Deck in Progress

As you can see, the old deck had issues. There was no flashing or ice & water shield between it and the sill of the house. The "ledger" was attached to the sill with dinky nails that extended about half an inch into the sill. Snow on the deck melted and rotted the ledger and sill, until the nails attaching the deck to the house had nothing to nail into. The deck sagged and the wet sill continued to rot. Walking across the deck was like walking on a trampoline.

The rails were also spaced too far apart, at exactly infant skull size. At one end the rails were missing. The stairs were at the far end of the deck, only a few feet from the neighbors' house, and there was no gate.

When the deck came off, this was left:

The deck guys were able to attach new 2"x10" pressure-treated wood over the old sill with 12+ inch carriage bolts. They say the sill will dry out and be okay. They put ice & water shield over this new wood and built a pressure treated wood frame for the new deck.

The visible part of the new deck will be made of red cedar.