Decks, Balcony and Rear Stairs

Several deck jobs on one page

This page collects several of our deck and rear-stair jobs. The balcony had old deck boards that were ready to come up. Another house had an existing wood deck with a sunburst-pattern railing that needed refinishing. The rest were new builds in composite or pressure-treated lumber.

How we handled each one

On the second-floor balcony we pulled the old boards and laid new composite boards in their place. When the boards are tired but the structure is not, replacing the surface is often the right fix.

We built two composite decks. The first is gray with white rails and black balusters, with stairs coming down from a set of French doors on a vinyl-sided home. The second is brown composite, deck and stairs both, with black aluminum railings and white lattice skirting beside a brick ranch house. Our decks and porches page goes into the materials.

The pressure-treated work included a new staircase up to a rear deck on a brick home, and a new deck and stairs with lattice skirting behind a brick rowhouse. On another job we set posts beneath a set of white-painted rear deck stairs. Rear stairs have their own page under exterior stairs.

For the refinish, we sanded the old deck with the sunburst railing. Sanding takes off worn finish and raised grain, so the next coat goes on evenly. On a separate wood deck beside a vinyl-sided house, we stained the boards and railings a reddish-brown.

Where they ended up

Both composite decks finished with full railings and stairs. The balcony now has two-tone composite decking and black metal railings outside a white entry door.

The rear staircase on the brick home is new top to bottom. Behind the rowhouse, the new deck has lattice skirting closing in the base. And the stained deck came out an even reddish-brown, railings included.