. Most of Kelso is on a hill, and a deck off the back of a hillside house is high, shaded on the uphill side, and catches water running off the slope and the roof. The ledger and the posts at grade stay wet longest and go first.
How do I know if it is dry rot or just old wood?
Push a screwdriver into it. Sound wood stops it. Rotted wood takes the point with almost no effort and crumbles instead of splintering. If it is soft, it is not going to get better on its own, and it is usually bigger than what you can see.
My deck boards are rotted. Does the whole deck have to come out?
Not always, but the boards are the last place to look. A Kelso deck that started as a re-deck turned into a full structural rebuild once the old material came off and the framing under it was soft. If the joists and ledger are sound you keep them. If not, new boards on them are wasted.
Can you just replace the bad board?
Sometimes. If the rot stops at one board and the framing behind it is sound, that is a small repair. If the framing is soft too, replacing the board alone hides the problem for a year or two. I open it up far enough to find solid wood before I decide which it is.
What causes dry rot in Southwest Washington?
Water that keeps coming back to the same spot. A disconnected downspout, a window that was never flashed, a deck ledger with no flashing, a tub surround that leaks a little every day. Dry rot is a fungus and it needs the wood wet. Find the water, stop it, then repair the wood. Repairing the wood without stopping the water is throwing the money away.
Are you a licensed structural repair contractor in Kelso?
I am a licensed Washington general contractor, JAMESHC764LM, bonded and insured. Structural rot repair on decks, porches, floors and walls is carpentry, and that is what I do. Thirty years in the trade, owner on the job every day.
Dry Rot Repair in Kelso and Cowlitz County
James Hurula Construction is a licensed Washington general contractor (JAMESHC764LM) based in Kalama, serving Kelso and Cowlitz County on every kind of job on this page. I also work in Longview, Castle Rock, Kalama, Woodland, Cathlamet, Vancouver, Battle Ground, Ridgefield. Thirty years of field experience, owner on site.
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