Deck Restoration in Chicago, IL

Nine hundred square feet of pressure-treated pine spread across three tiers is a real structure, and this one in Chicago had earned every year of its age. The old stain had failed unevenly across the levels, a handful of boards had gone soft, and the wood railing assemblies showed the kind of slow deterioration that Chicago winters and damp summers push along without much help. The tri-level layout meant skirting, lattice apron, stair treads and risers, and all the visible posts were part of the scope — nothing got skipped. Overhead, a 300 square foot roof ceiling covering the full deck system hadn't been touched in years, its coating chalking and peeling in a way that was going to need more than a wash before anything new would hold.

We opened with a thorough cleaning — power washing the entire structure including soft washing the accessible undercarriages between levels, then scraping and sanding the ceiling hard where the failing coating resisted the washer. Three rotted 4x4 railing posts had to come out, which meant carefully disassembling the railing sections around them to pull them and reinstall replacements cleanly. Two 2x12 stair tread boards were too far gone and got swapped as well. Once repairs were done we tightened loose fasteners across all three levels, then ran full power sanding across every horizontal surface and light sanding on the verticals before any finish went down. The deck, railings, treads, skirting, and posts all got one coat of Benjamin Moore WoodLuxe solid in Leather Saddle Brown. The ceiling — beams, roof decking, and rafters — was all overhead work off ladders, which demands its own staging and pacing, and it came out in solid black. The two-tone result reads as intentional and clean.